Gajah Gallery, in collaboration with Tabularasa Studio, presents a cross-generational pop up group exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, featuring the works of 21 artists from across Southeast Asia. The exhibition entitled ‘GENSET’, the abbreviation for ‘generator set’ which converts power into energy, casts light on the relationships between mentor and mentee artists, resulting in the exchange of knowledge and the expansion of practice.
From the Latin generare or generat, meaning create or created, the exhibition’s concept relates and reverbs in all artists – to produce; to perform; to bring about; to originate; to make what has not been done before. Throughout history, art has always taken part in discussions of social, political and ecological issues, highlighting its power to move hearts, and rouse to action. GENSET aims to rediscover what sparks artists and their desire to create, and how one’s art can resonate with and continue to inspire future generations.
Returning to White Box Gallery at Publika, as a nucleus for the arts in Kuala Lumpur, it provides the ideal setting in sparking discussion on contemporary inspiration – asking the question: How are artists from Southeast Asia inspired, and how do they inspire in turn?
Navigating the exhibition, one can form connections between each artist’s work, yet see how each has evolved and carved their own path, creating their own personal styles. From Malaysian artists Sabri Idrus and Kayleigh Goh’s experiments with industrial materials and tactility, to Wakidi’s early 20th century paintings of idyllic West Sumatran landscapes placed alongside strangely artificial landscapes by Mangu Putra; a commentary on humanity’s contamination of the natural environment – GENSET brings together multiple generations of artists from the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia, that have influenced each other through their art, in one remarkable must-see exhibition.
