RENJANA 2023 by Farif Jalil: Metamorphosing Formations of Flow and Friction

 

RENJANA Art Exhibition by Farif Jalil, Image courtesy of Segaris AC Publika Instagram

RENJANA Art Exhibition is taking place at Segaris Art Center, Publika from 3rd-21st March 2023. The opening ceremony will take part on the 11th March 2023 (8pm-9:30pm), as listed by Segaris AC's Instagram. 

Farif Jalil is an established Malaysian contemporary artist, based in Kuala Lumpur/Shah Alam. RENJANA is the first 2023 solo-exhibition hosted by Segaris, and the third (3rd) solo-exhibition by the artist himself. Out of the numerous selected group exhibitions participated by the artist, RENJANA is an 18 years solo comeback, where the previous solo's; "Spirit of Coins" Art Exhibition in 2005 at XOAS Gallery, and "Burgeoning" Art Exhibition in 2004 at Artrageously Ramsey Ong Gallery. 

This 2023 solo-exhibition marks an active gesture by the artist in regards to his current discipline and practice, as an academic-artist where he finds himself at the long run. 20 works of art showcased along various scales and styles, encapsulates RENJANA's visceral preoccupation, as well as contemplation in regards towards the essence and presence of the artist's life, altogether an quintessential creative process on his art makings. The artist describes:

"These current practices and methods have started a sense of motion that grips a longing and feelings of love, as well as a rumination towards my life history" - Artist

RENJANA embarks a metamorphose journey of the artist's passion and contemplation on his life history. A full circle which demands closure through the seemingly improvised techniques applied by the artist, confronting the four corners of its canvas, celebrating flows and frictions in regards to the identical formation, of each as well as every showcased works of art. 

These 20 artworks commands an emotional experience to be delved by its audience. A moving sensational feeling, guided by the raw gestural non-representative layers, which invokes depth and evokes volume of chaos and order, through metamorphose formations of STYLES, SPACE, SCALE, and SURFACE in contemplating flows and frictions in life, by the artist.   

STYLES on the technical approach upon each works of art suggest a creative synthesising process, of more than one art style by Farif Jalil. As an academic-artist himself, the artist is exposed and frequently explores his mediums exuberantly. On a first impression, works from RENJANA connotes an abstract expressionism feeling, through gestural and lyrical atmosphere reflected by its composed and improvised mix medias, exhibited works on the sublimity of nature as "Hutan Hujan (2023)" and "Kayangan (2023)", speaks a visual language as Helen Frankenthaler's preconceptions on "Mountains and Sea" as a celebrated lyrical abstract expressionist herself. However on a second perception, the beauty of symmetrical as well as asymmetrical flows and frictions, suggests preconceptions of Surrealist 'Decalcomania' or 'Grattage' techniques, at one point, as promoted by Max Ernst as one of several automatism approach, allowing chance and subconscious in metamorphosing the final form. Max Ernst further inscribed in his famous essay 'What is Surrealism (1934)'; 

'The joy in every successful metamorphosis conforms...with the intellect's age-old energetic need to liberate itself from the deceptive and boring paradise of fixed memories and to investigate a new, incomparably expansive areas of experience, in which the boundaries between the so-called inner world and the outer world become increasingly blurred and will probably one day disappear entirely' -Max Ernst

Nevertheless, on a third contemplation on the flows and frictions approach embarked by the artist, depicts a marbling technique which involves floating inks, dyes, or paints on a liquid surface, where pigments are manipulated into patterns, then transferred into paper or canvas, upon absorbing the floating designs. Such marbling techniques conforms towards the improvisation of addition-subtraction of flows and frictions. Moreover, all the mentioned above techniques remains a depiction of the writers visual comprehension, which in reality may differ or varies from the exact creative process the artist carries. Thus upon cumulating rational as well as irrational techniques, the artist does sparks a brave gesture upon producing works of art which is not limited to a single concept or style, where he further remarks;

"As they are not limited to a single concept or style, my works constantly explore my own creative process" - Artist

Kayangan (2023) courtesy of Segaris AC Instagram page

SPACE on the canvas are embraced by Farif Jalil as a constant exploration to embrace and confront each and every surface of his work of art. RENJANA takes the audience towards a closer space which speaks the thrills and tribulations of the artist's rumination through his life journey. Each work of art is an arena of its own. The Art Critic Harold Rosenberg once argued that abstract expressionist painting of gestural or lyrical strands such as Pollock's was no longer a picture, but 'an event' in regards to its creative process making. Despite the provoking vibrant colours from the artist's pallet, there are still sensation of movements, through the reciprocating flows and frictions of paints, automatically colonising territories between dichotomies of expansion-compression, tensions-tractions, and from focus space areas to breathing space areas, interplayed directly and indirectly by the artist himself. These spaces draws a horizon of its own improvising expressions of inner emotions, where reality is abandoned entirely, in favour of the improvised play of colour, texture, movement, as well as intuitive flowing forms. The emotional sensation resonates the canvas, capturing a fragmented cumulative desire of chaos and order.  

SCALES on the size of each works of art invites the audience towards the consonance, and closure of Farif Jalil's reference point and metaphors. Upon meeting the artist during end of 2022 50/50 exhibition, he insisted that his work of art such as "Landscape of Mind (2022)" reaches satisfaction point only to be developed in vast or bigger scales. Despite such perspective view, the artist's works of art through its scales does leaves an evoking visual statement of the arena where the artist addresses himself. These big scale works of art as prompt by the New York School artist does accentuate a theatrical superiority of the artist's performance as well as emotion. In regards to its dramatic 'Catharsis' which moves its audience through romantic tragedies in life through the flows and frictions of its medium. The seeming flows of paints invites its audience towards the order of growth, self-nourishment, as well as decay in life, in nature of its rational and irrational theatrical-state. Hypothetically, a big-scale event stage, supplies  bigger crowds, which demands  better viewing attention-span, resulting to an immersive experience of its own. Theoretically the attention-span of human beings in the 21st century at times is proven less than a goldfish, which is 8 secs! However this situation does not reflects entirely the preconceived choices, the artist takes in producing works of art in vast scales. Nevertheless, frictions of paints can be seen flowing downwards, as if surrendering towards the force of nature (Gravity). This situation gives a romantic impression towards the sublimity of humankind and nature, of hope and despair. Metaphorically the artist describes the "The essence of this 'landscape' serves as both a reference point and a metaphor'.      

Image courtesy of Segaris AC Publika Instagram

SURFACE on each works of art embraced by Farif Jalil, elevates an atmospheric energy which takes its audience towards a meta-narrative dichotomy of utopian-dystopian. The artist builds the surface weight and depth of his works of art from darkness to lightness of shades. At times the darker black shades stains dictates the surface between the four corners of the canvas. Lyrical Abstraction one way or another does belongs to the pure formalism art philosophy. TATE Gallery Art Term defines formalism as; 'The critical position that the most important aspect of a work of art is its form - the way it is made and its purely visual aspects - rather than its narrative content or its relationship to the visible world. Clive bell as a formalist himself asserted that purely formal qualities, such as relationships and combinations of lines and colours are most important elements in works of art. Aesthetic emotions aroused primarily from an apprehension of its 'significant form' rather from a 'reading' of its subject matter found in contextualism as well as realistic paintings. The flows and frictions on the surface of RENJANA's showcased works of art, emphasis such philosophical art process, which sets the artist's references point and metaphors in time and space, in regards to its visual formation and textural surface becomings. 

In a nutshell, Farif Jalil through his current solo-exhibition RENJANA, has achieved to metamorphose formations of flow and friction through his visceral artistic contemplation, as well as apprehension approaches in regards to unique STYLES, SPACE, SCALE, and SURFACE of his creative art making process.  

RENJANA 2023 celebrates the five (5) pillars of ART MAKING:

1) Art provides satisfaction-sensation, in regards to the process/aesthetics; it in itself is a paradigm of Ideas, on layers of beauty.

2) Art mirrors reality-experience; like a window to the soul, it reflects its society through the continuum of time and space, period styles and progress.

3) Art elevates our taste-preferences, from realms of the physical to intimate metaphysical contemplation, of artistic pleasure, as well as purpose.

4) Art conceptualized creations of novelty, in synthesizing creative process of originality, identity, and novelty, unconfined by the state of cliché.

5) Art speaks itself as a prestigious possession, a sense of gratification in the-eyes of its collector. 

'Keep on Charging'

MUSADDIQ MOHAMAD KHALIL

Department of Liberal Studies
UiTM Alor Gajah
PACAQ-UITM RIG 2023