An abandoned low-cost housing apartment in the industrial estate of Sec 24 in Shah Alam is an unlikely source of inspiration for an art exhibition in affluent Bangsar.
It’s a story of a squat house from 25 years ago that has now been expanded into a vivid and multi-layered exhibition that reflects on the challenges faced by urban youth in the late 1990s, the unemployment woes then and how they eerily parallel today’s troubled and uncertain times in Malaysia.
Saiful Razman, a contemporary artist, acknowledges that his new solo show Pangsa (Apartment) at the Rissim Contemporary gallery in Kuala Lumpur, is a rather personal series, but it also echoes the relatable journey of many small town transplants – like him – who struggled to make sense of the big city life in the Klang Valley.
Born in Changkat Jong, Teluk Intan in Perak, Saiful moved to Shah Alam in 1998 to study fine art at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). He graduated in 2003, majoring in painting.
The 43-year old artist, who also subscribes to punk aesthetics and plays bass when time permits, has been exhibiting art for more than 20 years now, building a successful career and winning art industry awards along the way.
His post-pandemic output has also garnered him acclaim, most recently bringing him to the National Art Gallery in KL (2022), Venice Biennale (2022), Asean Artists Residency Programme at Sharjah Art Foundation Residency (2022), and the UOB South-East Asian Painting of The Year Award (2021).
However, Saiful’s recent works, including last year’s installation Tugu Atas Bukit at the National Art Gallery, have pursued a broader artistic approach, with social issues coming to the fore in his abstract art language.
In Tugu Atas Bukit, he experimented and looked into various forms of media (video, installation, photo-collage) and invited diverse collaborators to create an immersive landscape that used ancient folklore to depict the economic and social realities in his hometown in Perak.
“Tugu Atas Bukit was a show done with many collaborators, it was made as an installation work to tell the story of my hometown and the changing landscapes there. These kind of shows need time and the right people to work with.
“This ‘landscape’ thread now continues with the Pangsa show, which revisits a different part of my life, a period of time where early friendships were forged and dreams were shared,” says Saiful about his latest exhibition that features 11 new abstract paintings.
Here is where that small unused flat in Shah Alam informs the mood in some of his new paintings, which were all done at his studio in Taman Melawati in Gombak, Selangor this year.
“When we found this abandoned unit, we entered it and cleaned it up. It still had utilities and the neighbours were also okay about a bunch of skint students and punk musicians moving in. As a squat house it also welcomed others who needed a place to crash,” says Saiful, who also often slept in the UiTM art studio in those days.
“I know it sounds grim, but that tiny, cramped apartment in Shah Alam has brought back so many memories that can be so precise, vivid and even emotional. That place was once a part of my young life as an art student.
“For a few years, it was home. It’s a tale of friends who grew up together. We were broke, and we couldn’t afford off-campus accommodation, so this flat was ‘our base camp’ as we made our way into the big bad world,” he recalls.
In a gallery environment, the Pangsa exhibition – going beyond the Shah Alam postcode – serves as a poignant reflection on universal urban struggles and societal constructs within low-income housing communities.
“Pangsa embodies a paradoxical juxtaposition of structure and disorder. Line, often confined to drawing and design, takes on multifaceted roles in Saiful’s work. While the facades of low-income housing often adhere to uniform designs optimised for density and cost-efficiency, the life within is diverse and marked by a lack of conformity,” writes Suleyman Azhari, Rissim Contemporary co-founder, in the exhibition notes.
Saiful’s new abstract works, which feature his ever-expanding medical gauze and tissue-paper collages, captures the bleak atmosphere and “pure feeling” of these urban concrete spaces where chipped paint, broken windows, scattered debris and a hint of disorder permeate.
He also mentions that Kazimir Malevich, a Russian avant-garde artist and art theorist, has been an inspiration in the more experimental collage pieces such as One Million Angels Singing and Crossed. His monochromatic moods are present through pieces such as Resist To Exist and Staring At The Wall, which exude a sense of anxiety and hopelessness, while Raindrops drips through with emotion and crimson intensity.
There are signs of rusting, decay and ageing in the other pieces, which also feature crepe paper and fabric pigments. Altar Of Sacrifice, at a first glance, hints toward an ubiquitous parquet flooring layout, but Saiful reveals it was his most difficult work to finish, with the painting “needing more red and intensity” before it was ready.
“There’s a certain emotional pull to each painting, but I would rather let the viewer find his or her own meaning to these works. As a way to reconnect with that period of my life, I have also asked two former punk scene friends – Fizan Fitz (former bandmate) and Ahmad Kamal Abdul Bakar (punk fanzine writer) – to respond to some of my works in this exhibition.
"They have provided insightful and very personal essays, which to me, is a more meaningful way to read and contemplate about art rather than have a curator’s views all the time,” concludes Saiful, who will start an art residency in Shanghai next month under the UOB South-East Asian Painting of The Year Award series.
The Pangsa series – with additional works – will also travel to Art Jakarta next month and Art SG in Singapore in January next year.
Saiful Razman’s Pangsa (Apartment) is showing at Rissim Contemporary in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur until Nov 5.
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