Is magnificence actually in the eye of the beholder? Head on over to Bad Taste: An Illustration Exhibition at Lostgens’ Contemporary Art Space in Kuala Lumpur, to place that idea to the check.
Organised and curated by the members of Meet The Kawan – comprising Minifanfan (aka Gee Fan Eng), Yuwen Ong and Yunroo – this exhibition goals to highlight the modern illustration scene in Malaysia.
It options the works of 11 native artists, whereas 14 worldwide artists from Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain and Taiwan are additionally in the line-up.
“As artists and designers, we have been trained on the principles of design aesthetics during our many years of art education. But the general public might have a different idea of what beauty is. This led us to ask the question, what is beauty? Are ugliness and beauty two opposing ideas or can something be both ugly and beautiful at the same time?
“With these questions in mind, this exhibition explores the idea of beauty, and the roles of ugliness and beauty. From ugly signboards to unpleasant everyday situations, we intend to reassess them by illustrations, to invoke a common unpleasant memory and feeling, and to spark a conversation with our audience,” says Yunroo.
‘Bad Taste: An Illustration Exhibition’, organised by Meet The Kawan, spotlights the modern illustration scene. — Titus TJT
The concept for Bad Taste first got here up at the finish of 2019, a time the place the most typical style of illustration was anime-style comedian art or conventional, lifelike wanting art, she notes.
Contemporary illustration was hardly in the highlight.
“Many people also think that one is truly a ‘good’ artist only if you are able to draw realistically. By showcasing the diverse art styles at Bad Taste, especially from our international guests, we hope to inspire young artists who are interested in pursuing contemporary illustration, and give them the courage to do so.
“For the public, we wish to introduce contemporary illustration to them, and at the same time, showcase our local talents. Many visitors have expressed surprise at the quality of our local artists’ works and we are honoured to be presenting them,” she provides.
Projek SembangSembang’s digital work ‘The Taste-y Society’. Photo: Projek SembangSembang
The artists in Bad Taste every introduced their distinctive perspective, fashion and interpretation of “bad” and “taste” to this present.
The result’s a various vary of works spanning digital collage, paper works, gouache, acrylic, pastels, sculpture and set up.
In a collaboration with movement designer Kar Hang, a sequence of six quick animations can also be displayed at the exhibition.
Reflecting the enjoyable, energetic and seemingly chaotic spirit of the exhibition, this animation mission attracts on the conceptualisation of an imaginative mini-mart that sells random knick-knacks. There are many acquainted photographs right here, like the bathroom paper with a “panic” label on it, impressed by the bathroom paper frenzy at the begin of the pandemic in 2020, and a banana, which is a dig at Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s “The Comedian” at Miami’s Art Basel which was merely a contemporary banana duct-taped to a wall.
Diego Mallo’s ‘What You Looking At’ (papercut, pencil, gouache and digital collage). Photo: Diego Mallo
Besides the exhibition, there can be an Illustration Forum – Staying Creative In An Ever-Changing World on Jan 22 (7.30-9.30pm) with Apohapoh, Art:tech and Kathrin Honesta, held on-site and nearly. This is a ticketed occasion (RM50 in particular person and RM20 nearly).
“Apohapoh has been working as a tattoo artist and illustrator for years, Art:tech as a multidisciplinary artist, and Kathrin Honesta is known for her editorial illustrations. In this forum, we will be talking about the challenges and changes the artists have made or encountered during the pandemic, and how they use social media and technology to their advantage.
“Since they have been working in this line for years, we are also curious about their respective creative journeys and setbacks, and the way they overcame negativity. These are the topics which we find relevant especially during the pandemic, and we hope our audience would find these topics interesting as well,” says Yunroo.
Bad Taste: An Illustration Exhibition is on at Lostgens’ Contemporary Art Space, Jalan Panggong in Kuala Lumpur until Jan 23. Opening hours: 1pm-7pm on weekdays, 1pm-9pm on weekends.
More information here.
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