LOT 35
ZULKIFLI YUSOFF
(B. Kedah, 1962)
Co-operation, 1997
Signed and dated “Zul Yusoff 97” on lower right
Signed, titled and dated on verso
Acrylic on canvas
152 x 152 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
SOLD – RM 38,940
Zulkifli Yusoff draws caricatures and character parodies of the types of people that he sees in society, some recurring personalities. He uses this form of abstractism and art to criticize on social and political issues, and his characters are drawn exaggeratedly with their very own unique idiosyncrasies, therefore injecting humour into his art pieces. This time, however, his technique of acrylic on canvas provides the illusion that it was sketched with either pencil or pen, a difference from his usual pop-art style. He arranges them tastefully in black and white, in a huge spiral – the further inward his characters go, the smaller they get. From afar, it might trick the eye into thinking it was a form of traditional art, but upon closer inspection, it is more than that.
Zulkifli Yusoff studied in Manchester Polytechnic, England in 1991 after graduating from UiTM. He is known to be one of the best contemporary artists in Malaysia, and has received various awards such as the 1988 and 1989’s Major Award in the Young Contemporary Artists Competition, the 1992’s Grand Minister’s Prize in the Third Salon Malaysia. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Perak.