LEVEL 5 EXHIBITION
Kok Yew Puah: Portrait of a Malaysian Artist
12 OCTOBER 2021 - 3 APRIL 2022
This exhibition reflects on the work of a Malaysian who chose to become an artist twice. Kok Yew Puah (1947-1999) first impressed the local scene when he returned from his studies in Melbourne as a bold hard-edge abstract printmaker in the early 1970s, one among many artists trying to find a direction in the fray of competing isms, ideologies, and social politics of the time. After leaving art for several years to run a family business, he forged a new practice as a figurative painter, producing some of the most honest, human, and subjective representations of the country’s visual landscape of the late 1980s and 90s. He passed away at the age of 51.
UPCOMING EXHIBITION
The ILHAM Art Show 2022
April - September 2022
The ILHAM Art Show is a triennial exhibition platform initiated by ILHAM to give artists the opportunity to experiment and make new work. Those selected to participate in the ILHAM Art Show are awarded an art production grant to be put towards the making of their new work. The ILHAM Art Show serves as a platform to support and promote contemporary art in Malaysia and stimulate lively public discussion and critical debate.
ILHAM received more than 360 applications for the ILHAM Art Show 2022. Applications were reviewed by a selection panel including Rahel Joseph, Director, ILHAM Gallery, Shabbir Hussain Mustafa, Senior Curator, National Gallery Singapore, and Zoe Butt, Artistic Director, The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, Vietnam.
The selected artworks will be presented at the ILHAM Art Show 2022 which will be held at ILHAM Gallery from April - September 2022.