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      • Sulaiman Esa (b. Johor, 1941) Primitive Others II, 2016
        Aug. 23, 2020

        Sulaiman Esa (b. Johor, 1941) Primitive Others II, 2016

        Est: RM4,000 - RM7,000

        Sulaiman Esa explores various themes, from the existing diversities and multiplicity of the religious groups, and the Western centric art discourse unattuned to Asian values and belief systems of time and space. According to Sulaiman, the symbols are mytho-poetic visions that are non-objective, non-tangible, non-mimetic art operating in a non-Euclidean, non-perspectival space. Sulaiman Esa is known for his Islamic Art phase and his 1974 Towards A Mystical Reality (with Redza Piyadasa) Conceptual Art phase. Sulaiman had a Diploma in Art and Design at the Hornsey College of Art, London (1962-1966). He did post-graduate Printmaking at Sir William Hayter’s Atelier 17, Paris (1968). He achieved his MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore (1979-1981) and his PhD Islamic Studies at the Temple University, Philadelphia (1986-1996). He had lectured at the Universiti ITM since 1969 and was made Associate Professor in 1995. He won the Major Award in the ‘Man And His World’ competition organised by the National Art Gallery in 1973. His major exhibitions are ‘Insyirah: Works From 1980-2000’ (Galeri Petronas, KL, 2001), and ‘Rajah: Art, Idea And Creativity’ (1950-2011) retrospective at the National Art Gallery Malaysia in 2011.

        Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers
      • Sulaiman Esa (b. 1941) Garden Of Bliss III, 2011
        Mar. 24, 2019

        Sulaiman Esa (b. 1941) Garden Of Bliss III, 2011

        Est: RM45,000 - RM75,000

        Sulaiman Esa alongside Redza Piyadasa had organised a two man show titled Towards A Mystical Reality in 1974. The Conceptual-Constructivist exhibition was a manifesto based on the artists’ desires to question the course of direction that Malaysian Art was heading in the 1970s. Their aim was to raise artistic concerns and challenges faced by Malaysian artists at the time – ‘dependence on western influences’ - by offering some kind of alternatives through exploring Asian philosophies in their art. His provocative piece Waiting For Godot I (1977) depicts a nude woman in a resting posture that symbolises Western art orientation beneath an Islamic ornamentation that signifies Islamic art. In an essay written by his wife, Professor Madya Dr. Khatijah Sanusi, stated: “This series is a visual representation of Sulaiman’s inner conflict in resisting Western art... and mulling over the adoption of Malays Islamic cultural tradition in his search for the Truth.” It was indeed the beginning of his artistic direction with the employment of traditional Malay culture and Islamic art, and by the 1980s, Sulaiman was known as one of the leading advocate of Islamic art in Malaysia. His enrolment at Maryland Institute of Fine Art, USA (1979 to 1981) for an MFA course exposed him with one of the important aspects in his work - the creation of hand-made paper. It was during this period that his creative pursuit was realised – weaving handmade paper illustrating Islamic art patterning that resembles the songket technique. This stunning symmetrical and chromatic visual is perhaps one of the finest work of art ever surfaced in the Malaysian art scene with its delicate weaves and charming hues resembling the sophistication of a hand-woven songket fabric infused with Persian influenced patterning. At an incredible height of 6.5 foot tall, this blissful piece - crafted in an array of elevating yet soothing pastel blue, green, pink, yellow and violet – stands out with both its dimension and technique. In his repertoire, the Garden is the paradise where righteous and devout Muslims aspire to a blissful eternal life in the Hereafter and to be united with his or her Creator. Later, the (Endangered) Garden also contains strident warnings against American hegemony as a threat to Islam. In the Islamic Art Seminar in 1984, Lamya Al-Faruqi extolled Sulaiman as a trailblazer in the Post-Modern period for “…studying Islam and its relationship to Art, immersing himself in the craft tradition of his people…” Niranjan Rajah wrote, in his essay, Insyirah Al-Sadr: The Art of Sulaiman Esa: “For Sulaiman, tawhid (Divine Unity) is not only the recognition of the Oneness of God. It also implies the subordination of power, wealth and the individual to the unifying principles of society.” Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal wrote about Sulaiman Esa’s artistic pursue in his essay Islamic Art: “Sulaiman Esa takes his art practice seriously, his artistic achievements are gradual, and each phase involves a shift in his art-making – found objects, mystical reality, social contexts, cultural references, and finally Islam have constituted main point of focus. This conscientiousness has become the foundation for an increasing number of Malaysian artists, especially among the younger generation, who have moved away from complete dependence on the Western art canon.” A distinguished artist and art educator, Sulaiman Esa has played a pivotal role in the Malaysian art scene since the late 1960s. He began to integrate Islamic art forms into his artworks in the 1980s in the pursuit of personal and national artistic identity. A graduate from the Hornsey College of Art, United Kingdom (1962 to 1968), he returned home to pursue a brief career as a designer at Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. He then became a lecturer and an associate professor at Institut Teknologi Mara from 1970 to 1996. His curatorial and writing endeavours include An Islamic Identity in Contemporary Malaysian Art: Achievements and Challenges (National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, 1992) and Art and Spirituality: An Introduction (National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, 1997) to name a few. His first one-man show titled Ke Arah Tawhid (Towards Unity) was held in 1984 and he pursued his Doctoral studies in Islamic Studies at Temple University, United States of America in 1986. A retrospective exhibition titled Raja’ah: Art, Idea and Creativity of Sulaiman Esa from 1950s – 2011 was held in 2011 at the National Visual Arts Gallery, Kuala Lumpur to showcase an extensive body of works created by Sulaiman Esa over the past 50 years of his artistic career. REFERENCE From The Periphery to the Centre: The Social Significance of Sulaiman Esa’s Work from 1950s to 2007, Professor Madya Dr. Khatijah Sanusi and Ahmad Farid Raihan Imagining Identities: Narratives in Malaysian Art Volume 1, RogueArt, 2012 203.5 x 92cm

        Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers
      • SULAIMAN ESA (b. 1941) IN SEARCH OF THE PRIMORDIAL I, 2006; IN SEARCH OF THE PRIMORDIAL II, 1990, Mixed media on paper
        Nov. 12, 2017

        SULAIMAN ESA (b. 1941) IN SEARCH OF THE PRIMORDIAL I, 2006; IN SEARCH OF THE PRIMORDIAL II, 1990, Mixed media on paper

        Est: RM6,000 - RM10,000

        It would be difficult to pinpoint, much less pin down, what Sulaiman Esa meant by the ‘Primordial.’ Primitive, aboriginal, indigenous or even further back to the creation of the world, perhaps as ‘late’ as post-colonial? One is left to speculate in his ‘Search of the Primordial’ from the little of graffiti of ideograms, khat calligraphy, cryptic symbols, ‘spiral of life’ motif, mock DNA sequencing, with visages of a man and a woman and a figure of undetermined sex thrown in for good measure. Clear is, from his Islamic-centrism and monotheism, Sulaiman Esa is after his 2001 Insyirah, exploring a ‘primordial’ state of religious mainsprings in various communities and the changes therein in each, apart from the anthropological fragmentations into different breakaway branches. His approach will be two-pronged, from the existing diversities and multiplicity of the religious groups, and the Western centric art discourse unattuned to Asian values and belief systems of time and space. But according to Sulaiman, the symbols are mytho-poetic visions that are non-objective, non-tangible, non-mimetic art operating in a non-Euclidean, non-perspectival space.Sulaiman Esa is known for his Islamic Art phase and his 1974 ‘Towards A Mystical Reality’ (with Redza Piyadasa) Conceptual Art phase. Sulaiman had a Diploma in Art and Design at the Hornsey College of Art, London (1962-1966). He did post-graduate Printmaking at Sir William Hayter’s Atelier 17, Paris (1968). He achieved his MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore (1979-1981) and his PhD Islamic Studies at the Temple University, Philadelphia (1986-1996). He had lectured at the Universiti ITM since 1969 and was made Associate Professor in 1995. He won the Major Award in the ‘Man and his World’ competition organised by the National Art Gallery in 1973. His major exhibitions are ‘Insyirah: Works from 1980-2000’ (Galeri Petronas, KL, 2001); and ‘Rajah: Art, Idea and Creativity’ (1950-2011) retrospective at the NAG in 2011.

        Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers
      • SULAIMAN ESA (b. 1941) UNHOLY PRINT II, 1977, Etching on paper, edition 2 of 10
        Apr. 23, 2017

        SULAIMAN ESA (b. 1941) UNHOLY PRINT II, 1977, Etching on paper, edition 2 of 10

        Est: RM20,000 - RM35,000

        When Sulaiman Esa was embarking on his iconic Waiting for Godot series in 1977, he was warned by the school’s head of art and design, that it would be sacrilegious to juxtapose a nude image next to Quranic calligraphic writings. That was before the onset of a more stringent Islamic mores in the wake of the Ayatollah Khomeiny’s hardline Islamisation in the early 1980s.Sulaiman took a chance and submitted the work for the national printmaking competition organised by the National Art Gallery (NAG) in 1977, and it won the Minor Award.More than audacity of the sacred and the profane, Sulaiman was torn between the “Inner conflict in resisting Western art paradigms” (From The Periphery to the Centre: The Social Significance of Sulaiman Esa’s Work from 1950s to 2007, by Prof Madya Dr Khatijah Sanusi, Ahmad Farid Raihan) and the presaging of Islamic aesthetic values and symbols. It was a time between his ground-breaking Mystical Reality (1974) and his ‘Tauhid’ of Islamic Art phase. tuk Syed Ahmad presciently called it his (Sulaiman’s) “self-portrait.”In the series, Sulaiman superimposed an image of Islamic architecture with that of a nude woman from a fashion magazine he bought in Rome while taking a costume and stage design certificate course at the Academia de Rome (1974-75). It was not really planned.He had variations of the theme in various printmaking techniques, and apart from the National Art Gallery, the National Gallery Singapore (NGS) and the Singapore Art Museum have a number of the works. In 2015, T.K. Sabapathy revisited the Godot series in the Re-Invented commission by the NGS, and wrote: “The Waiting for Godot series exemplifies lives and practices of artists in worlds that are driven by competing histories, contending cultural traditions and distinctive individual aspirations. Even as it emerged from a personal predicament, its compass is worldly.” Sulaiman recalled that when he was studying in London in the 1960s, he was drawn by the Existentialism theories of Sartre, Camus and Beckett, and that on his return to Kuala Lumpur, he attended a performance of Waiting for Godot in Kuala Lumpur. The rest were more wit and poetics.Sulaiman Esa broke into the Malaysian art scene big time when he and Redza Piyadasa launched their controversial and cerebral Conceptual Art paintings and installations in 1974. His Waiting for Godot works were fortified by Printmaking training at Hornsey College of Art, London (1967) after his Diploma in Art and Design (1962-1966), and post-graduate Printmaking at Atelier 17, Paris (1968). His Islamic Art phase came with the credentials of his Master in Fine Art, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore (1979-1981) and his PhD Islamic Studies at the Temple University, Philadelphia (1986-1996). In 1973, he won the Major Award in the Man and his World competition organised by the NAG. He had lectured at the Universiti ITM since 1969 and was made Associate Professor in 1995. His tremendous contributions can be seen in two career-defining exhibitions: Insyirah: Works from 1980-2000 (Galeri Petronas, KL, 2001); and the stunning Rajah: Art, Idea and Creativity (1950-2011) retrospective at the NAG in 2011.

        Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers
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