What is Malaysian art? How has it changed over the years?
This is what Between Generations - 50 Years Across Modern Art in Malaysia, an art exhibition currently held at USM’s Muzium & Galeri is trying to put across to you and me.
We were there two days ago to visit and see the art pieces on display - one of the perks of having our office in USM. 
Organised by USM, Universiti Malaya, Valentine Willie Fine Art & Penjanabebas, the art exhibition showcases some of the famous Malaysian artists of our time such as Ibrahim Hussein (who owns an art gallery in Langkawi), Bayu Utomo, Kow Leng Kiang, Jolly Koh, Latiff Mohideen, Joseph Tan, J. Anu (who used to write an art column in The Star before he left to study art in Australia) and lots more.
What’s interesting is that some of these art pieces are privately owned but make their appearance in this exhibition. And it’s not only painting in acrylic, oil and watercolours. We saw a number of sculpted art and installations, not to mention video art, some taken using the camera of a mobile phone.
In this context, what intrigued me was the fact that colours and medium did reflect changes over the decades. And each piece did have a message - some social, some personal and some oddly disconcerting! Bayu Utomo’s piece on child abuse was highly graphic. Another art piece was a not-so-veiled attack on the Jasin MP of the “close one eye” affair! The Malay madonna with her sombre cat by J.Anu gave off an air of pensiveness and resignation.
I like encouraging my team to look at art because it’s not only therapeutic but it can also challenge us to question what we see and if we agree with the artist’s point of view. It helps us to see too from another perspective. Perspectives are important for anyone in any business. And particularly important for my team when we help clients design good-looking and profitable websites.
So take a trip and visit the exhibition soon because it ends on 31 December. It’s an insight into the minds of Malaysian artists across generations and the issues and concerns of their day.
To your (artistic outing) success,
Nic