Eng Tay Reflects On 40 Years Of Art, New York And Giving Back

By Dian Pasquinal Kaur

Some lives are mapped out from the moment one is born; for others, the journey begins with a longing. For Eng Tay, growing up in a little-known village in Kedah, the world beyond his horizon was always calling.

Growing up in Bukit Besar, where only a handful of families lived along both sides of a river, the future seemed almost predetermined. Finish school, find work, get married and start a family. His father was a rubber tapper. His mother died when he was 12. The fifth of eight siblings, he grew up with enough to get by and an insatiable dream to see the world beyond his kampung.

Today, that boy has become one of Malaysia’s most celebrated artists. Based in Tribeca, New York, his paintings, etchings and sculptures have found homes in institutions including the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Fukuyama Museum of Art, Hiroshima in Japan and New York University Department of Anthropology, while his sculptures have become familiar landmarks at luxury residences across Kuala Lumpur.

Yet, speaking to The Peak at Eslite Spectrum, The Starhill, during the launch of Fragments of a Season exhibition by CAP Gallery, the internationally acclaimed artist remains remarkably grounded, describing himself “a simple man” who has always believed in doing his best. The show, which runs until Sept 30, brings together leading Malaysian contemporary artists in a celebration of memory, transformation and the beauty of everyday life.

Creative Beginnings

“I am a nobody,” he states matter-of-factly. “All I had was a desire to move out and see what the world had to offer.” When he informed his father of his decision to study art in the United States, the response was swift: “What are you going to do with art?” Undeterred, the young Eng Tay made a simple request. “I told my father all I’m asking for is a one-way ticket.”

An encouraging art teacher helped him apply to The Art Students League, an art school in New York, while relatives pooled together US$300 just days before he boarded the plane in 1968. It was all the money he had when he landed in a city he had only imagined. “I’d never been further than Penang and suddenly I found myself in the Big Apple,” he recalls with a laugh.

The early years were anything but glamorous. He worked through summer holidays while classmates vacationed, juggling three jobs at one point before continuing part-time work during the school year. His apartment was sparsely furnished with furniture left behind by previous tenants but for him, it was more than sufficient. “It all comes down to what you want in life,” he ruminates. “You will find a way.”

New York, however, offered something priceless: possibility. “There was always something to see, so many exhibitions.” What followed was not overnight success but decades of persistence.

Living in SoHo in the early 1980s, Eng Tay found himself at the epicentre of one of the most exciting periods in contemporary art. The gallery beneath his apartment championed young artists under 30 and he watched names such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring rise before they became global icons.

Curious rather than calculating, he bought works simply because he liked them, paying for some in instalments. He also encountered the work of Robert Rauschenberg and even witnessed a collaboration between Basquiat and Andy Warhol, although he admits he was never particularly drawn to the latter’s work.

Illustrating A Future

Looking back, he treasures those encounters less for the value of the art than for the privilege of having witnessed history unfold. “As an artist, you should not only focus on your work. You should also be aware of your industry and have a little business mind.”

Painting trips through South America and Indonesia would later shape the visual language for which he is now renowned — rounded, languid figures, mothers cradling children, lovers lost in each other’s company, musicians immersed in melody and everyday rituals rendered with extraordinary tenderness.

His paintings seem almost untouched by urgency. Time slows. Conversations linger. A woman reclines with a book, another listens to music, a mother embraces her child. Birds appear like silent companions, while his bronze sculptures capture voluptuous female forms in poses of complete ease. In Eng Tay’s world, doing nothing is never wasted time. It is a celebration of simply being.

His body of work feels increasingly relevant in today’s hurried world, gently reminding viewers that life’s greatest moments are often its most ordinary. It took years, he admits, to develop the signature style now instantly recognisable across galleries and museums worldwide. Success, he believes, has never been about talent alone.

Home And Away

“I believe in putting in the hours. Along the way you meet people and when opportunities come, you grab them. Once they’re gone, they may not come back.” Today, at 79, what matters most has shifted.

Last year, he donated artworks to the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO), helping raise close to RM500,000 for women and children in need. He has also funded scholarships for Malaysian Institute of Art students, knowing that even a modest contribution can help buy costly art materials.

Back in New York, one floor of his three-storey Tribeca building doubles as a gallery where he regularly gives Malaysian artists a platform, often purchasing their works simply to support them. “I believe in giving people a chance, however small,” he adds pensively.

Perhaps that generosity explains why his paintings feel so comforting. They are less about grand gestures than simple acts of love, between mothers and children, friends, lovers, music and memory. Like the man himself, they ask us to slow down, notice one another and remember that a life well lived is measured not only by success but by the opportunities we create for others.

‘Fragments of a Season’ is on display at Eslite Spectrum, Level 1, The Starhill, Kuala Lumpur until Sept 30, 2026.