Lot 79 | Auction XXII

LOT 79

ISMAIL HASHIM
B. Penang, 1940-2013

Cock of the Loft?, 2005/2007

Inscribed “Cock of the loft? Hand-coloured gelatin silver black+white hand-print” on lower left

Signed and dated “ISMAIL HISHAM ‘05/07” on lower right

Two labels inscribed with artist, title, date and medium affixed to the reverse

Photography: Hand-tinted black and white gelatin silver hand-print

55 x 62.5 cm

Provenance
Private Collection, Singapore

AVAILABLE
RM 12,000 – RM 18,000

“The best part of photography is the act of taking pictures. The rest is just the externalising of images. Before that happens, the work will have to go through a tug-of-war process with the medium.” – Ismail Hashim

The strength of photographic works of Ismail Hashim is the sensitivity and his profound study of the idea of the subject that he wants to address. He has translated ideas and normal subjects in his photographic work, and made it into something profound, moving and larger-than-life, as exhibited in this piece.

Ismail Hashim went to Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) to study Fine Arts in 1972 and obtained a Masters in Fine Arts specialising in Graphic Design from Washington State University, USA in 1979. He returned to lecture in the visual arts department of USM and eventually became the dean of the Pusat Seni (Centre of the Arts). A founding member of ALIRAN, a pioneering social justice movement in Malaysia, Ismail designed its logo as well as some of its most iconic magazine covers. As one of Malaysia’s leading artist-photographers, Ismail Hashim helped elevate the status of photography as a form of fine art in Malaysia.