KVT – Malaysia Meets the Locals

KVT enjoys batik meeting gold leaf.

There are two group painting exhibitions in town this week.

Project Black at the Viet Arts Center should be pulling in the crowds because it is one of those punchy shows that deserves it.

The show at the Art Museum is far more restrained, genteel and a real contrast.

Art entrepreneur Tam Nguyen is pulling together fine art work and mounting solo and group exhibitions, This is the second I’ve seen and the quality of art is generally high.

Her featured lacquer artist from her last show in Ngo Quyen, diminutive and talented Ngo Hai Yen, is represented by two long and narrow ‘Passion’ nude abstacts which feature lots of her trade mark glinting gold leaf and are very seductive.

The star of the show is Malaysian artist Zaim bin Durulamen whose very beautiful canvasses are a rather delicious combination of mixed media and almost hyper-real brush work. I like the way that batik cloth has been used to replicate geographical features and is occasionally represented in paint as a delicate echo. The phalanx of dragon flies are evocative for anyone who has spent summer time by lazy Asian waterways and swampy lagoons.

The small “Force’ canvasses by another highly respected Malaysia Artist Yusof Ghani sweep up the walls like formations of typhoons ready to wreak havoc. They aren’t my cup of tea but will be favorites of a lot of viewers. Very nice use of paint.

The curator has countered the works of the venerated Malaysian with work by an equally venerated Vietnamese.