Cadangan-Cadangan Untuk Negaraku

New Works by Liew Kung Yu

Galeri PETRONAS at Level 3 Suria KLCC Mall
Exhibition runs from April 17 to  June 14, 2009

I really haven’t the words to express my excitement for this show. Liew Kung Yu is one of Malaysia’s most sought-after and elusive contemporary artists. Talk about once in a blue moon and the blue moon has finally risen in the form of ‘Cadangan-cadangan Untuk Negaraku’ (or its English translation, ‘A Few Suggestions to My Country’), an incredible solo presentation by this multi-tasking genius who occasionally moonlights as a ‘flower seller’ at the night markets. We think it has been at least 10 years since Kung Yu’s last solo.

The exhibition comprises 4 epic, elaborately and insanely layered photo-collages that measure 20 x 7 feet each. It is high kitsch, awe-inspiring and overwhelming. My eyes were impatiently devouring the visual feast as there are far too many details to focus on! This show warrants more than 2 visits and may I suggest spending at least 15 minutes with each work, allowing your eye to wonder slowly through the dense terrain, layers and details.

I  am still processing the works in my mind but it is definitely going down as one of the brightest 2009 highlights in RogueArt’s list of favourites. All I can manage now is a very inarticulate WOW. (AO)

We interrupt this blog to quickly divert your attention to thirtyfour in perspective, an event organised by thirtyfour, a Kuala Lumpur-based design collective, on Tuesday, 18th Nov 2008. As advertised on facebook and in their e-invites, this one-night only event at the historical Chin Woo stadium, located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, showcases their “explorations in skin” over the past 18 months. The result is a collection of hand-made leather accessories –bags, clutches, belts, cuffs, wallets, sandals, slippers, card holders– that has cultivated a niche following, the hip urban audience who are looking to stand apart from mainstream cookie-cutter society. Functional and minimally stylish, thirtyfour’s designs combine bold shapes, lines and contours with unusual textures such as chicken skin among others and daring bursts of colours. While we loved their door gift and went equally glazy-eyed over their designs, it was their “out of the ordinary” installation, created out of scaffolding, bubble wrap and stenciled cardboard boxes, which won a RogueArt thumbs up. Go thirtyfour!