I was torn between work and visiting Loo Foh Sang's most recent exhibition. But duty (work) first, so i didnt make it to the opening. However our local daily, The Star gave a two-page spread of his exhibition opening.
These are excerpts from the article
Tuesday May 28, 2013
Artist’s printmaking skills shine at solo
exhibition
By JADE CHAN
jade@thestar.com.my
Photos by ART CHEN and courtesy of Samadee Studio
...PRINTMAKING is not a common art medium in Malaysia, which is why Loo Foh Sang takes great pride in being one of the few local artists who has mastered the various printmaking techniques.
“Printmaking allows me to express my creativity and observations in a different manner,” said the 69-year-old, who also specialises in oil painting and Chinese contemporary ink painting.
“Printmaking is not an easy technique to master. The printing press machine and colours are also very costly. I adapted by converting rubber press machines into printing press machines and made my own colours.”
....The full-time artist and part-time teacher was speaking at the opening of Malaysia Master Printmaker: Loo Foh Sang Solo Show 2013 exhibition at Samadee Studio, Bukit Jalil.
Museums Malaysia Innovation Department director Zanita Anuar (left) officiated at the event.
“Printmaking can be categorised into four main categories — relief techniques such as woodcut and metalcut, intaglio techniques (etching and engraving), planographic techniques (monoprinting and lithography), and stencil technique (silkscreen printing),” said Loo.
He employed different techniques for the 46 pieces of print works featured in the exhibition.
.... Malaysia Master Printmaker: Loo Foh Sang Solo Show 2013 will be held until June 2 at Samadee Studio, 6-1, Block 4, Jalan Jalil Jaya 4, Jalil Link, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur (same row as Hailam Kopitiam, above Tutti Frutti).
The exhibition is open to the public from Tuesdays to Sundays, from 11am to 6pm.
While searching for this article online at thestar.com.my, i found another earlier 2011 article where Mr Loo speaks candidly about his life, his exhibition & his aspirations..
Sunday June 5, 2011
No flight of fancy
After years of dabbling in various art forms, a veteran artist has solid plans etched out for the future.
IT was 60 years ago when a nurse came to tend to his ill father in their little wooden house in Gambang, about 30 kilometres from Kuantan, Pahang, but Loo Foh Sang says the memory of that day is as clear as if it was yesterday. After all, she accurately predicted his future.
“Your little boy will grow up to be a successful artist one day,” the nurse told his mother, while admiring his charcoal works on the walls of the house.
Loo, the youngest boy in a family of nine children, was then seven.
“I drew on every surface I could find and my mother didn’t seem to mind. No one gave much thought to what the nurse said because it was not common then for people to pursue drawing seriously.
.... The artist often ends up gesturing frantically with his hands when trying to get a point across.
“I think I’d be able to explain what I mean much better in French. Sometimes I feel like I’ve lived in France for so long, I’ve forgotten how to speak English!” he adds, referring to the 20 over years he spent abroad.
It was there that he learned the art of printmaking – the focus of this exhibition – under the tutelage of Englishman Stanley William Hayter, the printmaker and painter who founded Atelier 17, one of the most influential print workshops of the last century.
“Paris is nice, very nice. There was plenty going on in the art scene there, although I did sometimes find it difficult to make friends with the locals. I studied French for a year and spent four years studying art at the École Nationale Supérieure Des Beaux-Arts in Paris before printmaking.
 |
| The handsome, young Loo in Paris |
“I took twice as many classes as anyone else with Hayter because I wanted to return to Malaysia as quickly as possible. But after coming home, I changed my mind and instead returned to Paris, where I opened my own studio and lived for another 17 years. My twin sons were born and raised there and I only returned to Malaysia in 1988.”
For the next 15 years or so, Loo taught printmaking at the Malaysian Institute of Art and was subsequently appointed head of the fine arts department at Central Academy of Art (unfortunately now defunct), both in KL.
“That was the reason I came back to Malaysia – to teach and educate others. Many people here do not know much about printmaking and I thought it was time to come home and give back what I can.”
..... He believes it is his unique spin on a traditional printmaking technique that sets him apart from the other artists.
“Coming up with the ‘right’ composition to best capture the motion in these works, with the level of detail that I incorporate, is not something easy to do. But you have to work hard,” he says.
And work hard he does. Particularly as he is determined to be a centenarian.
“I have big plans and I plan to live up to at least 100. I will start a printmaking research centre and workshop. Once I hit 70, I will make arrangements to open an art museum. Maybe I’ll call it the Loo Foh Sang Museum of Art,” he adds, grinning.
*********************************************************************************
Well, i for one certainly feel that he can be a centenarian and beyond! ...cos when we were walking up the slope to our hotel in Macau, Mr Loo (the oldest of our group) was the first to reach the top :)
And having chatted and travelled with him for 5 days during our printmakers sojourn to
Macau 1st Triennial Exhibition last year, it's his attitude to life, his passion for his art balanced by a good sense of humour and a sense of purpose is what makes him succeed in all he does, coupled by the support he gets from his loving artist wife, we look forward to his future ventures!!
