拍品 80

The story is now legendary. Louis Leroy, the French art critic writing on the first impressionist exhibition when Claude Monet's Impression: Soleil Levant was first exhibited in 1874, "(the paintings) were horrible, stupid and dirty things; painting totally lacking in common sense". (Eileen Romano, The Impressionists: Their Lives, Their World, and Their Paintings, Penguin Studio, New York, 1997, p. 60.). These were the words of Leroy, in a critical piece he published for Charivari entitled "Exhibition of the Impressionists", a term he borrowed from the painting by Monet. The vituperative article is as much historical as it is legendary in its criticism of one of the greatest schools of art that would soon to be the most influential and accepted aesthetics for its contemporary and posterity. The deft strokes of the impressionists seem quirky and ridiculous to the critics and public - not realising they were actually beholding - a form of aesthetics that was acutely and potently Contemporary. One could arhue that if all contemporary artists of their time need to be so much more advanced than their peers then their peculiar form of visual vocabulary and interpretation of their world would always be offensive and scandalous to their audience. The question also remains with us as the audience - remembering the story of the Impressionists and many others - our role as the living audience, our part-take in their works as the subject, as the muse and our interpretation of it: our responsibility in this writing of a new chapter. Contemporary Southeast Asian Art is in the making. This is true for any contemporary art form - an art that is with the time. In a mixture and diversity of mediums and disciplines, the artists strove to tell a tale of our time. " 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, 'it means what I choose to mean. Neither more or less!' 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'who is to be master, that's all.' " (Robert Miller & Ian Currie, "The Element of Meaning", in The Language of Poetry, Heinemann Education Books, London, 1982, p. 48).

AHMAD ZAKII ANWAR (b. Malaysia 1955)

Equilibrium

細節

AHMAD ZAKII ANWAR (b. Malaysia 1955)
Equilibrium
signed and dated 'Ahmad Zakii Anwar, 03' (lower right)
acrylic on canvas
26 x 79 in. (66.5 x 200 cm.)

拍品專文

"Fundamentally, Zakii's figures elucidate his personal meditations on spirituality and the infinite power of the soul. They play upon the canvas as an extension of his intimate quest through darkness for transcendence and absolute illumination. Yet, we easily recognize the quest as our own; it is at once ethereal and timeless. And it becomes all the more personal for us as a result of Zakii's minimalist composition, which strips away non-essential elements. We inevitably examined our mirrored selves, realizing that though we have journeyed long and mightily, we continue to tread, not in heaven but along razor's edge of the mundane, material world. We remain in darkness, forever summoned by our possibilities." (Barbara Greene, 'Presence', in Ahmad Zakii Anwar Presence, Babara Greene Fine Art, New York, 1999, p. 6).

Zakii's early preoccupation with a vast, dark and ambiguous terrains in juxtaposition with the human figures adapts another form with the present lot. Space has always been an essential element with the works of Zakii, be it with the early Smoker and Sofa series or with the Buddha series of the present lot.

Space functions like a full stop in statements. It allows room for a pause, for contemplation and reflection. Space in the work of Zakii, functions like a form of accentuation, in its immensity, it allows the artist to play out the qualities of "transcendence and absolute illumination" of his subject. The primary subject of the present lot is the serene face of the Buddha.

"The Buddha series is about man's search for his true identity behind the various masks he wears throughout the course of his life. Unraveling the intricate layers of man's nature ultimately leads to metaphysical examinations. The relationship between creator and creation forms the basis for this series of works." (Email correspondence with Ahmad Zakii Anwar, 3rd April 2005).

The complex issues of identity have always intrigued the artist and remain a recurrent theme for Zakii. The creator who creates is in turn defined by its own creations, hence an unbreakable relationship of compliments and enhances. Despite the monochromatic effect applied by Zakii with this present lot, Zakii's tonal palette in Equilibrium is rich and curiously luminous - the light sheen on the Buddha's serene smile is almost palpable in the waft of earthy tones that traverse the canvas. As in many of Zakii's paintings, the composition is carefully constructed, in harmony with the vast space he needs to tell a tale. The placement of the pebbles enriches the composition with a textural feel and the allowance of shades with the stones adds on to an atmospheric effect, corresponding with THAT effervescent smile.