Syed Ahmad Jamal - Gunung Ledang Series (Cherryvale)

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Gunung Ledang Series (Cherryvale)

1985

Inspired by the cherry trees Syed Ahmad Jamal saw during a visit to Adelaide, Australia, this painting evokes the symbolic ‘gunungan’ triangle of the artist’s Gunung Ledang series. Gunung Ledang, also translated as ‘mount from afar’, has been a recurring motif due to its cultural and historical significance as a prominent source of folk legends and stories in Malay culture. Cool colours dominate the quiet composition as a large triangle rises up to the sky to depict a mystical abstraction of the mountain landscape. Around it, smaller triangles dance across the wide expanse of the azure blue sky while rhythmic gestures of red and orange hues liven up the work through horizontal lines to inject a sense of fantasy throughout. Rendered in the artist’s abstract expressionist style, Cherryvale reveals an emotive reimagination of the natural environment steeped in a negotiation between the physical and mythical, tradition and modernity.

Details

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimension:

91 x 91 cm

Date:

1985

Credit Line:

Collection of ILHAM Foundation

About Syed Ahmad Jamal

Born in Johor, Syed Ahmad Jamal (1929 - 2011) is considered a pioneer of the abstract expressionist movement in Malaysia. An all-encompassing artist, art educator, arts administrator, writer and cultural observer, his immense contributions to the nation’s development of modern art spanned over four decades.. He was awarded the Sultan Ibrahim scholarship to study architecture at the Birmingham School of Architecture (1950-1951) and later studied painting at the Chelsea School of Art in London (1951-1955). He then spent a year at the Institute of Education, University of London studying art education from 1955 to 1956. In 1963, he was awarded a Fulbright grant to study at the Art Institute of Chicago, specialising in sculpture. He left again for the United States in 1973 to obtain a Masters in Art History from University of Hawaii, Honolulu and studied Philosophy of Islamic Art in Harvard University, USA. Upon his multiple returns, he taught at the Specialist Teachers’ Training Institute for more than ten years, where he was subsequently appointed Principal of the Institution. He later served as Director, Culture Centre, University of Malaya and then as Director, National Art Gallery from 1983–1991. He is the only visual artist to date to be awarded the accolade of Seniman Negara (National Artist Laureate).

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