Obscured Lucidity

It’s fresh times for Richard Koh Fine Art, which has added new plans to its exhibition roster. Beginning with ‘Obscured Lucidity’ this month, the gallery is rolling out a series of recurring exhibitions in its KL and Singapore spaces, centred on the themes of abstraction and figuration.

It’s the former that’s in the limelight with ‘Obscured Lucidity’, which features Saiful Razman, Fendy Zakri and Raduan Man. ‘We picked these three artists to serve as an introduction to the painterly process of image-making, representing three distinct approaches that result in a type of gestural abstraction,’ says Haffendi Anuar, a writer and researcher at the gallery. There are plans to bring the show to Singapore, with new works from the trio.

For now, expect abstract works doused in expressionist brushstrokes, which cast a shadow over any clear-cut message or story. Is abstract art just an excuse for artistic self-indulgence? Haffendi tells us: ‘As a gallery, we think that with the proliferation of figurative paintings in the scene, abstract works tend to get overlooked and yes, we agree that abstract pieces, due to their visual seductiveness (in some cases) and cryptic messages, tend to be regarded as decorative pieces, though they do point back to the formal language of painting and the painterly processes of image making.’

The technique’s there, no doubt. So is the pleasure-seeking paintwork from the three artists. Not that there’s ever a problem with that.