11 Feb We Are 5
Our first domestic exhibition for 2017 is an especially special one – to commemorate Artemis Art’s fifth anniversary as an art gallery. We Are 5 brings together a selection of artworks by over twenty artists whom we’ve worked with over the last five years.
The exhibition will take place at White Box, MAP@Publika, Kuala Lumpur, from 13 to 19 February 2017. In conjunction with the exhibition, we will also be holding our Chinese New Year Open House, from 3 to 8pm on Saturday, 18 February 2017. The exhibition is made possible by the kind support rendered to us by our venue partner, MAP@Publika, as part of their concerted effort in making Publika the go-to for visual art in Kuala Lumpur.
We Are 5 is, in part, a look back at our five year history as told through the artworks from the many artists we’ve had the opportunity and privilege to exhibit. While it’s not possible to include every single artist from the 45 exhibitions we’ve organized over the five year period, we decided that the selection be based on important milestones in the gallery’s history. In addition, within the exhibition will be a sneak preview of what Artemis Art has planned for the near future.
The participating artists comprise mostly young and emerging artists from Indonesia and Malaysia, two countries we have been focusing on most since our gallery began in 2011. They are: Adam K., Ajim Juxta, Anddy Romeo Dulait, Andrialis Abdul Rahman, Christine Das, Crig Royno Francis (aka Cracko), Dedy Sufriadi, Dennis Liew, ERYN (Winnie Cheng), Fahmi Taib, Fitri Raslan, Haris Rashid, Hazul Bakar, Indra Dodi, Jahabar Sadiq, Jasmine Kok, Lisa Foo, Lyia Meta, Ng Kim Heoh, Nik Mohd Shahfiz, Rahman Roslan, Riduan, Robi Fathoni, Ruzzeki Harris, Syahbandi Samat, T.W. Chang (aka Skinner), Viko Zhijune, Vivi Kartina Hazolene, Yasmeen Cheong, and Yuli Yap.
With a participation of thirty two artists, the styles and mediums presented will expectedly be varied. It’s representative of the multifarious variety of visual art that we’ve exhibited thus far. We will be updating this page very soon with images of artworks and installation shots later on, so stay tuned. Updates for this webpage, and any up-to-the-minute news, will be announced on our Facebook page.
We Are 5 brings together thirty two artists with whom Artemis Art has worked with over the past five years, plus works by one artist who we will be showing more of in the near future. In addition, the exhibition includes a sneak peek at some of the things we have planned in the coming months.
Adam K.
born 1985 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Previous exhibition:
50 Shades of Malaysia
Guilty Pleasures
If there is one area that Malaysia has great abundance of, it’s the immense cultural richness contributed by the diverse groupings that collectively live in our nation.
Visual artist Adam K., one of the four Cracko Art Group (CAG) artists participating in our exhibition, has contributed a graphite drawing, Kinoringan om Pusuansigar, depicting a scene from the story of Kinombura and Pasuansigar, two star-crossed lovers whose tale ends in tragedy, which originates from Adam’s native village of Tambunan in Sabah. According to Adam, this lore is related to how the traditional string instrument, the sundatang, got its shape.
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Ajim Juxta
born 1983 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
50 Shades of Malaysia
Amplify
Young Art Taipei 2016
Bazaar Art Jakarta 2016
Presence
Our participation in Young Art Taipei in 2016, saw our nominee for the Young Art Award once again gaining top honors. Unlike in 2015, the award recognized the top three artists on an equal basis, and one of them was Artemis Art’s nominee, young Malaysian visual artist Ajim Juxta.
This marked the first time a Malaysian artist has won the award, making Ajim’s achievement an important milestone for Artemis Art as a gallery.
The winning artwork is part of Ajim’s Arcology series, a futuristic look at humankind’s evolution, taking into account current trajectories, as the artist sees them. Coined by Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri in the 1960s, the arcology is a conceptual design construct that envisages megalithic self-sustaining structures within which all imaginable forms of human activity can take place.
Topeng Tengkorak is another work in the Arcology series, while the other two artworks included are from the related Tugu (or Monument) series.
Ajim has just completed his residency in Taiwan, the main prize for his Young Art Award achievement. The residency also provided an opportunity to exhibit in a two-man show, with a co-residency artist, Helí García from Spain, in Haohaus, Taipei.
In addition, Ajim Juxta was also one of the seventeen Malaysian visual artists selected for 2017’s Young Guns award, held earlier this year.
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Anddy Romeo Dulait
born 1980 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions:
CAG: Circus
50 Shades of Malaysia
Guilty Pleasures
Another member of Cracko Art Group (CAG) is Anddy Romeo Dulait, who was part of our first exhibition in the current space, Circus, back in 2013, and more recently Guilty Pleasures in 2015.
Anddy is a skilled figurative artist, adept in the art of figuration. His work included in this exhibition recounts a tragedy that occurred in Sabah, where poachers mutilated a pygmy elephant for its tusks, leaving the poor creature to die in a very grotesque way. This, and other actions detrimental to nature, have a common root, the very human nature of greed, that manifests itself not only through the actions of the poacher but also perhaps through other man-made circumstances that lead to poaching becoming a course of action taken.
It does make us wonder what other horrifying actions may have taken place in the jungles without us knowing. For without any witnesses to report the mischief, only the jungle would know.
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Andrialis Abdul Rahman is a visual artist who uses photography as a means to express her creative self. We first encountered her work when Artemis Art acted as sponsor-partner for Elusive, a group exhibition by the Studio Mekar art collective, and is currently a lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in the Department of Photomedia Creative, teaching various aspects of photography, including experimental art photography, an area that is of particular interest to her.
She believes the right picture can transmit emotions, messages and evoke feelings. She dreams of living in a rectangular frame and sharing it with the world.
Since our first encounter with this very talented artist back in 2015, Andrialis has exhibited with us in two group exhibitions, Equilibrio and Vice Versa, both in 2016, and makes another appearance in this exhibition. Her talent speaks through her works, and it is always a delight to have the opportunity to show her works.
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Christine Das
born 1966 in Penang, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
50 Shades of Malaysia
FACETS
Art Kaohsiung 2015
Back in 2015, Artemis Art staged our first large scale exhibition, FACETS, a group exhibition by the all-women collective Cerebral V. One of the artists who participated in that important exhibition was Christine Das, an accomplished visual artist originally from Penang.
Her passion for nature can frequently be seen in her artwork, evident in the two pieces included in this exhibition. Christine works closely with the Borneo Conservation Trust Sabah and WWF Malaysia towards assisting with the conservation of Borneo Elephants and their habitats. She uses her art to help raise awareness as well as raise funds for this cause.
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Crig Royno Francis (Cracko)
born 1978 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions:
CAG: Circus
50 Shades of Malaysia
Crig Royno Francis, otherwise known as Cracko, is one of the founding members of the Kota Kinabalu-based Cracko Art Group (CAG), an active but fluid visual art collective. Ever since its formation in 2010, CAG has endured as a key creative hub for young art and young artists in the Kota Kinabalu area.
CAG’s Circus was the first exhibition held at Artemis Art’s current space when we moved there in early 2013, making the collective a rather memorable one to have worked with.
For We Are 5, Crig has contributed two recent artworks, continuing with his concern for society at large. For instance, ctrl+alt+del is in essence a critique about human nature, of how the consciousness and intelligence developed over the many millennia has somehow evolved to make mankind the most destructive species on Earth. Perhaps, the artist opines, the time has come for a major “reset”.
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Dedy Sufriadi
born 1976 in Palembang, Indonesia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
Art Expo Malaysia 2012
Art Expo Malaysia 2013
HYPERTEXT
Singapore Art Fair 2014
Young Art Taipei 2015
Art Kaohsiung 2015
Singapore Contemporary 2016
Young Art Taipei 2016
Bazaar Art Jakarta 2016
Singapore Contemporary 2017
Since our first participation in 2015, Young Art Taipei has become an important activity in our annual art fair schedule. A highlight of this art fair, whose focus is on artists 45 years of age and younger, is the annual Young Art Award.
One important milestone in Artemis Art’s first five years is Dedy Sufriadi winning the top honors for 2015’s Young Art Award, making him the first ever artist from Indonesia to win the award.
The winning artwork was one of the works in his Burning Series, one of Dedy’s most well-known series of artwork. Also in this series is “Puppet Figure #2”, which has been included as one of the artist’s works exhibited in We Are 5.
We started exhibiting Dedy Sufriadi’s works in 2012, co-hosting his first Malaysian solo exhibition, HYPERTEXT, in 2014. His works regularly appear as part of our international art fair participations, and will remain for the foreseeable future an artist we will continue to work closely with.
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Dennis Liew
born 1986 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions:
Fusion Revival
I M POSSIBLE
Presence
Among the young adult artists with Learning Difficulties (LD) whom we’ve worked with is Dennis Liew, whose solo exhibition Fusion Revival in 2014 introduced a style that fuses traditional visual styles from the East and West.
Combining traditional Chinese ink and brush art techniques with the classical European post-Impressionist pointilism, Dennis has arrived at a somewhat distinct style he calls Fusion Revivalism.
The dreamy landscapes he creates through this method are purely from his rich imagination, an imagined utopia of undisturbed fauna and flora, where nature is truly at peace.
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ERYN
Winnie Cheng, born 1983 in Kedah, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
Elusive
Equilibrio
Amplify
Young Art Taipei 2016
Vice Versa
Presence
An award-winning young Malaysian artist we have had the privilege to work with is ERYN, the artist persona adopted by Penang-based artist Winnie Cheng.
ERYN was the 2015 Gold Award winner for UOB’s Painting of the Year competition, in the Emerging Artist category, She is known for her intricate layered paper drawings, a style that paved the way for her winning the prestigious annual award.
The two works included were originally part of Artemis Art’s debut exhibition in Indonesia, Vice Versa, where ERYN joined twelve other young artists from Indonesia and Malaysia.
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Fahmi Taib
born 1989 in Johor Bharu, Johor, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions:
mea cuppa
50 Shades of Malaysia
BEGIN
ASWARA, the National Art Culture and Heritage Academy, here in Kuala Lumpur, has produced a number of visual artists over the years.
One of the artists from this institution is Fahmi Taib, who has exhibited with us several times over the last five years. He is perhaps best known for his portaitures of children, for him a manifestation of hope and a better future.
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Fitri Raslan
born 1995 in Malaysia
Previous exhibitions:
Pieces of Joy
Paint With Me
Colours of Joy
Vivid (part of CAFFA 2015)
Supporting children and young adult artists with Learning Difficulties (LD) has been one area that Artemis Art has been involved with since the gallery began.
Among the artists whose works we have been featuring in the exhibitions for LD artists we have organized over the past five years is Fitri Raslan, now in his early 20s.
Art is an important form of expression for Fitri, an outlet for the zest and energy within this very outgoing young man.
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Haris Rashid
born 1992 in Kedah, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
Beauty In The Beast
CAFFA: The Art Project
Elusive
Art Kaohsiung 2015
Young Art Taipei 2016
HUMANIMAL
Citizen Art Shanghai (AArt) 2016
Artemis Art’s focus on young artists has been the key driver behind the gallery’s activities over the years. One such young artist whom we have shown regularly is Haris Rashid.
To date, this young artist has had two solo exhibitions. Beauty In The Beast, his first solo in 2015, became the first time we hosted a young artist’s debut solo exhibition. This was followed a year or so later with the artist’s second solo in 2016, HUMANIMAL, on a much bigger scale, held in White Box, MAP@Publika.
In addition to this young artist’s focus on his own career, he collaborates with other artists, primarily through his Studio Mekar collective. In 2015, Studio Mekar organized a large group exhibition, entitled Elusive, for which Artemis Art acted as partner-sponsor.
Using wildlife as visual metaphors, Haris Rashid’s works are more often than not critiques on many aspects human behavior, presented in a very ornate style, and with a liberal use of color. This young artist often sees human characteristics more honestly embodied in the animal world, as opposed to the human domain, which is something he finds both fascinating and worrying at the same time.
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Hazul Bakar
born 1989 in Johor, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions:
mea cuppa
50 Shades of Malaysia
BEGIN
Behind The Wall
ASWARA, the National Art Culture and Heritage Academy, here in Kuala Lumpur, has produced a number of visual artists over the years, a few of whom have had their artworks exhibited by Artemis Art.
One of the artist from this institution is Hazul Bakar, whose areas of specialization are painting and printmaking, particular in the areas of woodcut and silk screen printing. These two areas may be seen in the two artworks from the artist included in We Are 5.
Hazul is a diploma graduate from ASWARA, and is currently pursuing his bachelor degree from the same institution.
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Indra Dodi
born 1980 in Padang, Indonesia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
Bazaar Art Jakarta 2016
Citizen Art Shanghai (AArt) 2016
6075 Macau Hotel Art Fair
Singapore Contemporary 2017
Visual art is essentially about storytelling. And no one tells their stories on canvas quite as well, and as fun, as Yogyakarta-based Indra Dodi.
Originally from Padang, Indra’s art has evolved over the past several years from color field abstracts to the vivid naïve style of art he currently produces. But even in his early abstract works, one could already see semblances of shapes starting to emerge.
Just about any encounter, story or memory can trigger a series of creative imagery that will eventually find its way onto the canvas. Many of the object depicted in his works are random, while some quite symbolic of ideas he wishes to convey. The larger of the two pieces, Dinner Series #4, is part of an ongoing series of works based on an observation the artist made: when people get together in a group, whether it’s for business discussions, family get-togethers, or social pursuits with friends and loved ones, more often than not the group will find itself at the dinner or drinks table. It’s a universal human dynamic that can be observed the world over.
We began collaborating with Indra Dodi for Bazaar Art Jakarta in 2016, continuing this year with Singapore Contemporary, and in March 2017, Indra will be one of the three artists we will be featuring in Art Central Hong Kong.
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Jahabar Sadiq
born 1968 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions:
Faces and Phases
Hari Ini Dalam MY Sejarah (CAFFA 2015)
One area of visual art that Artemis Art features fairly regularly is photography. To date, we have organized five group and solo photography exhibitions, both within our gallery space and around Publika.
The very first photography exhibition we put together took in 2014 with “Face and Phases”, featuring Jahabar Sadiq (and one other mystery photographer), a career journalist, media producer, and at the time, CEO/Editor of The Malaysian Insider.
The images shown at the exhibition in 2014 were primarily from his years with Thomson Reuters, that took him to many interesting places as part of his work assignments. Jahabar is one person who is almost never seen without a camera of some variety.
Two works from this avid photographer have been included in this exhibition, his inclusion in We Are 5 a tribute of sorts to the man responsible for kickstarting our focus on photography.
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Jasmine Kok
born 1970 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
FACETS
Art Kaohsiung 2015
Singapore Contemporary 2016
Equilibrio
Presence
Of the many artists we have had the privilege to work with in the last five years, there is one artists who stands out above most others for her modal versatility. Jasmine Kok may primarily be a sculptor, but she has demonstrated the ability to produce a wide variety of art across a variety of genres.
We have selected two works that provide an indication of just how versatile this visual artist is, a stone sculpture and an etching/engraving print.
Those familiar with Jasmine’s work will know about her accident some years back, leading to her body of work focusing on her physical pain of recovery. As her recovery progressed, so has her art evolved, to embrace a more calm and spiritual outlook on life that the artist currently holds.
Jasmine’s mastery of the materials she works with is one aspect of the artist that garners a high level of respect, both from her peers, as well as from those who appreciate the fruits of her labor.
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One of the certainly more unique visual artists we have had the opportunity to work with is Lisa Foo. Formally trained as an architect, Lisa’s professional life deals with designing things that are permanent. But her installation art pieces on the other hand run counter to the demands of architecture, something of a conscious choice. Impermanence is a key idea in Lisa’s installation works.
The first time we exhibited her installation was during FACETS, the all-women group show we staged in 2015, and our first large scale art exhibition. Utilizing primarily found organic objects – leaves and twigs among her current favorite materials – the installations Lisa creates are simple, yet mesmerizing at the same time.
“Precious” is an installation that Lisa created specifically for this exhibition, and is a reminder that within the beauty that Mother Nature has to offer lies a fragility that is incumbent upon us all to protect.
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Lyia Meta
born 1971 in Malacca, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions:
Emergence
50 Shades of Malaysia
Apperception: Kaleidoscopic Nuances
Young Art Taipei 2015
Equilibrio
Over the years, Artemis Art has provided a platform for young and emerging artists, regardless of whether they are formally trained or self-taught.
Lyia Meta is one of those auto-didact talents whom we have worked with, initially exhibiting her artworks as part of Emergence, an early group exhibition organized by the gallery in 2012. Artemis Art hosted Lyia’s debut solo exhibition, Apperception: Kaleidoscopic Nuances in 2014.
Art, in its various manifestations, is a deep passion for Lyia, whose main occupation is a singer/songwriter, regularly performing with her husband in and around the Klang Valley.
The two artworks included in this exhibition are recent paintings by this passionate artist, who continues to create visual art, complementing her other artistic pursuits.
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Ng Kim Heoh
born 1961 in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions:
Our Love, Our Passion, Our Gratitude
Art Expo Malaysia 2012
Ng Kim Heoh first exhibited with us as one of the participating artists in Artemis Art’s first ever group exhibition back in 2012, Our Love, Our Passion, Our Gratitude, an all-women exhibition. Later in the same year, we featured her works in our first art fair participation, Art Expo Malaysia 2012.
Her two works shown here are from her recent 5th solo exhibition, “i.clouds”, held last year in Penang, where she currently resides.
“[F]or me, the symbol of clouds have a deeper meaning; it represents uncertainty, constant changing, nothingness, impermanence, which is connected emotionally with the soul-searching of my roots and identity in society.”
Ng Kim Heoh, i.clouds catalog
The feeling of being ‘unrooted’, not totally connected with her heritage, both as a Chinese Malaysian and being of Baba and Nyonya descent, makes Kim feel like a cloud, constantly “floating in space” in search of an identity she can comfortably call her own.
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Nik Mohd Hazri
born 1988 in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
Prologue
50 Shades of Malaysia
Art Expo Malaysia 2013
Carbon
Singapore Art Fair 2014
Presence
Nik Mohd Hazri is the eldest of the three very talented Nik Brothers. He had his first experience of exhibiting in a commercial gallery with Artemis Art back in 2013 with Prologue, a group exhibition with his then collective Intuitive Art Group.
In the same year, From Snow To Ashes, included in this exhibition, was featured in Art Expo Malaysia 2013, making Hazri the first young artist we featured in a major art fair. This powerful piece is the young artist’s statement about memory and remembrance, pondering upon what happens to our memories of those we leave behind, when we finally leave this mortal coil.
In the following year, Artemis Art also introduced his work to a more international audience when we featured a series of three paintings by him in Singapore Art Fair 2014. Since then he has exhibited regularly both in domestic venues, as well as in exhibitions and art fairs abroad.
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Nik M. Shazmie
born 1991 in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
50 Shades of Malaysia
Carbon
Presence
Singapore Contemporary 2017
The middle of the three Nik Brothers is Nik M. Shazmie. He was part of our 50 Shades of Malaysia project in 2013, and later that year was part of Carbon, a group exhibition by Intuitive Art Group, of which his brother Hazri was also a member.
He has since won several awards for his painting talent, including winning the grand prize for Nando’s annual Peri-fy Your Art competition two years in a row, in 2013 and 2014.
Shazmie’s current style, a major departure from the carricature-based works he was previously known for, enabled him to garner the Gold Award in the Established Artist category during the 2015 edition of the UOB Painting of the Year competition.
This year we featured him as one of the four participating artists in Singapore Contemporary, which took place in January 2017. His collection of artworks were well received by the fair’s visitors, who generally found them to be quite unique and refreshing. Kahwin Campur (or Mixed Marriage), included in We Are 5, was one of the artworks exhibited during the art fair.
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The youngest of the three very talented Nik Brothers, Nik Mohd Shahfiz produces works in a figurative style quite distinct from his brothers.
He was included as one of the seven young Malaysian artists in Vice Versa, Artemis Art’s first exhibition in Yogyakarta, along side six young Indonesian visual artists.
In the two works selected for “We Are 5”, The Offender 1 & 2, Shahfiz poses an interesting visual question – exactly who is the offender and who might be the offended?
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Rahman Roslan
born 1985 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
This is the first time Artemis Art is presenting artworks by this talented multidisciplinary artist
Rahman Roslan is photojournalist based in Kuala Lumpur. In the past several years, this multidisciplinary storyteller has produced some very compelling works of contemporary art, in various forms, that invite viewers to analyze and think.
Although this is the first time Artemis Art has been given the privilege to show Rahman’s works, he is one of the artists with whom we will be collaborating a lot more in the future. Part of a much larger body of work entitled “Between The Rivers”, the eight artworks exhibited here are a sampling from Rahman’s ‘Portrait of Sufis’ series.
In his own pursuit of spiritual growth, Rahman has had the opportunity to meet with many individuals he feels are enlightened, and who have in turn enlightened him.
They can be any people from all walks of life. They defy the typical description of ‘Sufis’ and their wisdom truly symbolise the essence and mission of Sufism and Islam: to find our way ‘Home’. Only they know who they really are, and only they know who other Sufis are. They don’t speak of their mind but of their wisdom, which is a collective of mortal and divine knowledges. They are persons of knowledge, they know the obvious, the in-betweens and the secrets of the secrets.
Rahman Roslan, Multidisciplinary Storyteller
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Riduan
born 1976 in Palembang, Indonesia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
Art Expo Malaysia 2012
Asia Hotel Art Fair
Binding and Separating
Artemis Art’s first solo exhibition was held in 2013. Entitled Binding and Separating, the exhibition featured a collection of artworks by Riduan, a visual artist originally from Palembang and who currently lives and works in Yogyakarta.
Sign of Saint #2, one of the works exhibited during the solo exhibition, provides a good example of the unique texturing technique employed by Riduan, creating a three-dimensional visual feel on an otherwise physically flat canvas surface.
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For most artists, the pencil is an important intermediary implement in the process of creating visual art. But not for Robi Fathoni, whose mastery of the medium is evident in his artworks, created primarily with the mighty pencil.
His superb figurative works have earned him praise from just about anyone who has had the opportunity to view them.
Our first collaboration with this Yogyakarta-based visual artist is quite recent, having featured him as one of the four participating artists in Singapore Contemporary, in January 2017.
The two works included in this exhibition are testament to Robi’s skill as a visual artist. While primarily monochromatic, Robi frequently complements the imagery he creates with the judicious use of color, through the use of color pencils or on occasion acrylic paint.
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Ruzzeki Harris
born 1984 in Penang, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
Vice Versa
Art Taipei 2016
An important milestone that occurred in 2016 was Artemis Art participating in Asia’s longest running art fair, Art Taipei, in its 23rd edition last year.
Our first time participation in this prestigious art fair featured emerging Malaysian pop surrealist Ruzzeki Harris with Possessed, a new series of works, created specifically for Art Taipei 2016.
The series is essentially the artist’s critique of behavioral trends observed with the younger generation, related to, among other things, the obsession with electronic gadgetry. In all, there are six works that currently are included in the Possessed series.
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Syahbandi Samat
born 1992 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
Vice Versa
Presence
Another award-winning young artist we have had the distinct privilege to work with is Syahbandi Samat, whose ballpoint pen based artworks have earned him accolades.
He was selected as one of the winners in the 2011 edition of the Malaysian Emerging Artist Award (MEAA), and more recently one fo the seventeen Young Guns award reciepients announced earlier this year.
Syahbandi began exhibiting with Artemis Art during “Vice Versa”, our first exhibition in Yogyakarta, held last year as part of the larger Jogja Art Weeks program.
Unlike many other self-taught artist, we find that Syahbandi is unique in that a lot of forethought goes into the aesthetics of his art, setting him apart from other auto-didacts who tend to focus more on their skill.
Wallflower, a recent work by this young talent, is a piece that deals with insecurity and introversion. For Syahbandi, many introverts actually have very interesting personalities, waiting to be discovered, provided efforts are made to break the communication barrier, a wall that shuts in, as much as it shuts out.
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![Syahbandi Samat - Life Ain't That Sweet (form) (2023) - Mixed Media (Epoxy Resin and Stainless Steel) on Circular Wood Base - 18 x 7.5 x 7.5 cm (H x W x D) [5 color variants, each in editions of 10]](https://www.artemisartgallery.com/wp-content/gallery/syahbandi_samat/Syahbandi-Samat-LIfe-Aint-That-Sweet-form-All-Variants-cropped-2023.jpg "Syahbandi Samat - Life Ain't That Sweet (form) (2023) - Mixed Media (Epoxy Resin and Stainless Steel) on Circular Wood Base - 18 x 7.5 x 7.5 cm (H x W x D) [5 color variants, each in editions of 10]")
T.W. Chang (Skinner)
born 1978 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
mea cuppa
Emergence
Asia Hotel Art Fair
50 Shades of Malaysia
Art Expo Malaysia 2013
Dark Light & Deconstruct
CONJOIN: SPONTANEOUS #1
Young Art Taipei 2015
Among the many visual artists we have worked with the past five years, T.W. Chang, otherwise known as Skinner, is among one of the artists we’ve worked with longest. This self-taught artist is best known for his superbly detailed pen and ink artworks, in particular those from his Dark Forest and Smoke series of works.
Made By Humans is a new series by Skinner, his first body of work extensively using charcoal as the primary medium. Inspired by photography, this series of high contrast sketches takes a look at contemporary reality, seen through an erotic lens.
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Viko Zhijune
born 1993 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
Equilibrio
Citizen Art Shanghai (AArt) 2016
Presence
Viko Zhijune is a young artist who is deeply introspective. Her compositions combine abstract and figurative elements, often visually cryptic. Her intent may be surmised from the titles she gives her artworks, but Viko prefers viewers to interpret them based on the feelings the artworks evoke in each individual.
A graduate of Dasein Academy of Art, Viko began exhibiting with us last year, and we foresee more collaborations with this young talent in the coming years.
She is one of the artists we have selected to be part of Artemis Art’s participation in this year’s Young Art Taipei, taking place in April of this year.
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Vivi Kartina Hazolene
born 1979 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions / art fairs:
CAG: Guilty Pleasures
Equilibrio
Cracko Art Group, or CAG for short, has been an important part of Artemis Art’s history to date. We are truly delighted to feature two of the group’s founding members, the collective’s namesake, as well as Vivi Kartina Hazolene.
Vivi’s recent works have used discarded marine charts as the backdrop for her artworks. Her first experience exhibiting with us was two years ago in Guilty Pleasures, a group exhibition featuring three CAG artists.
Vivi has since exhibited with us in a few other exhibitions, most notably Equilibrio, which took place in 2016.
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Yasmeen Cheong
born 1994 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Previous exhibitions:
aveNew
Equilibrio
Vice Versa
Presence
When we first worked with Yasmeen Cheong, what struck us was her skillful use of charcoal in the series of portraitures that were her mainstay at the time.
Her current works delve deep into her psyche, to express her angst as a young adult living in a less than perfect world. At the same time she exhibits an increasing level of confidence by being more experimental in the media she uses.
A graduate of Dasein Academy of Art, Yasmeen first exhibited with us in 2015, and has continued to participate in selected group exhibitions organized by us throughout 2016.
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Yuli Yap
born 1986 in Houston, Texas
Previous exhibitions:
Pieces of Joy
Asia Hotel Art Fair
50 Shades of Malaysia
Mythologies
3Gen: A Family Affair
Vivid (CAFFA Art Project)
Yuli Yap is a very talented young artist with Aspergers, and is one of the artists with Learning Difficulties (LD) whom we’ve worked with over the years.
In 2013, Artemis Art hosted this young artist’s second solo exhibition, Mythologies, showcasing a collection of superbly executed works using color markers.
Yuli is also quite adept with other mediums, such as pen and ink, digital art, and more recently, acrylics. The artworks included in this exhibition are testament to his innate skills in pen and ink, and color composition, two areas Yuli especially enjoys.
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Download the We Are 5 eCatalog as a PDF
The eCatalog for this exhibition is now available for viewing, via issuu.com or through the embedded viewer below. You may also download a copy of the publication by clicking the link above.
Artemis Art’s first five years have indeed been an adventure. It has taught us much, and given us great impetus to venture further and better ourselves in time to come.
The exhibition has been made possible in a very big way through the kind support from our venue sponsor, MAP@Publika. Over the years, their concerted effort in making Publika the go-to in Kuala Lumpur for art and culture has certainly enriched our capital city.
As we look back, connecting the many dots we’ve identified, we certainly have come to the realization that Artemis Art would not be where we are today were it not for the numerous kindred souls, in particular the many collectors and art lovers we’ve had the privilege to meet along the way. Without your kind advice, encouragement, patronage, and support, we would definitely have not made it this far. It is partly to these individuals we dedicate this commemoration of our first five years.
The remaining bulk we dedicate to the visual artists we have had the good fortune to meet and to work with over the last five years. Ultimately, they are the real reason for our existence, and from whom we’ve learned in countless ways how to be better at what we do.
As we embark on the continuation of our journey, for as many more years as providence will allow, our heartfelt and sincere thanks to one and all.
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