작품 상세

Dr. Jolly Koh mostly has his gorgeous monochromes in vertical awe of height, distance and light, this over-powering expanse of resplendent red: mysterious, seductive and divine! The bottom dark realm titillates with movements, presumably of fauna and flora and Nature's gestated beauty. Dr. Jolly Koh is of course one of the most consummate colourists in the land and a devotee in the meditative joy of colours and all the intrinsic beauty. On his colours, he had intoned in his book, Artistic Imperatives (Maya Press, 2004): "My objective of utilising colour is to evoke or objectify feelings. Colour also evokes memories and other associations. Colour relationships can visually objectify emotions." This is a rare work of absolute quality. Jolly Koh's defining moment is his 2017 milestone exhibition in Kuala Lumpur celebrating 60 years of painting, marked by a presentable coffee-table publication. It was organised by Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers. It marks his twin achievements straddling academia and painting practice. Apart from his pedagogical writing, Jolly Koh had taught Art in Malaysia (ITM, Gaya College in Sabah and back at MSC College later) and Australia (12 years, ending as a senior lecturer at TAFE College in Adelaide). He was educated in the United Kingdom (Hornsey and London University) and the United States (Indiana University, Ed.D and Msc, where he even taught Masters students for a year). His early prominence was as one of the Magnificent 7 abstract artists in the GRUP exhibition held at the AIA Building, Kuala Lumpur, in 1967. His last solo, Jolly@80, was held in January 2022.