작품 상세

Is the Malay kampung a time bubble preserving the natural and simple life reminiscent of the halcyon (Tan Sri) P. Ramlee days, and in what form? The kampung is oft thought to be a place of solace and rejuvenation, even self recalibration, for the urbanites weary of high living costs and social angst. To those inured to Kow Leong Kiang’s slew of young kampung girls in Kelantan and Terengganu done between 1999 and 2003, this curious portrait done in 2006 elicits a double take. There is still an aura of innocence about the two girls, probably sisters, but the faces look a bit rouged up, maybe it’s because of the relatively thicker pigment, and what looks like lipstick on their faces makes the girl look more matured. Has the Kampung Girl as extolled in Kow’s oeuvre undergone a change, shaped by trends or environment or are our eyes deceiving us because of the textural layers? The hair is neatly combed back and tied up, and the girls are not taken to wearing tudung (head scarf) yet, as is the stricture in the more conservative East Coast States. Kow Leong Kiang stamped his class when he clinched then Southeast Asia’s most coveted prize, the Grand Prize of the Philip Morris Asean Art Awards, in the finals in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 1998, with his work, Mr. Foreign Speculator, Stop Damaging Our Country. Other accolades include the Minor Award in the Young Contemporary Artists (BMS) competition in 1992 and the Major Award in the National Day competition. His art residences include the Vermont Studio Centre, USA (2004) and the Tembi Contemporary in Yogyakarta, and he had featured in Art Busan, Art Formosa, Art Stage Singapore and Art Expo Malaysia. His painting of Mahsuri for the cover of Ooi Kok Chuen’s novel, MAHSURI A Legend Reborn (2016), has been dubbed the Malaysian Mona Lisa. Kow graduated from the Kuala Lumpur College of Art in 1991.