Kok Yew Puah

RESEARCH / RESOURCE CENTRE

Kok Yew Puah

Portrait of a Malaysian Artist

Kok Yew Puah: Portrait of a Malaysian Artist 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.

Videos (Playlist)

Newspapers

• Artist son's work on show another triumph for Puah - The Sunday Times (April 18, 1971)
• Kok Yew, the perfect stand-in for teachers - The Straits Times (February 18, 1972)
• Artists on the move to Klang - The Sunday Times (November 4, 1973)
• Philip Morris Art Awards 1995 - Business Times (July 22, 1995)
• Kok Yew paints a changing world - The Star
• Brushing up on the past - New Sunday Times (March 14, 1993)
• Art... is Life! - Nanyang Siang Pau (November 15, 1995)
• Observer of the Ordinary - Sunday Star (April 4, 1999)
• Seeing beyond his canvas - New Straits Times (April 25, 1999)

Exhibition Catalogues & Invitations

• Kok Yew Puah: Gerafik2/ Graphics - First Solo Exhibition Invitation (Samat Art Gallery)
• Kok Yew Puah: Paintings 1985 - 1993 Exhibition Catalogue (Balai Seni Lukis Negara)
• Kok Yew Puah: Paintings 1985 - 1993 Exhibition Invitation (Balai Seni Lukis Negara)
• Kok Yew Puah: Klang and Beyond Exhibition Catalogue (Valentine Willie Fine Art)
• Kok Yew Puah: Klang and Beyond Exhibition Invitation (Valentine Willie Fine Art)

Articles

• Klang District and Town: History and Historical Sources - Khoo Kay Kim (Kekal Abadi 8(2) June, 1989)
• Development of Malaysian Modern Printmaking Through ITM Academic Programme - Dr. Choong Kam Kow