Weekend for the arts: 'Shrineshare' exhibition, Suzlee Ibrahim's 'Borders'

The Star

25-05-2025

EXHIBITION: 'SHRINESHARE'
Venue: No. 293, Jalan 17/6, Petaling Jaya
Date: May 24 and 25
The Shrineshare exhibition, which has previously toured locations including Brighton and Leicester in England, as well as George Town and Port Dickson, will finally arrive in Petaling Jaya this weekend.
Designed as a portable, touring community-based show, the exhibition will be held at 293, Jalan 17/6, Petaling Jaya – an independent venue set up by 293, with RogueArt, co-hosting the project.
Shrineshare is curated by David Blandy, Zedeck Siew, and Sharon Chin, with support from the British Council Malaysia's 2024 'Connections Through Culture' grant.
The exhibition features a diverse line-up of local and international artists (the US, Britain and Thailand), including Amze Emmons, Arif Rafhan, Bethany Balan, Betti Stong, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, Daniel Locke, David Blandy, Hardeep Pandhal, Jamie Oon Muxian, Jesse Joy, John Powell-Jones, Nadhir Nor, Petra Szeman, Ruangtup Kaeokamechun, Rupa Subramaniam, and Poodien.
'What do you hold sacred in times of crisis?' This question was at the heart of Shrineshare, prompting the 16 artists to respond with a series of handmade prints – or 'shrines' – created using rubber stamps.
Each shrine offers a glimpse into the personal and reflective spaces of its creator. Printed on brightly coloured paper – echoing the aesthetics of South-East Asian shrines – and framed in ASCII-art designs reminiscent of the early Internet, the works blend tradition with digital nostalgia.
Free admission. Exhibition is open: Saturday (3pm-10pm) and Sunday (10am-5pm).
More info here.
EXHIBITION: SUZLEE IBRAHIM'S 'BORDERS SERIES'
Venue: G13 Gallery, Petaling Jaya
Date: ends June 7
Marking his 50th solo exhibition, Borders Series: A Journey Between Movement And Serenity reflects Suzlee Ibrahim's lifelong pursuit of abstraction as both gesture and philosophy.
In this latest body of work, the Kuala Terengganu-born artist and academic explores the balance between movement and stillness, freedom and form.
Created during the solitude of the pandemic, this series from Suzlee draws from a moment folding origami with his niece - where spontaneity meets structure. That interplay runs through the 30 works, where intuitive strokes yield to quiet geometry.
With over 40 years in acrylic and oil, and as dean of fine art at Aswara, Suzlee treats the canvas as a space for both emotional release and formal inquiry.
No matter how many exhibitions he's held, a Suzlee show always stirs anticipation. Borders offers abstract art enthusiasts and collectors a compelling chance to see a master in his element, distilling decades of practice into gestural fields, intuitive structures, and richly layered surfaces.
Admission is free.
More info here.
Wong Perng Fey's 'Pakcik Dan Makcik (acrylic on wood, 2025). Photo: Galeri Sasha
EXHIBITION: WONG PERNG FEY'S 'BEING.HERE'
Venue: Galeri Sasha, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), Kuala Lumpur
Date: May 24 to June 21
Galeri Sasha opens Being.Here, a solo exhibition by Wong Perng Fey, this Saturday. Developed between Austria and Malaysia, the show marks a tonal shift from the psychological intensity of his Beijing years toward a language of clarity, wit, and restraint.
Featuring painting, sculpture, and a contemporary take on wayang kulit, the exhibition explores presence without performance - being rather than becoming. It signals a moment of arrival for Wong, placing him firmly within ongoing conversations around abstraction and self-representation.
Known for his gestural style and evolving material language, the globe-trotting Wong has exhibited across Asia, with works in major collections including Khazanah Nasional, Singapore Art Museum, and Bank Negara Malaysia. He lives and works between Graz and Kuala Lumpur.
More info here.
Banny Jayanata's 'Branches And Concrete' (oil on canvas, 2025). Photo: The Back Room
EXHIBITION: 'THE GARDEN BITES BACK'
Venue: The Back Room, Zhongshan building, KL
Date: ends June 1
The Back Room presents The Garden Bites Back, a solo exhibition by Indonesian artist Banny Jayanata. Developed during his residency at Rimbun Dahan, the show explores the tension between ruin and tenderness. It also marks Banny's first solo in Malaysia.
Influenced by poet-critics like Baudelaire and Goenawan Mohamad, Banny sees nature as a fractured mirror. Raised near the Lapindo mud volcano disaster, his work reflects landscapes shaped by collapse - swamps, ghost trees, and fragile blooms staged like moral allegories.
Two large canvases anchor the show: in one, a painter wades through pale waters as mangrove roots claw above and otters swirl below; in the other, five figures strain under a felled tree, their limbs fused into a single mass. His thick impasto gives the scenes a bark-like texture.
Romantic yet grounded in ecological grief, The Garden Bites Back pairs beauty with dread - soft hues masking sunken bodies and faceless screams. Each gesture is an act of care in a fractured world.
The show is a collaboration with ROH, with support from Rimbun Dahan.
More info here.
A view of Lai's 'Ethereal Echoes: Sketches And Recent Works' exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, which features 80 works. Photo: Harmoni - Soka Art and Culture
EXHIBITION: LAI LOONG SUNG'S 'ETHEREAL ECHOES'
Venue: Wisma Kebudayaan Soka Gakkai Malaysia, Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL
Date: ends June 8
Ethereal Echoes: Sketches And Recent Works, an evocative solo exhibition that traces the four-decade artistic journey of Selangor-born veteran artist Lai Loong Sung has taken over the Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) art gallery space.
It offers the public a rare opportunity to engage with over 80 deeply reflective works — including manuscripts, oil paintings, and ink pieces — created by Lai between 1986 and 2024.
Rooted in both philosophical insight and personal revelation, Ethereal Echoes draws inspiration from the ancient Chinese text Zhuangzi, where 'Tianlai' (Heavenly Sound) refers to the 'unspoken word' — the soundless sound that echoes from the universe and the depths of the human soul.
As Lai shares, 'Ethereal Echoes is a melody from the heavens and a sound born within humanity.'
This exhibition represents the culmination of Lai's ongoing reflections on the complexities of contemporary life — from war and environmental degradation to the impact of rapid technological advancement — woven together with intimate expressions of the inner self.
The show is divided into three sections, each part of the exhibition invites viewers on a deeply contemplative journey. Lai has also transformed the gallery into a working studio, where he'll be developing a large-scale painting and occasionally offering live art demonstrations.
Free admission exhibition. Open: 11am-5pm. Closed on Mondays.
More info here.
IMMJN's collection of works selected for the 'More Men (And A Woman) With Plants' exhibition. Photo: Artemis Art
EXHIBITION: 'MORE MEN (AND A WOMAN) WITH PLANTS'
Venue: Harta Space, Ampang, Selangor
Date: ends May 30
Continuing its ongoing collaboration with Harta Space, Artemis Art presents More Men (And A Woman) With Plants, the latest iteration of a thoughtfully evolving exhibition series by Penang-based artists who draw inspiration from, and pay homage to, one of nature's most enduring yet often overlooked presences: plants.
Featuring works by Ch'ng Kiah Kiean, Cheah Meng Kwok, Esther Geh, Fuan Wong (also the series co-founder), Howard Tan, IMMJN, and Thomas Howell, the exhibition goes beyond the conventions of botanical art.
Here, plants are not merely subjects of study, but vessels of memory, emotion, and time — rendered in a range of mediums from ink and photography to glass and mixed media.
Each work offers a distinct lens into the ways flora can reflect inner states, cultural imprints, and our ever-evolving relationship with the natural world.
This also marks the third instalment of the Men In Plants exhibition series, following earlier editions in George Town.
Keep an eye out for workshops and artist-led tours happening throughout the exhibition period.
More info here.