Apa Khabar Ledang (Essence of Culture series)

Awang Damit Ahmad hails from the second generation of abstract expressionists in Malaysian modern art, following in the footsteps of the innovation into abstraction by artists such as Syed Ahmad Jamal. His contemporaries include artists such as Yusof Ghani and Tajuddin Ismail, whom also adopt a broadly expressionistic style in their work. Gaining local support from the likes of the Petronas Gallery following the achievement of his Salon Malaysia Award in 1991, the work of Awang Damit Ahmad has become integral in understanding the second generation of abstract artists in Malaysia.

Apa Khabar Ledang is part of the artist's first series of works, Essence of Culture. Inspired by the artist's childhood experiences surrounding rural lifestyles of farming and fishing, Awang Damit converts local symbols and landscapes into abstract elements on his canvas. The present lot with its thick, compact strokes of colour, illustrates Awang Damit's sensitivity to colour and form, and his skill in being able to abstract representational elements from nature into fragmented shapes and patterns influenced by his highly developed aesthetics. Deep blue paint flows through brown structural forms, suggesting waterways cutting through an earthen landscape. Highlighted with green and red to separately suggest the presence of nature as well as man in the environment, Awang Damit presents us with a shifting, dynamic view of an aerial landscape.