Faizal v Haafiz – Dawn of the Extended Printmaking
Duo Exhibition:-
Faizal Suhif
Haafiz Shahimi
24th October – 30th Nov 2016
Core Design Gallery, Subang Jaya
*Click on images to zoom in
Prologue: The Show
“Postmodernism has challenged the concept of originality and connoisseurship, broken down barriers between visual arts disciplines, and allowed hybrid forms to flourish…
The explorations of these artists not so much subvert the field of printmaking as contribute towards rejuvenating and extending it into other dimensions.” (Printmaking: Understanding the Terminology; Mursyidah Zainal Abidin, Wan Samiati Andriana
Wan Mohd Daud, Mohd Razif Mohd Rathi; 2013)
While the marginalisation of print has been a much discussed topic, Faizal Suhif and Haafiz Shahimi are tackling the issue in a different manner, taking their explorations of printmaking methods to a whole new dimension that they call extended printmaking. This form of printmaking honours time-tested traditional printmaking methods, but also injects a welcome burst of refreshing energy into the genre through unconventional ways, be it concepts, materials or techniques.
Thus in extended printmaking, the process is definitely a large part of its allure. However, in today’s age of instant gratification, individuals turn their attention from image to image and object to object in seconds, constantly on the lookout for fresh visual stimuli. In this way, it is all too easy to miss out on discovering many fascinating printmaking artworks.
Faizal vs Haafiz will attempt to reverse the usual protocol of judging an artwork based on its visuals and focusing on the end result alone. We will first delve into the how’s and why’s of its formation, exploring if indeed a deeper knowledge of the artists’ innovative extended printmaking process will strengthen one’s esteem for their art, and by extension, revive the anticipation of what contemporary Malaysian printmaking can be.
Dawn of the Extended Printmaking
Core Design Gallery now brings to you a new groundbreaking show titled Faizal v Haafiz. As forerunners in the art of contemporary printmaking art in Malaysia, Faizal Suhif and Haafiz Shahimi now comes together, pioneering the way into extended printmaking art within our local Malaysian contemporary arts scene. Faizal Suhif is constantly seeking out fresh visuals and images through the environment around him, be it nature or man-made structures, and innovatively manoeuvres his printmaking art to another level.
Haafiz Shahimi, a clear pioneer in the art of pyrography printmaking, is constantly on a destructive rampage through his play with fire, to bring fresh visuals and raw aesthetics through extending the art of printmaking as we know it. This show serves as an important show as it seeks to break through the current techniques and know-how in the art of printmaking as we know it. It not only serves as a platform to educate our young ones in the Malaysian printmaking art but also seeks to venture into what Malaysian printmaking may be…for the future.
With the passive emotions of Faizal Suhif to the fiery and destructive tones of Haafiz Shahimi, it is only a wonder how a collaboration such as this may come together in a single show. Specially for this show, design architect Chun Hooi Tan steps in as the curator for this one-of-a-kind show, bringing in his architectural expertise and understanding of spatial aesthetics, to marry the two vastly different styles of Faizal Suhif and Haafiz Shahimi into a harmonious blend of darkness and calm serenity.