FOLIO SENI

KUDA KEPANG
REDZA PIYADASA

Fatin Nabilah Bt Zainal Abidin

Nur Syahira Bt Roszi

SMK(P) METHODIST,IPOH
 REDZA PIYADASA
Redza Piyadasa (1939, Kuantan, Malaysia) devotes himself both to the practice
and to the theory of art. During the sixties and seventies he filled a serious vacuum, at a
time when there was scarcely any debate in his country on the subject of art history or art
criticism. Partly due to his persistent efforts, the situation is now quite different. In his
many publications, both in English and in Malay, in his countless articles in the
Malaysian press and also in his work as an artist, he examines the contexts of art and their
significance for the construction of artistic traditions and artistic values. His interest is
centred on modern Asian art, which he places in relation to traditional Asian art forms
and Western contemporary art. Piyadasa’s art - such as the collage-like ‘Malaysian
Series’, which he has been working on since 1980 - and his art criticism are his answer to
neo-nationalistic, Islamic and globalisation currents in Malaysia, which have threatened
to marginalise minority groups and alternatives.

His Works:

Two Malay Women, Acrylic and collage on board

Seated Malay Girl

Year: 1991

Medium: Mixed media

Size: 33 x 64.8 cm.

 Ideas about the art context and history underpin this Conceptual art work produced
in 1978. The work highlights the relationship between the artist and art traditions. Artists
are usually influenced by other artists or other art traditions.lt is common for artists to
deny their obligations to other artists (and, therefore history) in order to safeguard the
uniqueness of their own respective accomplishments. It is the customary role of the art
critic or art historian to detect and elaborate on these underlying relationships. In this
work, Redza Piyadasa invests the relationship with fresh possibilities. The use of texts by
the artist in this work was a feature of the Conceptual art works that he created during the
Seventies, beginning with his The Great Malaysian Landscape, produced in 1972.

　 　 An original oil painting by another Malaysian artist Chia Yu Chian, executed in

1958, and entitled Riverside Scene, is absorbed into Piyadasa’s 1978 work. By choosing
the work of Chia Yu Chian (generally considered an important Nanyarig artist of the
Fifties) Piyadasa acknowledges the existence of a modern art tradition in this country.
Further, the stenciled sentence below the Chia Yu Chian painting alludes to notions of
time - time as idealised by history’s myth making processes and time existing outside
history’s concerns. Significant artists and art works are legitimised by their entry points
into specific art historical contexts and idealised time frames. By actually transporting an
original work of art produced in 1958 into his 1978 work, Piyadasa has invested actual
works of art with the ability to move across historically idealised positions and enter new
contexts. A historical transgression has been set up. This work typifies the reflexive and
dialectical approach of this artist during the Conceptual art phase of his career. (Refer to
the following picture)

Extract from "Masterpieces from the National Art Gallery of

Malaysia"

The Haji Family The Haji Family

Year: 1990.   

Medium: Mixed media .

Size: 51 x 79.5cm.