Latiff Mohidin (Malaysian, born 1938)South of the River (From the Exile of Li-Po)
2005

signed, titled and dated 05; signed, titled and dated 2005 on the reverse
oil on canvas

159 x 159 cm (62 5/8 x 62 5/8 in)
注脚Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

Latiff Mohidin
江南
油彩畫布
2005年作

簽名: Latiff 05, South of the River (From the Exile of Li-Po)
背面簽名: South of the River (From the Exile of Li-Po) Latiff Mohidin 2005

來源
現藏家直接得自藝術家

South of the River (From the Exile of Li-Po) is a work from Latiff Mohidin's Voyage series, a body of abstract paintings marked by an unbridled sense of liberation and powerful bursts of energy, emanating from deep within. It is also a picture steeped in regard for one of the ancient world's most famous literary figure, Li Po (李白), and reveals intimately Latiff's regard, and personal personal inclination, to lead the life of a free literary giant.

Latiff Mohidin's oeuvre stretches from modern painting to poetry and literature. From as early as the 1970s when he emerged onto the Malaysian art and literary scene with the collective, Kumpulan Anak Alam (Collective of Children of Nature) which counted amongst their activities performances and poetry recitals, Latiff has consistently found inspiration in nature. His breakout series of visual works, Pago-Pago, ruminated on nature and monuments in Southeast Asia. More conceptual works followed, before the Voyages series of the 2000s where he maintains an insatiable curiosity about the world around him.

Yet instead of travelling in actuality, Latiff envisions journeys of the mind. Voyage signify passages of time and space. South of the River (From the Exile of Li-Po) recalls the numerous exiles due to family and personal circumstances that the great Chinese literary figure, Li Po faced. Whenever he went into exile, particularly after a death sentence circa the year 757 handed out to Li Po was commuted to exile, Li Po would face his circumstances stoically writing poetry and enjoying every bit of life lived.

The abstract composition in the present lot rewards one who looks harder, as it suggests at the unmistakable meandering of a river, but fiery and impassioned, searing through the vertical order of the painting. The painting harks back to Latiff's first poetry anthology titled Sungai Mekong (Mekong River, 1979). His colours are bold, his brushwork suffused with feeling and intention as he traces the journeys of greats who have come before him.