Unpleasant Painting

The first Malaysian artist to receive the prestigious Phillip Morris ASEAN Art Award in 1998, Kow Leong Kiang has exhibited extensively in the Southeast Asian region, as well as in China, the United States of America, and Europe. Acclaimed for his unique use of colour, and compositional sensibilities, Kow has established himself as one of the most exciting and upcoming contemporary artists in the region. Unpleasant Painting (Lot 618) is a particularly unique work in the artist's oeuvre for its strong pictorial language and graphic reference to socio-political themes. The two societal cornerstones of law and order manifest in a strange human-animal hybrid against the ludic and apocalyptic backdrop of falling crocodiles and displaced religious symbols. The representation of a repressive and inadequate national system takes the form of a monstrous puppet that itself is controlling the demise of the innocent citizen. Situating himself in the right hand side of the painting within the chaos of the scene, the artist is a contemplative observer of the rapid destruction of his surroundings. Loaded with symbolism in a style that approximates the surreal, Unpleasant Painting is a provocative work that surfaces a discomfort and discontent that lies beneath an apparent calm.