Figure in Paint - or is it Figure in Pain?

A well thought out piece.

I invited myself to the launch of the Figure in Paint Contemporary Watercolour exhibition held at the Galeri Petronas today, June 30, 2011.

Figure In Paint: Contemporary Watercolour is an exhibition featuring a collection of experimental works by some of the the nation's well-known artists invited by the gallery. The artists, I was told, uses or have used watercolour as their primary medium.

Although the exhibition gives pride of place to the aquamedia, I wished the artists had looked beyond the obvious requirements of the theme.

Why do the obvious and treat Figure in Paint as it is? Why not figures in pain instead? In troubled times such as this, I think it is very relevant for artists to exercise their creative licence and think out of the box. Which is what creativity is all about, isn't it? To be fair, there are several artists who impressed me with their depiction of the theme. These artists have put on their thinking caps and have come up with works that are worth figuring about. And one, which showed a Hazmat man holding a burnt ripened banana (read: Japanese Nuclear Crisis), is particularly worth mentioning. Another showed a woman in her palms praying for love which is obviously lacking in this time and age. This Figure is definitely in Pain!

Intelligent piece, this!

If you want to see who has intelligently explored both his medium and his creativity, you have until Sept 4 to view the show. It is at the Galeri Petronas, KLCC.