작품 상세

Like water nymphs, the figures emerge from the waters with the forefront dominated by red reeds flowing right. Interestingly, the faces of the 'three' figures could be poised frontal and in left and right profiles (side portraits). The side configurations are sharply etched, in contrast to the calm and composure under water despite the tide tug. The water element has a cathartic symbolism and Khoo Sui Hoe's figures are usually shown with an affinity with Nature. The tall aquatic reeds found in wetlands have practical uses, like for making flutes and thatching for old huts. Instead of green reeds, he painted red reeds. Sui Hoe's figures are enigmatic, yet simple. The British writer Austin Coates once wrote: "The peculiar quality of Khoo Sui Hoe's art is that it is withal not simply beautiful but in its own domain, entirely real." One of the first to go fulltime in art, Khoo Sui Hoe is somewhat a folk hero among artists. After his tutelage at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore, he got a John D. Rockefeller III grant to tour the United States, where he took the opportunity to study printmaking at the Pratt Graphic Centre in New York (1974). He is best known as the prime-mover behind the Utara group of artists in 1977, and had a stint as a gallerist in Singapore (Alpha Gallery) and later, Penang (Alpha Utara). When Sui Hoe was accorded a Retrospective by the Penang State Art Gallery in 2007, he already had several solos in the United States, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Malaysia. In the 1960s, he was selected for major exhibitions such as the 1st India Triennial (New Delhi, 1968) and the 10th Sao Paulo Biennial (1969), while his works are in the national collection touring Australia and Europe, besides the Malaysian Art 1965-1978 (Commonwealth Institute, London). He had also been given a Retrospective at Wisma Kebudayaan Soka Gakkai, Kuala Lumpur, and a mini-Retros at The Art Gallery Penang (2013).