Each visit to an art gallery to me is a new and shorter route to new perspectives, or the truth some may say, since one may find a new meaning to beauty and representation of life.
The Kumpulan Manjung art exhibition at Balai Seni Lukis Negara exposes the work of 16 artists from various arts backgrounds sharing one thing in common: they are the alumni of Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM and now UiTM) in Manjung, Perak. They gather in this exhibition in the form of artistic and creative production to present their understanding and messages on humanity and the environment. Its about survival and peace.
Muhammad Ekram al-Hafis’ “Cognitive Idea of Aesthetics” laid out a set of scattered but written and visual messages of his personal belief on facts and universal do’s. Nurulhuda binti Mohamed’s series of “Letusan” highlights the wrath of mother nature in the form of volcanic eruptions.
Andrew Lim’s sympathy for one of the most endangered mammal species in “My Tigers” is portrayed in a smaller format together with several other similar-sized paintings. Amazement at the universe produces Emerlyn Tan’s drawing of “Universe in Motion”, a very simplistic but significant presentation in the same set.
A more patterned work on human life process is shown by Muhammad Ekhsan bin Md Haniff’s “The Journey of Life”. Similar depiction of life in a smaller niche, the city, is covered by Fairus Ahmad Yusof in his ALAMI Series work, “Penglipur Kotaraya”. A slight detour is the ITM’s logo by Eruan Adnan, “Kami Bermula di ITM”, his way of showing appreciation to his alma mater, illustrated on a canvas filled with brief strokes of various colors. Farizal Puadi’s “KaU rAsA’s half chair? Beats me. Loss of power (KUASA)?
For the committed arts graduates of ITM, the exhibition is not only a show of their passion in arts but also their thank to ITM for making them what they are.
The exhibition takes place between November 19 till December 31, 2018.
