HOM Art Trans: AROUSE by Utin Rini & Chong Ai Li

AROUSE by Utin Rini & Chong Ai Li

This July, House of MATAHATI (HOM) celebrates women, as two young female artists capture the female subject in an exhibition titled ‘rouse’.

The two artists are Chong Ai Lei and Utin Rini and the exhibition runs from July 2 to July 16 2011.

Chong, a Johor native, has been painting the female subject since the start of her artistic career. A fine art graduate from Dasein Academy of Art, Chong’s oil paintings in ‘rouse’ are delicate explorations of a young girl caught in private and unconscious moments.

Never with their faces shown, Chong’s female subject is shown flopped over her bed or lazing across an intricate Persian rug, and her works are symbols of youth as well as the artist’s own identity.

Utin, on the other hand, hails from Indonesia and her works form a colourful contrast to Chong’s muted-coloured oil paintings.

Bright, kaleidoscopic colours burst forth in Utin’s canvases, where the female subject sometimes looks teasingly at you or with her eyes closed in a dreamy, sensuous moment, and Utin’s painting techniques clearly show that her background in graphic design and printmaking have left an indelible impression on her painting style.

By bringing these two budding artists together, HOM reaffirms its bid to strengthen ties between our region’s various artists and communities.

“One of our gallery’s main goals is to foster close ties within our region. Pairing Chong Ai Lei and Utin Rini demonstrates this, and our gallery’s other efforts in this area include our SAGE Residency programme and our ARTRIANGLE exhibition,” says gallery director, Bayu Utomo Radjikin.

Whilst relatively fresh in their respective careers, Chong and Utin have already shown great promise by garnering awards and honourable mentions for their artworks, and with ‘rouse’, their future only looks brighter.

Artwork

Utin Rini

Dancing Days

100 x 200 cm

Acrylic on canvas

2011

RM 10,000

Tangerine

160 x 180 cm

Acrylic on canvas

2011

RM 10,000

Kashmir

180 x 160 cm

Acrylic on canvas

2011

RM 10,000

Down by the Seaside

180 x 160

Acrylic on canvas

2011

RM 10,000

Over the Hills

180 x 160cm

Acrylic on canvas

2011

RM 10,000

Chong Ai Lei

Narcissism

168 x 124.5 cm

Oil on canvas

2011

RM 6,800

Distrait

168 x 124.5

Oil on canvas

2011

RM 6,800

Attachment

124.5 x 168 cm

Oil on canvas

2011

RM 6,800

Arbitrariness

120.5 x 120.5 cm

Oil on canvas

2011

RM 4,800

Temptation

168 x 124.5 cm

Oil on canvas

2011

RM 6,800

Adopted Residency (A-RES) is a six-month residency programme designed for young and emerging local artists to start creating their name and building their own career in the local art scene.

The programme emphasizes on committed studio practice that serves as guidance in art direction and technique for the resident artists, fully supervised by HOM Art Trans and guest artists. They will also be exposed to the reality of being a full time artists.

Towards the end of the programme, all the artworks that are produced during the residency will be exhibited for public viewing.

Southeast Asia Art Group Exchanged Residency (SAGER) is a regional residency programme organized by HOM Art Trans (Malaysia), SageJogja (Indonesia) and Projectspace Pilipinas (Philippines).

The exchanged residency takes in artists with at least five years of experience and SAGER enables Malaysian, Indonesian, and Filipino artists to foster and strengthen regional ties, as well as to network and establish a better understanding of their neighbours.

The residency entails 30-days each in Kuala Lumpur, Jogjakarta and Manila. During this time, artists-in-residences not only produce artworks for exhibitions in each city, but also partake in studio visits, gallery and art institution visits, as well as introductions to significant art collectors and art communities.

Aside from these physical dialogues, SAGER also fosters a visual dialogue, as artists from these three countries are encouraged to engage in cross-cultural meditations and to broach new visual languages in their works.

ARTRIANGLE is an exhibition showcasing the latest artworks from Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore. With the purpose of increasing the appreciation of art in this region through a more open network of exchange and to further inculcate closer working ties amongst our artists, it aspires to energies a 4-way art dialogue between these countries and inadvertently, adds more excitement to the art scene in Southeast Asia.

ARTIANGLE is also a fund-raising event. Benefits from the sales of the exhibition will be channelled to the MATAHATI Art Fund (MAF).

MAF is an effort that provides funds to support visual artists and help the art scene in general. It will go towards assisting in the welfare of those artists in need, which includes incidences involving natural disasters, accidents and health issues. MAF is also used as a grant for artists to initiate art projects and art activities.

Artaidartist is a social media platform that’s purpose and intention is to introduce and market fine artworks in a series of virtual exhibitions. This platform was initiated in efforts to support artists who have been affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic, and who have struggled to make ends meet during the continuous implementation of MCO.

Artists whose works are sold will be entitled to fifty percent of the sale of their works, while the remaining fifty percent will be donated to participating artists whose works were not purchased during the showcase. The distribution of profit will not only represent a community of artists coming together in solidarity towards those in financial need, but will also provide support to as many artists as possible..

Artaidartist is an open call that involves all Malaysian visual artists, comprising of young, emerging, and established. Featuring some of their best work, all artworks will be capped between RM500 to RM5000. This special offer which is below the market price, will allow the sale to be more accessible and affordable to a larger pool of art enthusiasts and young collectors.

MEA Award is a biennial competition that honours the most promising young artists in Malaysia. Its main goal is to recognize the country's top emerging talents and to give them the opportunity to break into the local and international art scenes.

The 5 artists with the highest number of votes from a panel of respected juries will receive cash prize, coucher for art materials, 10-day travel grant to a city in Southeast Asia and a showcase of their works.

MEA Award is joint-organized by HOM Art Trans and Galeri Chandan.