Just got a message from friends that one of the stalwarts of our region, the visual artist, educator, and critic Redza Piyadasa (1939 - 2007) succumbed to liver complications at 6.15pm, monday evening (7 May 2007) at the Selayang Hospital. He was 68.
A lecturer in universities, arts critic, especially in the 60s and 70s, and the prime mover of the New Scene Movement, Redza is someone to whom Malaysian visual art practice owes a great debt.
On behalf of the Malaysian arts community, I would like to express my deepest condolences to his family.
A bit about Redza PiyadasaDescription:
Art critic, educationist, writer, curator, art historian and artist, Redza Piyadasa is one of the most important figures in the Malaysian art scene. He attended Hornsey College of Art in London from 1963 until 1967, majoring in sculpture, and later earned his Master’s degree in Fine Arts from University of Hawaii, Manoa, Hawaii in 1977.
A strong exponent of analytical and theoretical thinking based on critical and intellectual discourse, he was one of the first few artists in Malaysia to embrace Conceptual Art in the late 60s and early 70s. Through paintings, sculptures, installations and writings, Redza Piyadasa questioned the role of art and challenged the prevailing aesthetic values then.
In the 1980’s he shifted to mixed-media serigraphy - working with early photographs of pioneer immigrant families in Malaysia, using silk-screen printing and collage techniques - producing the now famous “Malaysian Series”.
As an artist, Redza Piyadasa has received numerous awards and honours throughout his career, but most prestigious was to be the first Malaysian bestowed the Prince Claus Award in 1998. In 2001, the National Art Gallery featured a retrospective exhibition of Redza Piyadasa in recognition of his artistic achievements spanning over 40 years. (from kakiseni )
THE STAR,Tuesday May 8, 2007
Artist Piyadasa’s death a ‘great loss’
PETALING JAYA: One of Malaysia's best known artists, Redza Piyadasa, passed away yesterday at the Selayang Hospital of liver complications, following a bout of dengue fever......
One of his works.....
Malay Couple, 1988, Mixed media collage, 60 x 50 cm
Redza Piyadasa (1939-2007)
Malay Couple is a particularly rich collage from the artist’s Malaysian Series, begun in the early 1980s, in which he appropriated images from old photographs of figures and families of the different races, expressing ideas about community, history and memory
Malay Couple is a particularly rich collage from the artist’s Malaysian Series, begun in the early 1980s, in which he appropriated images from old photographs of figures and families of the different races, expressing ideas about community, history and memory
Being an art enthusiast myself, I love his style of critics which are his answer to neo-nationalistic, Islamic and globalisation currents in Malaysia, which have threatened to marginalise minority groups and alternatives. .
Beib remembers.....
Redza Piyadas A
artist and write R
a Malaysian arts stalwar T
who is famous for his Malaysian Serie S
No comments:
Post a Comment