Sunday September 21, 2008

What a circus!

Review by RACHEL JENAGARATNAM

Sometimes, political satire is best shared in a tongue-in-cheek manner.

ENOUGH
By Samsudin Wahab
Gallerie Taksu, KL
Until Sept 30

THE first work I contemplate at Samsudin Wahab’s exhibition is a painting of six bald men with grotesque faces. They are lined up at a building’s edge wearing business suits with no trousers, exposing gangly legs. Their arms are mechanical windup toggles and each man has a puppeteer’s string attached to his back, and in unison, they are bent over spewing into a calamitous pool with skulls and bones.

The painting’s title, Vomit, is stencilled in red in the bottom left hand corner of the canvas. It’s a striking image that sets high expectations for the rest of the exhibition - and I am not disappointed.

Powerless

There are 11 works altogether in Samsudin’s first solo exhibition, Enough, which rests beneath a circus-like big top at Gallerie Taksu in Kuala Lumpur. This magically sets the scene for the juggling chimps, boxing gorillas, cheeky monkeys, and, the Stephen King-inspired clowns that are to follow.

The high dose of fantasy makes for visually striking images, but despite the amusing makeup, it is not all merely fun and fanfare. Beneath each painting’s golden veneer lies important issues, such as power struggles and the spectacle of politics.

Choosing to set these issues within the cloak of a circus is clever. These travelling shows are familiar in most countries, so Samsudin latches onto a universality that transcends audience demographics. This is noted in the exhibition catalogue by Gina Fairley (an Australian arts writer visiting Malaysia for a year) who states that politically conscious artwork has the greatest success when it can “connect visually with multiple audiences’’.

The Dalang

Once Samsudin has the audience’s attention, he gets down to telling the story: The juggling chimps in Powerless (above), for example, could masquerade as top players in any political fanfare. With a conical party hat and a witless smile, the chimp on the right appears more suited for the entertainment business than his counterpart on the left, who wears a sombre business suit and a serious expression. However, both wear comical ruffed collars (once fashionably emblematic of status) and seem to try to outperform each other - along the lines of “monkey see, monkey do’’.

A similar theme runs in Lightweight vs Heavyweight, where the chimps’ larger cousins battle it out with boxing gloves. Again, one is suited and dons white stars on his lapel. His contender - naked and poised lowly against a blow - wears nothing but a red star on his forehead. The political insignia denote opposing ends of the political spectrum and speak lucidly of present-day circumstances.

Circuses are highly choreographed acts, so the choice is highly appropriate, especially when one considers Dalang, a painting that portrays three towering clowns who hover over a little marionette doll whose actions are controlled by a dalang (a term referring to the puppet master in traditional shadow puppetry).

Other works that stand out include Jackass, a painting that illustrates the dynamics of power. There are three players who balance atop a diving board: At the very left of the painting - and furthest from the deathly drop - is the tiniest character, a costumed monkey that winds up a cow-headed business man, and at the end is a weight-lifter with a slot-machine for a head. The crashing waves surrounding these figures are reminiscent of Hokusai’s infamous woodblock print, The Great Wave (1830s), which contributes to the painting’s commanding message.

Jackass

And, of course, there is Boneka which illustrates two figures arm-wrestling. Again - keeping to Samsudin’s theatrical flaunting of anatomical laws €“ they have pistols instead of heads. Interestingly, the slightest jerk on the line that connects the figures’ clasped hands and the pistols’ triggers would result in death for both.

In short, the work is about shooting one’s self in the foot and resolving sticky situations through cooperation.

These images are timely considering the nation’s current dramatic political situation. The spectacle of it all certainly conjures the phrase, two-ring circus, which ties in so well with this artist’s works.

Beyond the paintings, what remains most interesting is what will come next from the artist. At only 24 years of age, his future looks to be bright. As bright as the spotlights that illuminate a circus ring, some might say.

‘Enough’ by Samsudin Wahab is on at Gallerie Taksu (No. 17, Jalan Pawang, Kuala Lumpur) until Sept 30. Call 03-4251 4396 for more information. This exhibition is the first under the ‘Unlock Art’ programme between Gallerie Taksu and the Le Méridien Hotel to raise funds for Unicef’s (the United Nations Children’s Fund) Check Out For Children initiative.