작품 상세

Indulge in the luxuriant decadence of pleasure amidst Nature's abundance, like here in the Alishan mountain enclave in Taiwan, with spectacular rock formations and the majestic Jiao Lung Waterfall. Idle in forgetfulness, where time stops and the environs full of golden hues and leafless trees hug the sides like portal guardians. Herein, colours can be joyous as well as ecstatic, seeping into the soul like an elixir. A veritable "Xanadu … a stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea." (Kubla Khan, Samuel Taylor Coleridge). Such are the lush colours of Dr. Jolly Koh, the consummate colourist, evoking dreams of yesteryears. It's incredible that the cosmopolitan Dr. Jolly Koh, at 82, is still spooling his beauteous landscapes since his first solo in 1958, though he gained fame as one of the Magnificent 7. Born in Singapore, grew up in Malacca, educated in the finest traditions of art in Britain and the United States, and teaching in Kuala Lumpur, Sabah and Australia. Jolly Koh graduated with a NDD (national diploma in design) at the Hornsey College of Art in London in 1962, followed up with an art teacher's certificate at the London University (Institute of Education) in 1993. He won a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Indian University in the United States, completing his Doctor of Education in 1975 and Master of Science in 1973 (he was also a teaching associate from 1973-1975. He taught briefly at the Mara Institute of Technology and Sabah's Gaya College before teaching Art in Melbourne and Adelaide and then back to Malaysia at the MSC College (Now SeGi College). He was one of the Magnificent 7 in the GRUP exhibition in 1967. In 2017, he held a retrospective of sorts at White Box, Publika (Kuala Lumpur) which was marked by a sumptuous 350-page coffee-table book called Jolly Koh @ 76. It was organised by Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers.