Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA) is pleased to present HOL (Higher Order Love), Chapter 1: The Fall by Hasanul Isyraf Idris at Richard Koh Fine Art, Bangsar Village II, Level 2, Lot No. 2F-3, Jalan Telawi 1, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 9 – 23 April 2016. The exhibition will be the artist’s third solo exhibition with the gallery, and brings together 21 intricate new works on paper ranging from intimate sketches using ink to complex large-scale mixed media drawings. The opening reception will be held on 9th of April (Saturday) from 6 – 9 pm.
Presenting the first chapter of HOL through a body of drawings, the artist stumbled upon the word by coincidence which was etched on an ancient marble in a Jewish burial site in Penang, Malaysia and which the artist personally interpreted the word as an acronym for “Higher Order Love”. The interpretation is also inspired by the Google search result, Higher Order Logic which references a complex high-level mathematical theory.
HOL which means to the artist, eternal love or unconditional love, is manifested into a ever growing and mutating universe fed by memories and sensations of the real-world. Memories according to the artist, evolve and mutate and eventually transform into a cerebral wilderness similar to a permanent forest reserve. Akin to the artist’s previous bodies of work, the universe of HOL is informed by Hasanul’s personal experiences, life events and rites of passages. The physical manifestation of the universe is divided into chapters that display episodes of memories and snippets of the artist’s life, conjuring complex scenes and wondrous landscapes populated by raging wild animals, strange characters in quarantined suits, a lake of seeds and places of worship. Real-world and fiction are woven on paper through precise and intricate drawn line and luscious color swatches.
HOL, Chapter 1: The Fall , the first chapter of the series presents scenarios that range from the experience of falling off a bike to the sensations of falling in love for the first time. They include moments of bliss and periods of gloom and signifies how the artist sees life as, a collection of memories and physical sensations to be cherished that also reminds us that we exist on earth.
