Art: New Gallery with Lofty Aims

A NEW art gallery always deserves a welcome, especially when they have not picked boom time to launch their business.

It’s an old tradition to get into art dealing at the same as time as the stock market is soaring. When people have so much money they don’t know what to do with it, eventually the idea of buying art will occur to them, usually after they have acquired a generous quota of cars and chandeliers. In the end, there is nothing else to squander money on.

The urge to become a collector is as strong with an oligarch as it is with an individual who has had some successful punts on the KLSE. There will always be galleries eager to help them out before the next recession hits.

After 1998, the number of art outlets was thinned down considerably. It has been rising again in recent years, but the approach is less conspicuous than in the money-to-burn days of the mid-1990s. Maybe there haven’t actually been any spectacularly good times since then.

Times certainly don’t look that promising at the moment, but next week will still see the official launch of something new in Kuala Lumpur.

Art Loft may sound familiar. It’s one of those names that is catchy, informal and radiating cool. It’s not like “starving in the garret”, which is what artists were supposed to do in the days before they had good agents.

Lofts are a universally popular concept in art, but now that the chill wind of recession is blowing through the chic converted developments of London’s wharves and New York’s meat-packing warehouses, lofts might soon be out of favour.

Malaysia’s answer is not a proper loft, not in the old sense of the word, but it certainly seems committed. Opening next week with a show featuring two East Malaysian artists, it’s a confident set-up that deserves a chance.

The two artists in question are so well-known, one of them at least, that many West Malaysians will have heard of them. Raphael Scott Ahbeng has a memorable name and an extensive following. His fellow artist, Melton Kais, is another Bidayuh. He is a bit younger and less renowned but has no doubt got a dazzling future and a few years in which to catch up with Ahbeng.

It’s always good to see East Malaysia getting more representation. It does, of course, have an art tradition that has existed for a long time. This is mainly tribal work, but that hasn’t held its people back.

Why is it that the place seems more amenable to art than many other parts of Malaysia? Could it be that all those textiles, masks and gigantic carvings have left them more in touch with the contemporary aesthetic?

Borneo Escapade – Sarawak is the title of the opening exhibition and both artists have filled the walls with colour. The bright lights of Borneo tend not to be expressed in shades of neon.

Considering that Malaysia’s largest shopping mall – 1 Borneo – is located in Kota Kinabalu, things might be about to change on the island. Still, East Malaysia remains something of a rustic idyll and that is how most visitors would like to keep it.

At Art Loft, the husband-and-wife owner team is looking further than Borneo. West Malaysian artists are also welcome, as are foreigners. You don’t see a lot of overseas artists exhibiting in Malaysia, but with enough encouragement they might come here.

Nor do you see many overseas visitors checking in a canvas with their luggage when they depart from KLIA. This is a shame as paintings are a souvenir more likely to appreciate than a pewter keris or a knick-knack in the shape of the former tallest building in the world.

Art tourism is something that our tourism authorities might really want to investigate. Malaysia has cheap, quality works, often highly original and generally representative of what the country has to offer.

I hope Art Loft brings in some of this business, although it is aimed more at the local community and intends to bring buyers and artists together in convivial surroundings. It’s a wonderful plan, in a neighbourhood that is slowly acquiring an artistic ambience.

The Art Loft is located in an intriguing new development called CapSquare Centre, round a couple of corners from Asian Heritage Row. It may not be a real loft, but the vision is lofty enough — works of art of all prices and in all media, and the chance to discuss creative matters with one of the owners who is an artist herself.

The launch of the gallery, with its first exhibition, is on Nov 8. All stops have been pulled out to ensure an afternoon of entertainment. The Sarawakian cultural performance and traditional costume parade might be offering more than the average art collector expects, but it definitely shows commitment. Be there and be CapSquare...

Borneo Escapade – Sarawak will be at Art Loft Gallery from Nov 8 to 29.