Arcane Fantasies — Justin Lim

Arcane Fantasies for the Flesh and the Sublime

Justin Lim

Arcane Fantasies for the Flesh and the Sublime

Justin Lim

Justin Lim’s latest artistic investigations shown in this exhibition of ten works, Arcane Fantasies for the Flesh and the Sublime, take the viewer into the woods to discover traces of the artist’s life and hints of his identity through a set of recurring symbols. The show marks the beginning of a new trajectory for Lim, who recently completed a residency hosted at Beijing’s Red Gate Gallery and is starting 2013 off with that achievement and this one, but it also has a reflective note in that much of the visual content and subject matter in the paintings comes from Lim’s entire body of work thus far. For Lim fans, this is a triumph of congruency and for those newly interested it is a very kind gesture by Lim indeed.

There is evidence of personal growth in many of the works as well. “It wasn’t really on purpose but there’s a sense of decay throughout this body of works. A lot of them [show] dead flowers, dead trees, dying birds... an accumulation of things that used to be alive.” Lim also sees none of the flowers as in bloom. “To me they’re all dying. It shows the life cycle and what happened to these things is just a fact of life. It symbolizes how in order for something new to emerge, something has to go.” Dead individually, the flowers, trees and birds, along with other items, maneuver to contribute to the forming of a new object when brought together by Lim: immortal iconic shapes of a skull and a heart, and instantly recognizable hunting prizes of animal head, carcass and hide.

These six paintings are the Hunter Gatherer group.

Life after Decay: new start, new works, from Justin Lim Suraya Warden

“When I started painting this series I knew I wanted to create these ‘nests’ of icons and objects that I’ve used in previous works… I think in order to understand where I come from as a painter, it’s important to look back at the older work before and then you can see the symbology that I’ve used… the meat comes up quite a lot, the skull comes up quite a lot, the flowers come up quite a lot and now I’m talking about decay and things that are withering and dying. The skull [Hunter Gatherer #1] is a pretty straightforward representation of that, it’s a good first piece [to look at] to see where I’m coming from.” The artist describes the painting, and particularly the figure contained within, as an upside-down ‘fall from grace’.

Black Heart, meanwhile, is at once an icon and also a twisted version of it’s more anatomically accurate counterpart that makes up the third element in Trophies #1 next to a dead raven and a shriveled bouquet. The remaining four works in the Hunter Gatherer group use hunted animal parts as the basis of their iconic shape.

Close inspection of Manimal reveals a level of attention to detail that encapsulates Lim’s main artistic strengths of skill and imagination in aspects such as the way in which the mohawk of an iguana can seamlessly make up the bristles along a boar’s head, while the corpse of a plump bird can become its jaw. This is no doubt where the power and excitement lie for the viewer. In Manimal Hide #1 and Manimal Hide #2 there is a storytelling, of entire worlds within a single (in this case two single) vignettes, the window of each being that well-known hunting trophy of man: the animal hide.

Manimal Hide #1 is a particular compositional standout that recalls the sublime tradition in landscape painting, and is made up of the essential foreground, horizon and sky in an almost colour-coded arrangement to set a dramatic, moody moment in which a raven perches on the antler of a freshly hunted deer. The raven is one particularly fun element for the viewer to spot throughout the series. She is seen again forming the left side of the Black Heart, and again as the animal’s head in Dear…, where the black gloss of feathers along with a tight twist of rope stain the painting with an air of violence.

This group of paintings is at once a step closer to depth for an artist whose visual style was much more immediate in previous work, and a retaining of the instantly recognizable style that bore that immediacy. These stay true to the artist but bring him along on a very interesting path. The keen viewer will see a tonal spectrum in the

vein of Dutch 17th century still lifes, where game, fruit, flowers and cuts of meat were painted in extreme realism but rich, subdued colour to pictorially represent a notion of abundance. Here a similar range of objects is painted, but more in order to sort, understand and organize until something is revealed that can represent symbolically everything that it is comprised of within.

Lim is making most of any commentary on painting with a series of triptychs also on show, a group entitled Trophies, in a message towards the prizing of objects and a nod towards painting a series about collecting that will, in turn, be collected. As he explains, “the cage of trophies is a playful commentary on painting

itself being an object of desire [and] caging them up is saying ‘you are a slave to your own desire’.” In the Trophies triptychs, the starkness each object floats against is a link to the style of every other work in the show, while also creating with clarity a key of symbols required by the viewer to navigate the troves of the six Hunter Gatherer paintings. These symbols all represent something in the artist’s life, past or present: “[This show] is not only about collecting objects or icons

but also about collecting memories and experiences and observations.

[For example] Meat, to me, is a symbol of religious ideals, of rituals and rights. The image of raw meat definitely speaks to me as a person, growing up in this part of the world where religion is so widely practiced and upheld.” Created placing the items on canvas inside frames sealed with images of a cage silkscreened on plexiglass, the triptychs are partly a continuation of artistic technique and materials that appeared in Lim’s recent series of portraits of artists, Secret Identities, and partly referencing the containment of precious specimens, boxed individually, much like an enthusiast might store and display a unique butterfly or, if inclined, a dark spider. Lim’s chosen imagery and objects here however is less scientific than a straightforward appreciation of nature and on a more playful bend than the gathering of collectibles. In Trophies it nevertheless evokes romanticism and curiosity, with each object effectively spotlighted alone on center stage.

Both the Hunter Gatherer group and the Trophies series are connected with the exhibition’s title piece Arcane Fantasies for the Flesh and the Sublime. “That one was

painted just before I went to Beijing. [The whole series] spawned from that first painting. I was just observing it and having a little introspective moment with my works because they are my personal visual diaries.

After painting this work and putting these random imagery all over the place almost like a landscape scene of different people and objects, I realized that I was actually compiling these images and almost arranging it, like a botanist… so I thought it would be interesting to push that sense of re-arranging it further into these iconic shapes.

And that’s also when I came up with Trophies because that way I can show individual objects and one by one the different elements that make up the bigger ones.” “I found myself to really be a gatherer…

For example, I pulled that picture of the police beating up that guy from a news web portal and applying it like a collage of random images.

That’s the vein of my painting. I’m collecting observations, images and appropriating them into the work. So I found myself to be in this role of collector as well.” By ‘as well’, Lim is acknowledging the multilayered meaning of the investigations behind this series, where it is known with full irony that each work in the show is also a coveted object of competing art buyers. Lim’s artistic process, largely pertaining to collecting, highlights how Lim does not aim to convey a message and in that way does not paint for the audience at all. “I paint and make art for

myself and what anyone takes out of it is really their own. I really don’t want to dictate how anyone should view it, but for me personally [these symbols are] easy entry-points to relate to, and to [use to] talk about other things.”

Playful content and reflections of Lim’s personal experiences as a young artist can easily be seen in his works. The influence of popular culturefor example has long been evident Lim’s art. “The skull, the Dali lobster telephone are iconic and fun.

It’s about creating these visual nests [investigating] what does hunting and gathering really mean today in a contemporary context [and] hopefully people take something [from them] but for me it was just fun to make these paintings.” This playful and distinct perspective can also bring to life references to Lim’s heritage and identity as a member of Malaysian society, which when they appear in his works are a bonus for the audience.

fig.1 1 Rimbun Dahan is a centre for developing traditional and contemporary art forms situated in Selangor, Malaysia. www.rimbundahan.org

Justin is well known locally for a productive residency at the Rimbun Dahan 1 compound in 2008. “With this show I’m revisiting the Rimbun Dahan times”. Indeed, stylistically, Arcane Fantasies for the Flesh and the Sublime ties in with the landscape layout and figurative grouping of Gods, Heroes & Myths (2008) fig.1, its figures with objects for heads link to the submarine-headed figure in Hantu Air (2008) fig.2, Orang Minyak (2008) fig.3 and its hanging butchery was the subject matter of the triptych The Last Supper (2008) fig.4. Similarly, imagery in the Trophies triptychs and Hunter Gatherer works, such as flowers and skulls, were seen previously in the Secret Identities series, such as in the floral tattoos on the extraordinary work We Want You (2010) fig.5 and a skull with a wig in the fast and fun Warhol inspired ‘portrait’ Pop is Dead (2010) fig.6.

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“I think it’s important to depict that society influences to a certain extent how I am today… it’s hard to run away from politics and religion being in Malaysian society, so I’m just merely pointing out the obvious things. When I was in Rimbun Dahan, the Hantu series and the whole idea of politics came into the picture was because when I moved out there during the middle of the electorial campaign, the whole street was covered with political banners and slogans. I’m not a political artist, but my work sometimes touches on these subjects because you can’t really avoid it if it’s in your face all the time.” “After Rimbun Dahan I painted the Secret Identities series, which were altered portraits of artists. Now, I’m coming back again to the flesh,the meat and symbology. I think the decay represents this sense of time passing and the end of a particular era perhaps.”

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On a whole the current exhibition marks what the artist terms a possible ‘new start’, built off introspection and evolved audience expectation. Not only is the viewer delivered the execution of blended idea and design in these works, but with the artist’s investigation of what it means to collect new experiences they are also encouraged to look forward to Lim’s future, to the creative life that will inevitably emerge from here.

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Black heart

Hunter gatherer

Dear…

Manimal

Manimal Hide #1

Manimal Hide #2

Arcane Fantasies for the Flesh and the Sublime

Trophies #1

Trophies #2

Trophies #3

Black heart 71 x 56cm, acrylic on canvas, 2013

Hunter gatherer 217 x 174cm, acrylic on canvas, 2012

Dear‌ 213 x 138cm, acrylic on canvas, 2013

Manimal 102 x 127cm, acrylic on canvas, 2013

Manimal Hide #1 198 x 168cm, acrylic on canvas, 2013

Manimal Hide #2 198 x 168cm, acrylic on canvas, 2013

Arcane Fantasies for the Flesh and the Sublime 183 x 366cm (two panels), acrylic on canvas, 2012

Trophies #1 86 x 70cm each (Triptych), acrylic on canvas / screenprint on perspex, 2012

Trophies #2 86 x 70cm each (Triptych), acrylic on canvas / screenprint on perspex, 2012

Trophies #3 86 x 70cm each (Triptych), acrylic on canvas / screenprint on perspex, 2012

Justin Lim (b. 1983 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) completed his postgraduate studies in 2006 with the Master of Art (Fine Art) programme by The Open University UK conducted at Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore after obtaining a BA(Hons) Fine Art majoring in painting. He has exhibited widely in Southeast Asia in various solo and group exhibitions. He was awarded the 2008 Malaysia-Australia Visual Artist Residency at Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia and represented Malaysia at the 2009 Asian Art Biennial held at the Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. He was also the recipient of the 2011 Asian artist fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center, USA and the 2013 Khazanah Nasional Artist Residency hosted at the Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, China.

He lives and works in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Education 2006 Master of Art (Fine Art), Lasalle College of the Arts,

Singapore/Open University UK 2005 Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Painting, Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore 2003 Diploma in Visual & Digital Art, Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology, Malaysia Solo Exhibitions 2013 Arcane Fantasies for the Flesh and the Sublime,

Richard Koh Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2010 Secret Identities, TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2009 Gods, Heroes & Myths, Rimbun Dahan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2007 Agents, Actions & Consequences, TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2006 Momentum, TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Selected Group Exhibitions 2013 ARTSTAGE Singapore, Richard Koh Fine Art, Singapore 2012 Snapshops, WWF Art for Nature, Rimbun Dahan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Collective Alternatif, Malaysian Art Expo, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

ARTSTAGE Singapore, Richard Koh Fine Art, Singapore 2011 Asian Artist Fellowship Residency show, Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, USA

18@8 Save The Planet, Wei Ling Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Culture Vulture, TAKSU, Singapore

Garden of Hidden Desires, Wei Ling Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

ROGUE WAVE!, TAKSU, Singapore 2010 BOLEH!, TAKSU, Singapore

1Malaysia Contemporary Art Festival (MCAT), Galeri Seri Perdana,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

SURVIVAL, Rimbun Dahan, Selangor, Malaysia

Tiger Show, Wei-Ling Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Locals Only!, TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2009 Viewpoints & Viewing Points – Asian Art Biennial, Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts,

Tai Chung, Taiwan

Iskandar Malaysian Contemporary Art Show (IMCAS), Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Tanah Air, Rimbun Dahan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The Fab Four, TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Peninsula & Island, TAKSU, Singapore

Home, CHAI House, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2008 Shifting Boundaries, Rimbun Dahan, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Exhibition X, TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Locals Only!, TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Peninsula & Island, TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2007 Singapore ART Show, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

Nasi Campur, TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

ARTSingapore, Suntec Convention Center, Singapore

2006 The New Messengers, TAKSU, Singapore

Rage Against the Dying of the Light, La Libreria, Singapore

MFA Degree Show, Earl Lu Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Art, Singapore 2005 Urban on Urban, Earl Lu Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Art, Singapore

Balthus Bemused by Colour, Earl Lu Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Art, Singapore 2003 Germany in Mind, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The Circle, Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

VDA, LICT Atrium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2 Arts on a Jade Stone, LICT Atrium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2002 Breathe in, Breathe Out, LICT Atrium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Palestine Day, Islamic Arts Museum, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Vertical Horizontal, LICT Atrium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Eyes Wide Open, LICT Atrium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Scholarships, Awards & Residencies 2013 Khazanah Nasional Artist Commissioning Programme, Red Gate Gallery,

Beijing, China 2011 Asian Artist Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center, USA 2008 Malaysia-Australia Visual Artist Residency, Rimbun Dahan,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2007 Taksu Artist Residency Programme (TARP), TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2006 Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts Scholarship 2003 President’s Scholar Award, Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Acknowledgements The artist would like to thank Richard Koh and the staff of RK Fine Art, Jeffrey Lim (Studio 25), Steve Tan, Dennis Chan, collectors, family and friends.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior consent from the artist and gallery.

Catalogue Š 2013 Richard Koh Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur Artwork and Images Š 2013 Justin Lim Essay / Kathleen Suraya Warden Photography / Steve Tan Catalogue design / Studio 25 Printer / Unico Services

This catalog is published to accompany a solo exhibition by Justin Lim entitled Arcane Fantasies for the Flesh and the Sublime at Richard Koh Fine Art Kuala Lumpur on 25 April to 9 May 2013.

Kuala Lumpur Lot No. 2F-3, Level 2, Bangsar Village II, Jalan Telawi 1, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Open daily, 10.00 am to 10.00 pm Tel +6 (03) 2283 3677 Fax + 6 (03) 2283 4677 Singapore Artspace@Helutrans 39 Keppel Road #01-05 Tanjong Pagar Distripark Singapore 089065 Gallery Opening Hours Tuesday to Friday: 11.30 am to 7.00 pm Saturday: 12.00 pm to 6.00 pm Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays Mondays by appointment only Tel +65 6221 1209 Fax +65 6221 1249 www.rkfineart.com info@rkfineart.com