People
The Sri Mutiara Gallery
|
People
The Sri Mutiara Gallery |
| ARMENIAN
STREET, in the
heart of the old town, once upon a time
inhabited by Armenian merchants from Isfahan, grave stone makers,
coppersmiths, and ironmongers is gradually abandoning its
neglected look and emerging as a cluster of restaurants,
heritage and the arts. The Sun Yat Sen centre was followed by the
beautifully restored Edelweiss restaurant, then came the Nanyang
Restaurant and four art galleries with one more to come. The latest addition to the change is the Galeri Seni Mutiara lodged in a mid 19th century building which Dr Tan Chong Guan bought to house his art collection. The doctor has kept the building intact save for a few changes upstairs to make it more suitable for viewing his paintings. The late 20's Italian tiles which have replaced the traditional terra cotta floor were done before his time. Dr Tan then asked Koay Soo Kau, president of the Penang Teachers' Art Circle, then teaching in Kedah and BM, to organise and manage the Gallery. Soo Kau was delighted for this was what he had also dreamt of, a place for art exhibitions as well as a chance for first time shows for budding artists.. The Gallery was officially opened on December 17, 2005. Penang needed an arts centre. It was home to artists for twenty years from 1930 to 1950 but lost its pre-eminence in 1957 when art moved to the capital. But with easier travel more people were coming to Penang,, meaning more visitors to art galleries. "With increasing overseas tourism, more and more are acquiring a taste for paintings, " he says. "They also bring their kids. And there are also those who come to this part of town in search of heritage buildings and they run across the galleries here." Soo Kau is himself a well known artist. The little boy who scratched pictures on sand is now well known, "...one whose design and pattern", writes Syed Nabil Syed Nahar, "create a sense of movement within the picture plane." Soo Kau has exhibited in Penang, KL, Bangkok, and Australia, as well as taken part in group exhibitions in Abu Dhabi, Japan and China. |
| At Soo
Kau's school, his teacher was the first to spot his talents and
he pinned the little boy's water colour painting on the wall of the
school room. When he grew up, John Lee Joo For, the artist was
his mentor who taught him the art. From then one he experimented
with batik, trying different techniques The basics learnt he
experimented to come up with his own. His batik paintings are
outstanding. "But," he says, "You don't get conceited and say I am
satisfied with this and stick to it. And I never forget that the
master remains the master." Soo Kau's work incorporates Nanyang
and nusantara motifs and images to evoke an Eastern identity. As for early impressions, Koay, the boy, was fascinated by by romantic art. In high school he liked Constable. Of those who inspired him he talks most of Salvador Dali, especially his surrealistic paintings. "Inspiration is a simple thing," he says. " When one sees something new like say a gondola in Venice or the city's buildings they inspire you. You can't explain it." "Painters don't use words; you look and you understand. What impressed me over all was Dali's honesty," he says. "Politics? Yes, he was, but all artists are political and it is shown in their art." Belief? (Natioanl Art Gallery)  Today, Soo Kau's batik work hangs in the National Art Gallery; among the collectors of his batik works are the PM's Guest House, Wisma Putra, Bank Negara, the Penang Library, the Sheraton Hoyal, Penang, the embassy in Bangkok, Bangkok's Petchburi Gallery, the Norfolk Gallery Sydney and the University of Hawaii, Bank Negara, Lee Wah Bank, KL, the Straits Times, Iverseas Development, JB . His oil paintings are also to be found in The Sultan of Kedah's collection, the Prime Ministers collection, the Penang State Art Gallery, Bank Negara, the Tun Aadnan Malik collection, the Abu Dhabi MMNN Gallery, Embassy of Malaya Guest House (Sabah House ), Asian Studies Program, University of Hawaii, Sum AG, KL, and the Daiichi Modern Art Gallery, the Penang Library, Iverseas Development JB, the Sheraton Hotel, Phoenix Press, the NW Gallery, and the Seaswift Logistics (which has his batik work as well.) # |
| Penang
artists websites Koay Soo Kau www.koaysookau.net Tay Moh-leong www.batikpaintingmaster.com Yeo Hoe Koon www.geocities.com/atelieryhk/index.htm |
| ______ INDEX Point to the
article that you want to read, and
CLICK Koay Jetty Koay Soo Kau Letter from Pulau Tikus Rubber estriction (Part 3) |
| _____________________ The Penang File Issue 54 |