GEORGE TOWN – The pandemic has been a great source of inspiration to artisans, and it is evident when entries for Penang Art District’s fourth edition of Spotlight doubled from previous years. Yesterday, Penang Art District unveiled the top 20 winners during the prize-giving ceremony.
Chairman of Penang State Art Gallery, Lee Khai, said during his speech that the programme that offers young aspiring and emerging artists the opportunity to undergo a mentorship program with an art professional and showcase their works is a good platform.
They aspire to stimulate the art market in Penang so that Penang can move towards being at the forefront of arts nationally and hopefully, internationally. “Instead of seeing the pandemic as an inhibitor, it is speeding up change.
“Though nothing still beats coming to a physical exhibition, there is no doubt about the migration of art to the digital platform.
“I am glad the young artists are taking the lead to be creatives that can facilitate the paradigm shift in the development of art in our country. After all, it is movement control order, not mind control order,” he said.
Grand prize winner of Spotlight 2021 is 22-year-old fine art graduate, Choong Guey Syuen, who, on top of the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition, also bagged RM5,000.
She told The Vibes that for youth to make a bigger impact on the art industry, they should look beyond paper and canvas when seeking to create art.
“Many of the young artists with their work presented today used unconventional items to present their art and it is time for young artists to use unusual items to showcase their artwork.
“I used an old tabletop usually used in Chinese restaurants that was discarded to present my art that is inspired by Henry Wallis’ ‘The Death of Chatterton,” she said.
In her four-by-four feet piece entitled ‘Dreaming encircled by isolation’, she took Wallis’ semicircle masterpiece and applied art appropriation by completing the other half of the circle and placing herself into the picture.
Also in attendance was Penang state executive councillor for tourism and creative economy Yeoh Soon Hin. He said that this competition is in line with what the state government has always envisioned, which is to make Penang the creative hub of the country and the region. – The Vibes, December 6, 2021
