THE exhibition “2 Utara” displays the works of Chong Hip Seng and Khoo Sui Hoe.

They were once part of a group of eight artists who formed “Utara” exhibition, a well established name in the history of Malaysian art in the northern region, more than 20 years ago.

Now with just Chong and Khoo left of the group, they are uniting to showcase their colourful works in an exhibition at Art Loft Starhill Gallery in Kuala Lumpur.

Chong is known to be a prolific painter with themes on nature and kampung life.

He uses earthly colours and accentuated white lines to highlight the boldness of his human characters with black backgrounds creating a mysterious “tribal” image.

“The white streaks show freedom of space between the characters and objects providing contrast with the dark background,” he explains.

It was when he was experimenting that he discovered he was best in spontaneous and liberating brush strokes with acrylic as his favourite medium.

Chong is fond of painting oil palms as they remind him of the oil palm estate in his hometown of Selama, Kedah, where he played as a boy.

His paintings document Asians.

“I depict their rich culture to express myself in my work.

” While Chong likes to reminisce about the past and the embedding of traditional heritage, Khoo is known for his works with oils which portray contemporary styles.

The Kedah artist is fond of his childhood days in Baling.

He says: “Bathing in the river in those days holds a special fascination for me.

Instead of painting people bathing, I emphasise faces in the water.

“Three Masks” shows three faces in the water, coloured with contrasting shades with each face at different angles.

Khoo, who is now based in Jacksonville, Arkansas, in the United States, and has held 41 solo exhibitions in Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Bandung, Bali, Taipei, Adelaide, Melbourne, Honolulu, New York, Washington and Shanghai.

He says he may have a 42nd solo exhibition in Malaysia.

“Two Utara” exhibition is on until April 30 at Art Loft Starhill Gallery, 181, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

Call 03-2143-3323/ 016-233-2463.