The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Picture writing, mountain water Posted: 21 May 2011 05:47 PM PDT  Chong Buck Tee. One of the few seasoned Malaysian painters of "Shan Shui" (mountain water). — All photos by Victor Chi The Shan Shui (mountain water) artists are more concerned with the aesthetics of the landscape, their experience of looking it and their methods of capturing those image and their poetic moods, in their paintings. However, in most of these paintings there is usually a poem, somewhere within the frame, in calligraphy, which tells confidently, or in a whisper, their Taoist, Buddhist, Confucian ideas and beliefs, regarding Nature. Although the words "environmental protection" are not evident in their poems, their concern for peace and harmony between human beings and the wilderness is implied. There is now an exhibition of Chinese landscape paintings Dream Lands by Chong Buck Tee, at Han's Art Gallery, Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya, till the end of the month. This is a great opportunity to view one of Malaysia's few seasoned artists continuing this age old artistic practice but with some modern touches. Chong, 61, was a fine art graduate in 1972 from the Malaysian Institute of Art. His art and painting teachers were Teo Nai Tong, Low Kun Wen and Wong Nai Chin. Also, many renowned Chinese brush painters from China and Taiwan had been here to teach. The late Huang Jun Pi, and later his disciple, Zhang Da Qian, to just name a few, made a good living teaching and selling their artworks here and other parts of South-East Asia. Chong too has been following in their footsteps in the last 30 years – teaching and exhibiting. He is currently showing 30 artworks done in the last 10 years.  Distant Land, 2008, ink on paper, 68 x 53 cm. A dynamic tension of colours, shapes and lines interlock to create a captivating landscape composition. A sublime moment Instead, this is an unrestrained modern way of painting with big washes of different coloured inks and brushes. This expressionist work's purpose is not to reproduce the exact contours of the geography of a place he had visited and remembered but to convey some idea of his emotional landscape. We see, on the top left, among the clouds, a huge waterfall cascading down and this body of water continues to zigzag through a series of big and small rapids and finally dropping into a valley in the mist. Supporting this volume of water are three huge dark diagonal landforms. The strongest foreground structure, at the bottom of the painting, is splashed in with a mix of black and turquoise-blue. Nesting on the middle ridge of this is a group of buildings with a commanding view of the surrounding hills and rivers. From the stunted and gnarled silhouette of a solitary tree, at bottom left, one can guess that this location could be somewhere between the upper montane forest and the sub-alpine zone (between 2,200 and 3,300 metres above the sea, 6C -14C) very much like being near the top of Mount Kinabalu in Sabah or the misty peaks of Mount Huangshan in southern China. The interplay of the flow of the water and the different levels and angles of the land lines intersecting creates a dynamic tension within this captivating landscape composition. This is a picture of the sublime.  Tao – Go with the flow of nature. 2007, 57 x 94 cm, ink on paper. A harmoniously receding series of clouds and forest with some unexpected ink marks for boulders. An eloquent painting. The top left hand side of his painting is done in the traditional way, sparse with different delicate brushstrokes to bring out the geological features of the landform and the highland coniferous trees. The soft grey tones and light brush lines of clouds run down the left valley. On the right side, from the bottom, the style and mood of the painting changes to become bolder and darker. The rhythm and tension of the black ink blobs and patches in this area suggest some strange geological formation millions of years ago. On top of this is a knotted and studded tree usually found in the upper reaches 2,600 metres. The climate here is harsh and the soil is poor. Is going with the flow with Nature what life is all about?  Pure Land – Pure Life. 2010, 70 x 97 cm, ink on paper. A delightful rendering of limestone hills and their distinctive features and formations. A visual grandeur of Nature. Symbolically, crossing from one side of the mountain to the higher level across the valley is like the finding of Nirvana after death. Limestone hills and valleys are common in the Kinta Valley surrounding Ipoh town and also nearer to Kuala Lumpur at Batu Caves. In this work, Chong had skillfully reproduced the near appearance of limestone's geological features. To many this landscape could be an uplifting experience. This important collection of Shan Shui paintings by Chong, from the traditional to the contemporary, from abstract to representational expression, draw our minds towards our fragile environment and our need to cherish it. This exhibition has many moments of visual and mental elevations. Go see and hear the mountains roar and whisper. Han's Art Gallery, Amcorp Mall Tel: 03-7954 0805 * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 21 May 2011 05:09 PM PDT 22 MEI — Aku mungkin budak kampung yang datang dari ceruk utara semenanjung, tapi aku suka jazz, boleh? Janganlah marah, aku bukannya tak sedar diri atau apa, aku memang sukakan irama itu. Ya, memang aku suka irama lain juga, keroncong, tradisional, muzik dunia dan pop. Tapi jazz mungkin berada di atas sekali. Aku sering mencari tempat jazz bergema bila berada di kota-kota Bangkok, Jakarta, Glasgow, London, Paris, Seoul, Tokyo hinggalah ke Los Angeles dan New York. Kalau ada waktu, aku pasti berada di situ, mendengar dan menghidu suasana jazz secara langsung. Dulu di KL (Kuala Lumpur), sekitar awal tahun 1980an pun ada beberapa tempat permainan jazz, seperti All That Jazz di SS3 Petaling Jaya dan di Damansara Utama, dan kemudiannya berpindah ke tempat-tempat lain. Kemudian ada pula festival-festival jazz yang muncul sana sini, tapi kemudiannya tenggelam. Pernah Jazz Festival di Kiara Green, Mont Kiara Jazz Festival, dan Penang Jazz Festival, tapi beritanya tak sekencang lagi. Sekarang ini katanya sudah ada beberapa tempat jazz baru di KL, yang adanya di No Black Tie di Bukit Ceylon serta di Alexis Great Eastern Mall Ampang. Pernahlah beberapa kali aku ke sana menikmati irama yang boleh membuat bibir berdetap. Irama ini juga sudah masuk ke Dewan Filharmonik Petronas di Twin Towers KLCC, tempat canggih yang dipenuhi pemain muzik klasik yang dibayar berpuluh ribu ringgit. Agaknya anak tempatan dibayar tak sebanyak itu? Aku hanya mula mendengar irama jazz ini bila bercampur dengan budak-budak KL di ITM(Institut Teknologi Mara), Shah Alam, semasa berumur lapan belas tahun. Aku masuk kumpulan ini yang ada sepuluh budak lelaki dan sepuluh budak perempuan, rata-ratanya pelajar-pelajar perakaunan, pengajian perniagaan, pengangkutan, insurance, kejuruteraan, statistik, sains komputer dan undang-undang di awal 1980an. Kami semua suka bersukan tennis, ragbi, berenang dan mendengar jazz. Bunyi macam pelik jugak, macam tak percaya pulak, tapi itulah hakikatnya. Di antara pemuzik yang kami dengar pada waktu itu termasuklah Shakatak, Grover Washington, Sadao Watanabe, Earl Klugh, Spiro Gyra, George Benson dan banyak lagi. Beberapa waktu kemudiannya aku diperkenalkan kepada lagu-lagu jazz Indonesia yang dibawa masuk melalui Pulau Penang, seperti Vina Panduwinata, Utha Likumahua, Harvey Malaiholo, Karimata, Faris, Indra Lesmana, Januari Christie, Chrisye dan lain-lain. Memanglah jazz dipelopori oleh kaum Afrika Amerika di Selatan Amerika Syarikat pada permulaan abad ke dua puluh, yang menggabungkan tradisi muzik Afrika dan Eropah. Pengaruh Afrika Barat kuat sekali dalam jazz terutamanya dengan penggunaan nota biru, improvisasi, kepelbagaian rentak, sinkopasi serta nota swing. Manakala nama jazz itu sendiri yang dulunya disebut jass bermula do pantai barat Amerika dengan nada slang yang merujuk kepada muzik di Chicago pada tahun sekitar 1915. Memanglah muzik ini sudah banyak berpecah berkembang kepada pelbagai subgenre, New Orleans Dixieland sekitar tahun 1910, stail big band swing sekitar 1930-1940an, bebop sekitar pertengahan 1940an, pelbagai jazz latin termasuk jazz Brazil, afro-cuba, free jazz dari tahun 1950an dan 1960an, jazz fusion from tahun 1970an, acid jazz dari tahun 1980an, yang juga termasuk funk dan pengaruh hip-hop, serta Nujazz dalam tahun 1990an. Pendek kata muzik ini telah menjelajah ke suluruh dunia dan mengambil ciri-ciri muzik lokal, nasional serta regional. Estetikanya telah diubahsuai, samada diadaptasi dan diadopsi mengikut ruang persekitarannya yang kemudiannya memberikan nafas yang berbeza, tahun demi tahun, penyanyi demi penyanyi, dan seterusnya memberikan cirri khasnya yang tersendiri. Bentuk-bentuk muzik ini juga lahir di Malaysia. Di tahun 1980an juga kita sudah ada penyanyi Sheila Majid yang terkenal sebagi Ratu Jazz, kemudian pula lahir Fairuz Hussein sebagai Ratu R&B (Rhythm and Blues) dan Ning Baizura di tahun 1990an sebagai Ratu Soul. Mungkin ini terjadi kerana kita sudah mulai didatangi pemuzik-pemuzik dan penggubah lagu muda yang pulang dari pengajian di Berkeley School of Music di Boston. Tetapi jika dilihat balik, kita sebenarnya sudah ada sejarah pemuzik-pemuzik dan penggubah-penggubah lagu jazz seperti P. Pamlee sendiri, walaupun beliau lebih bersifat versatile, Alfonso Soliano, Jimmy Boyle dan lain-lain lagi di tahun 1950an dan 1960an. Mungkin RTM juga boleh dikatakan sebagai salah satu pemangkin irama jenis ini pada suatu waktu. Kita juga ada beberapa nama penyanyi yang mendendangkan irama jazz pada satu waktu seperti Zain Azman, Julie Soediro, Ahmad Daud, Lena, Alina Rahman, Fazidah Joned, Kartina Dahari. Pada tahun lepas pula timbul konsep konsert muzik jazz yang dibawakan oleh "Malam Nada Biru", diterajui oleh name besar seperti Roslan Aziz dan Fizar Harun dan lainnya di Actors Studio Bukit Bintang. Yang menariknya dari Malam Nada Biru gemerlap pula nama-nama baru seperti Atilia Harun dan Najwa Muhaidin yang kini melahirkan sebuah album Inggeris yang menarik perhatian ramai. Apakah nada biru ini akan muncul semula meraih kegemilangannya dengan nada yang lebih rancak dan segar dalam bahasa yang berbeza? Atau terus bergolak dengan nada-nada indigenus yang lama terpendam dalam jiwa kita? Apa yang penting, aku terus memasang telinga pada irama jazz ini, yang tidak lagi menjadi nada kaum tertindas seperti di Amerika. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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