THEN, NOW AND BEYOND
OPENING HOURS
Open: 09:00 to 17:00 (Saturday - Thursday)
Closed: Friday, Public Holiday
EARLY PAINTINGS
On 11th August 1786, Captain Francis Light, hoisted the Union Jack on Penang Island and took formal possession of Penang, naming it Prince of Wales Island. Light turned Penang into a free port and diverted traders away from the Dutch controlled Dutch East Indies, today's Indonesia. This strategy drew many traders and immigrants to Penang. By 1789, Penang had 5,000 residents and this doubled by the end of the following decade.
Colonial Penang prospered through export tin and rubber. Those commodities were important to the Industrial Revolution happening in Britain. Penang's prosperity attracted people from far and wide, making its capital George Town a melting pot of diverse cultures. This invited the renditions of many from the East and the West as seen in the early maps, town plans, maritime illustrations, oil paintings, aquatints, engravings, watercolours and sketches. Some of the important works in PSAG's permanent collection includes works by Captain Robert Smith, James George, James Wathen, William Daniell, William Havell and William J. Huggins.
PIONEER ARTISTS
The island was a space to be conceptualised and understood; where spaces overlapped and coalesced and defined variously by economic function, social class, historical and topographical character. George Town as a city in the early 20th century was important to the development of modernism in Malaya; it was the biggest city in South East Asia and it was the locus of burgeoning growth of technology and increased mobility.
The rapid development of print and communication technology in port cities gave rise to a large number of printed materials and the dissemination of knowledge from all over the world. Knowledge on art via print medium was primarily brought to the Straits Settlement by Europeans and Chinese travelling artists as well as by newly-arrived Chinese immigrants.
SEMI ABSTRACT & ABSTRACT
Abstract art and semi-abstract works employ a visual language of shape, form, colour and line to create a composition. The acceptance of this widely adapted style is not surprising. Thus, abstracts, semi-abstract or nonrepresentational artworks are easily accepted and adapted by artists in their art making. We could see here how the artists play with various forms and colour to communicate or reflect an arousing state of aesthetic catharsis. These artists worked with abstracted forms and imagery, using colours, stressing lines and emphasising the simplification of forms -- engaging with various formalistic considerations and explorations.
PORTRAITS AND PEOPLE
The PSAG collection also consists of portraits and rendition of figures. From the portrait of Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia to the portraits of the common people of Peter Harris, the collection gives a glimpse of the people who weaved a rich tapestry of life in Penang.
SITES AND SPACES
Many Penang artists are modern artists who mostly relied on visual data to transcribe their observations of their immediate world into their paintings. A blend of impressions and concrete imageries of changing island, artists register through modernistic lenses - from landscapes to urbanscapes and from seascapes to hillscapes. Penang's geography is an inspiration to many artists.
Local colonial architecture, religious sites, modern amenities such as the funicular train station at Penang Hill, Penang's pier and port views are among the popular scenes which attest to the fascination of these artists. Artists concentrated on the view as they saw it - imperfect yet mesmerising in a myriad number of ways - from realistic renditions to impressions of the overall visual effects resulting in an intense colour vibration on the canvas that have to be understood and studied within its local understanding and conditions.
RETROSPECTIVE
The importance of Penang artists cannot be highlighted without the
discussion about PSAG itself. PSAG has held retrospective exhibition
for significant Penang artists. It became an annual event since 2007.
Artists honoured with this prestigious exhibition include Dato' Chuah
Thean Teng (1994), Lee Cheng Yong (1996), Dr. Chew Teng Beng
(1998), Yong Mun Sen (1999), Tan Choon Ghee (2000) Song Jin Teik
(2004), Khoo Sui Hoe (2007), Lee Joo For (2008), Tay Mo Leong (2009),
Ismail Hashim (2010), Eric Quah (2011), Chong Hon Fa (2012), Tan
Chiang Kong (2013), Cheung Pooi Yip (2014), Syed Thajudeen (201 5),
James Sum (2016), Chew Kiat Lim (2017) and Tang Hon Yin (2018).
Accompanied by a substantial monograph on the artist, the annual
Retrospective Exhibition is the Penang State Government's highest
recognition of the achievements of an outstanding Malaysian artist.
STILL LIFE AND ANIMALS
Plants seem to be a very popular subject matter of Penang artists. As a tool of training, or to prove that these artists are a master in their elements - still lifes and the portrayal of still lifes be it
commonplace objects which are either natural such as food, flowers, animals, plants, rocks, shells or man-made things such as drinking glasses, books, vases, jewellery, coins, pipes, reflected one's technical capability.
AND BEYOND
Penang is a hub for many young homegrown artists. Weekends are filled with events - workshops, talks, and art exhibitions that cater for the interest of many. The vibrancy and
liveliness of Penang have inspired many local and international artists to produce artworks not only based on the local themes, history, sites, and views, but those attuned to the current trend and nuance of artmaking.
The PSAG with its annual Penang Art Open Competition seeks to provide a platform for young talents to produce artworks that challenge the conventional Penang renditions and noon of art. The Penang artists scene is ever evolving, where not only visual artists, but writers, performing arts, musicians and other creative talents are encouraged to converge, interact, create and enrich this place we call home.
