Having shown at their original location in Brickfields and also had a run all the way in Karachi, Pakistan, Wei-Ling Gallery now brings their annual ‘18@8’ group exhibition to their second space, Wei-Ling Contemporary.
Now in its seventh year, the theme for this year’s exhibition rolls pop culture and worldly issues all into one; it’s called ‘Save the Planet’, which essentially means that the artists will be highlighting the atrocities we terrible humans always seem to be causing. But don’t worry. It’s not all gloom and doom as the 18 artists in the show (the customary total for all 18@8 shows) – Ivan Lam, Justin Lim, Anurendra Jegadeva, Cheng Yen Pheng, Kim Ng, Donald Abraham, Cheong Tuck Wai, Yau Bee Ling, Yim Yen Sum, Ilham Fadly, Umibaizurah Mahir, Mohd Al-Khuzairie Ali, Dhavinder Singh, Azliza Ayob, Rajinder Singh, Choy Chun Wei, Gan Tee Sheng and Wong Chee Meng – are not only showing works that relate to the theme, but also debuting one-off Robonut limited edition collectible toys (think Be@rBricks) that they’ve worked on.
Set to be launched in 2012, the toy has been labeled ‘a good Samaritan’ without superpowers and it’s thereby – to some, we suppose – a character that we can all relate to. Still, this could be fun. Last year’s ‘18@8’ saw some empty Absolut Vodka bottles turned into gorgeous art and RM53,850 raised for the SPCA. Can they top that amount in this year’s ‘18@8 Save the Planet’ auction? We hope so. Rachel Jena