2021.01.09 Sat, by
“Volume Eleven” by Ash Ghazali & S.E.A. FOCUS 2021 featuring Hu Qiren, 16 – 24 Jan 2021

Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA) is pleased to announce Singaporean artist, Ash Ghazali’s (b. 1975) first solo exhibition with RKFA. Titled Volume Eleven, this exhibition is scheduled to run from 16th January – 6th February 2021 at Richard Koh Fine Art Singapore, Blk 47 Malan Road, #01-26 Gillman Barracks, Singapore 109444. The artist will present eleven selected works from his ‘Cut Paintings’ series.

In Volume Eleven, Ghazali unveils his ‘Cut Paintings’ series which combines geometric abstraction with traditional fabrics from the Malay ethnic groups of Indonesia and Malaysia. Cutting into fabrics from traditional costumes, typically used in festive and religious ceremonies, and also painted canvases, Ghazali arranges these cut pieces in a series of folds and layers, that creates a single vertical slit down the middle of the composition. Upon closer inspection, this chasm is made with disparate fabrics placed askew – subtle shifts in fabric grain and dye provide aesthetic pleasure; hemlines and shadows from folds and layers create bold lines.

RKFA_E-invite_Volume Eleven_Ash Ghazali

Viewers are presented with hints of the artist’s aesthetic responses via the act of cutting and the progressive layering of materials. The process acts as a function of Ghazali’s suggestions embedded in the work and the connections pursued to provide knowledge about his past experiences and affective state. The layered elements are juxtaposed clearly, suggesting a sense of story and inviting connection.

Underlyingly, it reaches into the unconscious to reveal personal meaning for Ghazali within his ethno-political conflict for diasporic identity. As such, the body of work serves as a cathartic process for Ghazali as a conduit to seek balance between anarchy and peace. On one side, Ghazali focuses on the balance of materials, colour and form in the midst of presenting scrupulously clean skew lines, but they can also be read as a rupture in an otherwise perfect state – they are a reflection of his own dissidence and oblique perspectives.

RKFA_E-invite_S.E.A. Focus 2021_Hu Qiren

Richard Koh Fine Art (RKFA) is pleased to announce its participation in S.E.A. Focus 2021 (Curated & Digital) featuring new works of Singaporean artist Hu Qiren (b.1983). Titled A Grocer’s Essentials, this body of work physically exhibits at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, #01-05, 39 Keppel Road, Singapore 089065 from 22 – 31 January 2021 and digitally on the leading global online marketplace; Artsy, within the same period. S.E.A. Focus Digital can be accessed at artsy.net

In A Grocer’s Essentials, Hu responds to the extraordinary moment that humanity is facing right now. This body of work was created during the stay home period and expresses Hu’s psychological and emotional state whilst immersing deep into his practice in isolation. Reflecting on the current crisis and its resulting impact and restrictions on daily life, the works are also a personal response to questions of ‘Life & Death’. The works manifest itself from Hu’s personal inquiries; how do our lives take shape in a global pandemic? How has the virus sabotaged and interrupted production of supplies that are marked essential to our existence?