작품 상세

The ruddy streaks of outlandish red at the top centre break the drab, dreary topography of grey, brown and dull green typical of Awang Damit Ahmad's incipient E.O.C. (Essence Of Culture) series chronicling the travails of life in the farms and in the choppy seas. While the rumbia (sago) affords basic sustenance in rural Kuala Penyu, the daily small mercies belie a tough existence. More than nostalgia, the E.O.C. series is an affirmation of the toughness and obstacles of life. The piai, a large mangrove fern with its roots entrenched on the banks, helps stem erosion. The veneer of scar-like crustiness exude a tactility of environs and spirit. This comes near the tail-end of Awang Damit's E.O.C. survival saga, which ended in 1995. Awang Damit Ahmad's first major international exhibition was the Contemporary Paintings of Malaysia at the Asia-Pacific Museum in Pasadena in 1988. He studied for his Masters at the Catholic University in Washington in 1990. A relative late starter in art at the age of 27, he studied Art at Universiti ITM and later taught there until his retirement as Associate Professor in 2011. His potential was seen when he won the Minor Award in the Bakat Muda Sezaman in 1984, but it was in 1991 that he won the coveted Painting Award (and Consolation Prize) in the Salon Malaysia III competition at the National Art Gallery in 1991. In 2012, he won the Gold Award in the Ecorea Jeonbuk Biennale and the Olympic Fine Art in London. His prices have been soaring high at the auction houses locally and abroad.