작품 상세

Whereas Dr. Jolly Koh mostly has his gorgeous monochromes in vertical awe of height, distance and light, this over-powering expanse of Rothko-ian rectangle of resplendent orange: 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.” Artist-academician Jolly Koh is an 8th generation Baba, born in Singapore and growing up in Malacca, and spending nearly two decades in Australia, teaching for 12 years. He was educated at the Hornsey College of Art, London (1959-1962), London University (art teacher’s certificate, 1962-1963), Indiana University (Ed.D and MSc, 1973-1975), and teaching associate thereafter. He had taught at the Mara Institute of Technology, Sabah’s Gaya College, and from 1976-1988 in Melbourne and Adelaide, before taking up the post of senior lecturer at MSC College (now SeGI, 2000-2004). In 2017, he had a major exhibition (organised by Henry Butcher Art) at MAP Publika, Kuala Lumpur, which saw the publication of an important book detailing 60 years of his art, a far cry from his first solo at the British Council Kuala Lumpur in 1957 when he was only 16!