Art Formosa Taipei 2017

G13 Gallery is pleased to present ‘Kow Leong Kiang’, a showcase exhibition at Art Formosa 2017. The artist, Kow Leong Kiang who is from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia has established himself as respected figurative painter back at home and neighboring countries. To this date, he has been involved in numerous amounts of art projects namely solo exhibitions, group shows, artist residency programs and talks which were held in the past both locally and at international level. The artist is no stranger to the land of Taiwan as he had participated in Art Taipei and Art Kaohsiung before. The showcase exhibition by the artist denotes his first stint at the Art Formosa as an exchange of honor and acknowledgement from one to another.

The exhibition is a continuation of the painter’s series of a Malay girl that significantly and visually represent the core idea to his body of work. More than just a muse, the portrayal of his portraiture is often brought forward by the artist to narrate the story of Malaysia through the perspective of culture and socio-political view. Despite the reiteration of the subject, the artist believes that just like the ever changing scene of the political landscape in his country, the revisit is not just worthy but also relevant. The only underlying difference is how time and space has influenced the whole thought process of the artist in relation to his way of narrating the idea.

The evolution of his every brushstroke, masterful techniques, either discovered or mastered, serves as a living testimony to the Malay girl series. The combination of his subtle and intricate rendering of the subject of multiple poses carries various display of emotion which is inexplicable at certain point; the fragile feeling of protruded and disturbed, tempted, confused and sometime absurd. Indirectly, these feelings metaphorically reflect his thought on his place of origin from the perspective of an artist, a member of a community, and as a person.

As an active participant of international art fairs, G13 Gallery has been playing a significant part in promoting what Malaysian art has to offer especially with the highlights that Southeast Asia region has been getting recently. Continuing the effort of working together with Kow Leong Kiang and other Malaysian artist has been both a blessing and honor to G13 gallery. G13 gallery is proud to present ‘Kow Leong Kiang’, a showcase exhibition by Kow Leong Kiang for Art Formosa 2017.

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• Kow Leong Kiang