LOT 84
ENG HWEE CHU
(B. Johor, 1967)
Black Moon 10 (My Land), 1991
Acrylic on canvas
147 x 213 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Kuala Lumpur
Illustrated on page 21 of
“Archive: Eng Hwee Chu & Tan Chin Kuan” exhibition catalogue
Published in 2008 by 12 (Art Space Gallery, Kuala Lumpur)
Illustrated on page 36 & 37 of “Contemporary Feminist Artist, Eng Hwee Chu” art book
Published in 2013 by Tan Chin Kuan
AVAILABLE – RM 65,000 – RM 95,000
This artwork is a part of Hwee Chu’s “Black Moon” series.
There are 14 artworks in this series, and “Black Moon 10 (My Land)” deals with her own views on her country, essentially asking: “This is our land, this is our country, why are we not able to enjoy playing in our own land?”.
In this painting, a woman is holding the flag while standing together with a black shadow. At the bottom are shadows of children playing on the flag, for which she thinks merely an illusion.
As a serious contemporary artist, Hwee Chu dealt with her own personal struggle, as well as her husband’s (contemporary artist, Tan Chin Kuan), for which is depicted being inside a coffin. Both of them, have had issues with bureaucrats and politicians before. Hwee Chu for painting nudes, and Chin Kuan for including socio-political commentaries in his artworks. Eng Hwee Chu is an important contemporary artist in Malaysia, and this artwork is meant for serious art collections especially with the institutions and corporations.
Eng Hwee Chu studied at the Malaysian Institute of Art, Kuala Lumpur from 1986 to 1989 and later clinched the Minor Award (Painting) in the prestigious 1991 Salon Malaysia for her work Black Moon 12. She won a Minor Award in the Young Contemporary Artists in 1994 and more importantly, her Cry Freedom won the First Prize in the national-level of the Philip Morris Asean Art Awards. She was selected to participate in major international shows such as the 2nd Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane, Australia in 1996, Art In Southeast Asia: Glimpses Into The Future in Hiroshima, Japan in 1997, and Women In-Between: Asian Women Artists 1984-2012 in Fukuoka and Tochigi, Japan. She then returned to the public eye with an exhibition, Archive: Eng Hwee Chu and Tan Chin Kuan at 12 Art Space, Kuala Lumpur in August 2008.
The “Black Moon Series” is currently in the collection of National Visual Art Gallery Malaysia, Singapore Art Museum and The Aliya & Farouk Khan Collection