Shooshie Sulaiman’s pictures of unidentified figures initially appear alien and even monstrous: rendered hairless in unusual and even sickly colors, they stand in stark contrast to the aesthetic ideals of conventional portraiture. The subject in Dulu atas pedestal, sekarang dalampedestal / Before on pedestal, now inside (2005), a ball point pen and charcoal rendering of a bald figure with a wide-eyed stare, appears caught in a distressingly static state, at once both uncomfortable and yet incapable of ameliorating his condition. Sulaiman’s subject here becomes an almost frightening sight, the emotive brush strokes replaced by the ball point pen’s erratic black lines, the eyes and mouth scribbled over in a deliberately defacing gesture. Red arrows and strange lines of text jut out from his face, and a splotch of red seeps out from the scribbled black lines around his mouth, suggesting unspoken traumas made all the more prescient by the confining black box around his head, a motif that echoes British painter Francis Bacon’s use of cube-like shapes in his “scream” portraits. Sulaiman’s paintings, on many levels, foreground bodies as vulnerable sites. At the same time, her work also responds to contemporary practices that privilege branding and commerce over creative originality. Sulaiman’s work effectively translates psychological anxieties endemic to nation building traumas in contemporary Malaysia, the result of a nascent free market economy and its social effects. Her commitment to analog technique represents a decisive injunction against the mass-produced that gestures towards freer expressiveness through artistic practice.
Shooshie Sulaiman is one of the leading creative practitioners in Southeast Asia. Her work develops in various forms, from site-specific installations and outdoor performances, to a daily practice of writing and drawing. She started her artistic practice during the 1990’s, when Malaysia opened to the free market and became more international, not without psychological impact on its society. Thus, her work can be perceived as a precious testimony of what the country went through, an emotional landscape of what happened politically and socially during that time.
Women Art Revolution Alicia Smith, Amapola Prada, Claudia Joskowicz, Clarisse Hahn, Fang Lu, Laura Huertas Millán, Lynn Hershman Leeson, siren eun young jung Women Art Revolution draws a selection of works from the KADIST collection that aim to initiate conversations around women’s issues, feminism, and feminist art...
Following a series of related works, Brutalismo Americano by Marlon de Azambuja is a site-specific sculptural installation produced during the artist’s residency at Kadist, San Francisco in 2017...
Artists reflect on Success – Art and Cake July 4, 2023 July 4, 2023 Author Artists reflect on Success Amanda Maciel Antunes POLAROID Mount Wilson I’VE GOT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING self portrait I define success by the ability to contribute to the visualization of the invisible, to communicate the incommunicable and define the elusive...
Nathanaëlle Herbelin — Musée d’Orsay — Exposition — Slash Paris Connexion Newsletter Twitter Facebook Nathanaëlle Herbelin — Musée d’Orsay — Exposition — Slash Paris Français English Accueil Événements Artistes Lieux Magazine Vidéos Retour Nathanaëlle Herbelin Exposition Peinture À venir Nathanaëlle Herbelin, Jeremie en pull, 2022 — 22 x 27 cm — Huile sur toile Courtesy de l’artiste © Nathanaëlle Herbelin Nathanaëlle Herbelin Dans 4 mois : 22 avril → 26 juin 2024 Dates provisoires — Printemps 2024 Fréquentant assidûment les collections du musée d’Orsay depuis l’enfance, l’artiste franco-israélienne Nathanaëlle Herbelin est invitée à mettre en perspective ses toiles et ses sources d’inspiration...
Weekly Southeast Asia Radar: 70 years of filmmaking in Indonesia; Malaysia's digital theatre | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia ArtsEquator Radar Liver and Lungs Production August 19, 2020 ArtsEquator’s Southeast Asia Radar features articles and posts about arts and culture in Southeast Asia, drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region...
In the painting called “The Consciousness of Memory, Time, and Guilt” as in many of her recent works, the body is fragmented...
Artists reflect on Success – Art and Cake July 4, 2023 July 4, 2023 Author Artists reflect on Success Amanda Maciel Antunes POLAROID Mount Wilson I’VE GOT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING self portrait I define success by the ability to contribute to the visualization of the invisible, to communicate the incommunicable and define the elusive...
Artists reflect on Success – Art and Cake July 4, 2023 July 4, 2023 Author Artists reflect on Success Amanda Maciel Antunes POLAROID Mount Wilson I’VE GOT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING self portrait I define success by the ability to contribute to the visualization of the invisible, to communicate the incommunicable and define the elusive...
Nathanaëlle Herbelin — Musée d’Orsay — Exhibition — Slash Paris Login Newsletter Twitter Facebook Nathanaëlle Herbelin — Musée d’Orsay — Exhibition — Slash Paris English Français Home Events Artists Venues Magazine Videos Back Nathanaëlle Herbelin Exhibition Painting Upcoming Nathanaëlle Herbelin, Jeremie en pull, 2022 — 22 x 27 cm — Huile sur toile Courtesy de l’artiste © Nathanaëlle Herbelin Nathanaëlle Herbelin In 4 months: April 22 → June 26, 2024 Dates provisoires — Printemps 2024 Fréquentant assidûment les collections du musée d’Orsay depuis l’enfance, l’artiste franco-israélienne Nathanaëlle Herbelin est invitée à mettre en perspective ses toiles et ses sources d’inspiration...
The title of Alicia Smith’s video work, Teomama , means “God Carrier” in the Aztec language of Nahuatl...