Above photo : Hoan Gallery’s opening exhibit – ‘Rebirth, Sarawak Is Art, Past & Present’ – is featuring over 40 pieces from 10 artists.
KUCHING, 22 Jan : A new art gallery, Hoan Gallery, has launched its opening exhibit ‘Rebirth – Sarawak Is Art, Past & Present’ at La Promenade Mall.
‘Rebirth’ features over 40 artworks by 10 different artists, with prices ranging from RM3,000 to over RM30,000.
About half-a-dozen featured works have either been pre-sold or are loaned from private collectors.
“Our first exhibit features artists young to old. We have Leonard Siaw, and Nia Latif from the young generation,” said gallery owner, Hoan Kee Huang.
“We also have works by masters like batik artist, Stephanie Eng. We have amazing water colours by Lam Siong Onn. We even have new pieces by Lee Hock Kia, who even at 85 years old, is still painting. Our gallery carries three new works by Lee that were done over the MCO period.”
‘Rebirth’ is also paying tribute to artists who have passed away.
Featured are the works of the late Michael Chong (1948-2021), Chee Hong King (1920-1992), Chong Liew Syn (1949-1999), and Foo Syn Choon (1933-2012).
“In curating ‘Rebirth’, I made sure to include a wide range of ages, techniques and mediums. There is oil on canvas, oil and acrylic on canvas, batik paintings, water colours, and Chinese inks.
“More modern pieces by Nia are mixed mediums, featuring ink, graphite, charcoal, paper pulp, and egg shells,” said Hoan.
“Every piece is unique. None are duplicates. All are original works. In this first show, the oldest work is Chee Hong King’s ‘Serenity’ from 1960, while the latest is Leonard Siaw’s ‘Reignite’ completed in 2021.”
Hoan Gallery is taking a historical and well-researched approach to its first show.
Hoan, who is a painter of repute himself having been invited to paint portraits of the Agong, has also created an “art history wall” detailing the Kuching Art Club.
The Kuching Art Club was founded in 1949 by Lucy Morison, the then Governor’s secretary, to organise the burgeoning art scene.
It operated alongside other groups – like the Music Societies and Floricultural Improvement Society (both formed in 1947) – in the optimistic air that was post-World War Two.
The club keeps the best record of Western style art development in Sarawak.
“Although the earliest records have been lost in a fire, we know about many of the club’s activities through newspaper reports. Morison left Kuching in 1962, leaving behind a fine art scene,” Hoan said.
Newspapers from the mid-1940s reported about twice-a-year art exhibitions, weekly classes and even reviews of solo shows.
“I’ve always felt incredibly moved whenever I researched the art club. The club did so much to spur and record the development of art in Sarawak almost a century ago. Today, we wish to pay tribute to these artists, look back at Sarawak art, and find ways to move forward,” Hoan said.
Hoan likes referring to a news clipping by The Sarawak Tribune from the year 1949, in which a critic wrote:
“Just as poets put their feelings into words and musicians express there’s through music, so an artist illustrates his or her feelings in pictures. Every picture tells a story, and an adept artist should be able to put into effect a story in more vivid details than it could ever be written in words.
“Time may pass away but pictures will still retain their stories fresh and beautiful just as they were first painted.”
Hoan Gallery is opened daily at the La Promenade Mall.
For more information, visit hoangallery.com or search @hoanartgallery on social media. – TVS
