OUR ArtProject will be hosting contemporary Malaysian visual artist Jalaini Abu Hassan, more familiarly known as Jai, in his newest solo exhibition titled Cerpan-Cerpen: New Works by Jalaini Abu Hassan.
Jai is known for showcasing art inspired by personal understandings of memory and identity. This exhibition will feature the artist’s latest works that feature seemingly unassuming scenes of life in Kuala Lumpur and Taiping, where Jai grew up. The works on exhibition are all drawing-paintings, made using a mixture of bitumen and fabric dye wash, which are then layered with a transparent stain that makes them look aged.
He uses his skills to artfully portray his own personal concerns over the themes of belonging, his homeland and the past. With Cerpan-Cerpen, Jai takes on the aforementioned themes through the Malaysian dongeng, or folklore. He navigates the mundanity of everyday activities of life through these folklore, and suggests that perhaps the daily grind we take for granted hides more about ourselves and who we are as a nation than we previously thought.
Cerpan-Cerpen opens on the 11th of October at OUR ArtProjects located at The Zhongshan Building in Kampung Attap, and will stay on exhibition through to the 3rd of November.
Images courtesy of OUR ArtProject. The image featured in the cover is titled ‘Romen Kebun Getah’.
