Yusof Ghani (b. 1950, Pontian, Johor, Malaysia) is an artist, writer, academic and curator.  In 1979, he received a scholarship to study Graphic Art at George Mason University, USA. He then obtained a Master’s degree at the Catholic University, Washington DC. His thesis focused  on ‘cultural dance’, which was to become a recurring theme in his body of work. Formerly an associate professor at UiTM, Yusof Ghani is considered one of Malaysia’s leading abstract artists. A devout Muslim, his abstract works which have remained rooted in the figurative with his Tari works and portraiture in his Topeng series, raised the interesting debate about figuration and Islam that influenced the themes and aesthetics of Malaysian art in the 80s.