Artists: Latif Maulan
Title: Open for business
Size: 28" x 33"
Medium: Oil painting on canvas
Collection of Dato Wan Khairul, Kuala Lumpur
2006© All Right Reserved

OPEN FOR BUSINESS where the facade of a motor workshop is clearly visible. But what catches our eye is not anythings connected to the business at hand. Rather our attention is drawn to the partially hidden couple holding hands ( whether innocent and illicit). The fact that the image is so remote from what we would expect of a workshop seems to suggest that all is not quite above board.

Artists: Latif Maulan
Title: Forest Reserved
Size: 36 Inch x 48 Inch
Medium: Oil On Canvas
Collection of Malaysian National Art Gallery
2006© All Right Reserved

Forest Reserved ? - At a glance, the painting looks like a common photograph of a cleared site near a forest. The hot reds of the excavator, the warning signboard and the ‘No Smoking’ signboard on the petrol tank order us to stay away from the area. But from what? From discovering their illegal secrets? Or is the area dangerous because criminals are illegally logging in a forest reserve?

Notice the title ‘Forest Reserved ?’ We now think: “For whom? For the influential businessmen or powerful politicians?” If the answer is a yes to either of them, then the danger is real indeed. Also doing the same is the armed guard guarding the site who appears to be tired and sleepy. Or drunk? Which makes him all the more dangerous.

Artists: Latif Maulan
Title: Silhouette Journey
Size: 36 Inch x 48 Inch
Mdium: Oil On Canvas
Collection of Mr. Antonio Marely-President of Atalia Funiture (Italy)
2006 © All Right Reserved

A women in the front of the bus, face contorted with misery. She is not alone . A shadow lurks in the background. Does he mean her any harm or does it just so happen that the bus is empty on that day? SILLHOUETTE JOURNEY recalls a real life incident in newspapers a little while back where a women was raped and killed on bus in the early morning while going to work.

Artists: Latif Maulan
Title: Belakang
Size: 24" x 30"
Medium: Oil on canvas
Collection of Mr. Antonio Marely-President of Atalia Funiture (Italy)
© All Right Reserved


Ini adalah sebuah kedai mamak yang bernama cmk di bentong, ramai yang pergi kedai mamak tak kira melayu, chine, india semua pegi kedai mamak. Pemandangan ini aku rakamkan sewaktu nak masuk dari belakang kedai sebab aku parking keta kat belakang kedai, dalam pukul 8 malam kalau tak silap, menarik pulak aku rase. Jadi aku lukis la, tak sangka pulak ada mamat dari italy yang suke lukisan nie,

Artists: Latif Maulan
Title: Wild World
Size: 24 Inch x 48 Inch
Medium: Oil On Canvas
Collection of Dr. Choo and Angelina
2006© All Right Reserved

Wild World- He could be a terrorist, he could be a bad guy, he could be a good guy, who he is? who knows? the text and the colours make it seem really happy and shrug-of-the-shoulders unconcerned about the constant threat of terror

Artists: Latif Maulan
Tipah Ikan Segar
Size: 14" x 19.5"
Medium: Oil Painting on Canvas
Private Collection Kuala Lumpur
2006 © All Right Reserved

Tipah-Ikan Segar= Tipah Fresh Fish. A man looks towards a mosque in the distance but his gaze is distracted by the charming young women sitting alone nearby bench. The "lure" of "fresh fish" baits his desire.

RAPUH ::

Oil On Canvas :: Colour: Prussian Blue :: Indian Red :: Raw Umber :: French Ultramarine ::

Photography :: Latif Maulan ::

Model :: Irrshah

2008 © All Right Reserved

Fantasy Dream
Private Collection KL
Artists: Latif Maulan
36 Inch x 48 Inch
Oil On Canvas
2006 © All Right Reserved

Fantasy Dream - A trip to Paris, Juicy lips, express loans, pawn bills...are all things materialistic, all beyond the grasp of the barefooted beggar or vagabond lying asleep on the floor. His blanket of bright orange and green cap, bathed in light, set him noticeably apart from the dull blue or grey background.

The much-used red door, locked tight, appears as though all the materialistic goods, hedonistic pleasure, beauty, wealth and leisure would be found within, though tightly locked away from the man who could only afford to dream and fantasize.

One word to describe Abd Latif Maulan’s paintings in his solo exhibition - provocative. But unlike trendy news and loud fashions, the artworks are quiet and thoughtfully provocative, appearing as though they are ‘what we see is what we get,’ drawing us in before hitting us in a way that sticks the messages home to our memory.

It might shock some to learn that it was the young but mature artist’s first solo show and he had never painted anything of the like in the past. It does not help to hear that this contemporary realist has always painted beautiful, almost photo-realistic pictures of flowers, waterfalls, plants and everyday things - his artistic signature being his dew drops on petals or leaves.

Like a photojournalist, he dispassionately records subjects (including contemporary life) accurately, minutely without fictitious adornment or imaginative idealisation. He is a friend of the ordinary, humble people, familiar with their appearances, problems and customs. Currently, Maulan chooses to project the hitherto-ignored (and often swept under the carpet) aspects of contemporary life and society with its mental attitudes, physical settings and material conditions.
His works reject the artificiality of both the Classicism and Romanticism of the academies and show the capability of photography in mechanically reproducing visual appearances with extreme accuracy. Some artists and writers who have worked in the same tradition were Jan van Eyck, Jan Vermeer, Diego Velazquez, Daniel Defoe and Henry Fielding.

His ‘Metamorphosis’ was largely due to his desire for change and extensive travels to the United States of America and Europe to meet many local artists and visit art galleries. Equally important, if not more, is the inspiration and encouragement from his mentor Raja Azhar Idris - owner of Art Case Galleries Sdn. Bhd. - who has taken him under his tutelage since 1991.
Maulan was forced to break through his complacency and transcend his comfort zone to think more deeply about the pressing issues confronting our daily lives at present - in other words, to grow further as an artist. “A discerning artist should aspire to change,” says Raja Azhar, famous for his ‘impressionistic movement’ glassworks.

The 32 year-old Maulan from Pahang was also greatly inspired by the masterful ideas, almost iconic and unique imagery of Jeffrey Smart. This Australian artist’s stark portrayals of contemporary life, both realistic and absurd, are highly acclaimed and famous. In a similar vein, Maulan uses art to highlight ignored and easily forgotten issues such as illegal logging, child abuse, rape and corruption coupled with social problems like homelessness, prostitution, loneliness, poverty and pollution, common issues which people could not bear to read for long.
Visiting artists of different countries has shown him the uniqueness of different cultures, religious backgrounds, customs and beliefs. “Art is drawn from these sources,” says Maulan, also dubbed as a ‘Master of the dark,’ “but when expressed sincerely from the heart, mind and soul of the artist, it becomes universal.

PAINTINGS with comments

Title: Forest Reserved
Size: 36 Inch x 48 Inch
Medium: Oil On Canvas
Collection of Malaysian National Art Gallery

Forest Reserved ? - At a glance, the painting looks like a common photograph of a cleared site near a forest. The hot reds of the excavator, the warning signboard and the ‘No Smoking’ signboard on the petrol tank order us to stay away from the area. But from what? From discovering their illegal secrets? Or is the area dangerous because criminals are illegally logging in a forest reserve? Notice the title ‘Forest Reserved ?’ We now think: “For whom? For the influential businessmen or powerful politicians?” If the answer is a yes to either of them, then the danger is real indeed.

Also doing the same is the armed guard guarding the site who appears to be tired and sleepy. Or drunk? Which makes him all the more dangerous.

Title: Beware

Size: 36 Inch x 48 Inch
Meium: Oil On Canvas
Collection of Bank Negara Malaysia
Beware - against the sinister sky, a man is absorbed in reading the newspaper patiently, even contentedly, seemingly unconcerned with the empty playground or the threatening clouds. His action and calm is totally incongruously with the impending storm - makes us scratch our heads.. It was as though he lives there, in the playground itself

The unreal, hot, intense colours stand out so strongly against their surrounding, as if trying to scream out a warning soundlessly. A speck of bright red - turns out to be a child’s slipper - lying on the grey floor, forgotten?, lost?, abandoned? but certainly crying out for attention. Where is the child? What has happened to him or her? Is the man linked to the child in any way?

Fantasy Dream
Artists: Latif Maulan
36 Inch x 48 Inch
Oil On Canvas
Private Collection KL

Fantasy Dream - A trip to Paris, Juicy lips, express loans, pawn bills...are all things materialistic, all beyond the grasp of the barefooted beggar or vagabond lying asleep on the floor. His blanket of bright orange and green cap, bathed in light, set him noticeably apart from the dull blue or grey background. The much-used red door, locked tight, appears as though all the materialistic goods, hedonistic pleasure, beauty, wealth and leisure would be found within, though tightly locked away from the man who could only afford to dream and fantasize.

Title: Butterfly Dreams
Size: 24 Inch x 48 Inch
Mdium: Oil On Canvas
Collection of Mr. Antonio Marely-President of Atalia Funiture (Italy)

Butterfly Dreams is a great title that conjures up a vision of Madam Butterfly, a play dealing with love, self-deceit and tragedy with a young fragile girl as the heroine. It invokes tender secrets (illegal and immoral?) and eroticism, the tenderness appealing to our protective instincts. Despite its symbolism and high importance, the butterfly tattoo (probably chosen by the woman to reflect her nature) occupies only a minute but obvious area of the picture.
The shapely woman seems to be on her way home after work, the time being already 05:04 p.m., approaching twilight, a time when crimes such as rape, murder, robbery or molestation is more likely to happen. Her red dress echoes the red warning band by the sides of the coming train.

The composition of the scene is painted from the viewpoint of a common pedestrian walking up a flight of steps to the platform. As we look up naturally and as we are directly behind the woman, we are unable to help from looking at the fluttering butterfly on the exposed waistline,. Is she trying to do more than invite our attention? It may be for fun, but the tattoo may send out wrong signals to unwanted viewers. Who’s fault is it should something undesirable happen to her?

Article from Cosmic Magazine

REALITY SHOW
By Jamie Khoo

Tired of paintings of daffodils? So was Abdul Latif Maulan. He talks to JAMIE KHOO about using still life as a means of social commentary in his first solo exhibition.


THE landscapes are bleak, or perhaps a little too cheerful for our liking. The women are alone, tired, or crying. The men are huddled round street corners, and children are distinctly missing from the canvases.

The paintings in Abdul Latif Maulan’s first solo exhibition, Parallel Universe, are vibrant in their realism, but disturbingly so in the way we have to rethink everything we see on canvas. In stark reality, the paintings seem almost photographic in capturing acute moments in time and we are tricked, at first, into believing that what we see is what we get.

Latif is quick to point out that although the paintings look straightforward, they often encompass various points of view that can change the stories we draw from them. In the paintings One Way and Rejected, for example, the repeated figure of the scantily-clad girl-as-prostitute forces us to consider her personal story.

He is concerned with the stories of the forgotten minority – the homeless, prostitutes, those who are abused – and treats them with empathy. The girls-as-prostitutes in the paintings evoke a sort of personal interest and curiosity.

“People are very quick to reject prostitutes,” he says. “But we don’t know their problems. Why did they end up like that? Maybe it wasn’t even their own wish; maybe they were pushed into it by circumstances, or someone else.”

Garnering inspiration and ideas from current issues, Latif uses his art to remind the viewer of social maladies that continue to plague society. He doesn’t just tell what’s happening; his paintings pique our curiosity and entice us to question what’s going on.

Having trained under prominent local artist Raja Azhar Idris, Latif first learnt to perfect his technical skills in painting still life and flowers. When this stopped being a challenge, his mentor pushed him to explore themes that would prod his brain and make him look at what’s around him.

Works in Latif’s exhibition incorporate themes that people usually sweep under the carpet – child abuse, rape (in public places), illegal logging, corruption. By documenting them through art, he ensures that “people don’t forget what’s happening. A painting is there and you see it all the time; you don’t just read about an issue in the newspapers, then throw it aside and forget.”

His painting Beware hints at such apathy, or even something more sinister. It shows a solitary man reading a newspaper at a deserted playground. But a dropped slipper in the foregrounds hints that something is not right. Possible abuse? Is the man a suspect? Or does he, like us, just read about crime in the papers, then forget, or worse, does nothing to help stop it?

The realism of the paintings goes beyond social issues to the actual setting of the scenes. Latif arms himself with a camera wherever he goes. His photographs, snapped at random, furnish his paintings with backgrounds that give the local viewer a strong sense of the familiar.

He explains that though the main backdrop is taken directly from photographs, he adds or takes out things, or discolours certain aspects. The end product is a clever combination of the real and the imagined that, at first glance, presents a straightforward, explicit message, but which contains a deeper commentary.
“Lots of artists comment on social issues using abstract styles. I wanted to make my paintings very direct,” he says.

Although his images are bold and direct, they require some thinking to discern what’s going on. Figures, or the lack thereof, represent certain issues – homelessness, corruption, abuse, rape. But you wouldn’t know that unless you thought about them and used your own imagination. Latif’s particular use of vibrant colours is a comment on the cheeriness of surface appearances that masks a bleaker, unpleasant reality.

His works are reminiscent of the realism prominent in works by French writers Honoré de Balzac and Emile Zola, whereby the force of a seedy, hidden sub-culture – a parallel universe – takes centre stage and blinds us with an alternate reality – one we hardly see but which is probably more truthful than we’d like to acknowledge.


( Article from StarMag- The Star Newspaper 9 July 2006 )

Danger Ahead
By Dennis Chua

Art exhibition Parallel Universe showcases the works of artist Abdul Latif Maulan. The 32-year-old artist from Kampung Lebu in Bentong, Pahang, has been described as a creator of Hitchcock-esque paintings. This is because of the elements of danger in his paintings.

For example, Beware! shows a man reading a newspaper in a playground, with a child's slipper strewn near by. The painting subtly suggests that the man may be a danger to children. Similarly, Toxic Waste shows a warning sign prohibiting hawking as the area is full of barrels apparently filled with toxic waste. However, the background indicates a stall owner who is oblivious to this danger.

In Forest Reserved, an excavator clears a forest reserve despite a sign which prohibits logging on the land proves. Abdul Latif paints stark urban landscapes with themes of alienation as in Ulam Mencari Sambal and homelessness as in Fantasy Dream.

“I first painted images that were a part of my childhood in the village. I began with waterfalls, trees and flowers, things I saw every day,” he said. “After I moved to the city, I began to focus on scenes of city life. As an artist I always want to try something new.”

Upon completing his secondary education, Abdul Latif worked as an advertising designer at a shopping complex in his hometown. During that time, he met his mentor, artist Raja Azhar Idris, who owns Art Case Galleries in City Square, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. He soon became a resident artist of the gallery under Raja Azhar's tutelage, and successfully sold one painting a month to clients.

“I have been to the United States, Australia, Britain, France and Italy and visited many art galleries, including New York's Museum of Modern Art, where I was exposed to the works of Picasso, Van Gogh and Monet,” he said.

He also had the chance to meet talented British artists during a holiday in East Sussex in 2002. “My visits made me realise that artists who lived and worked in the previous centuries differed very little in their desires to depict life.

“They accomplished this without the help of cameras, computers or television. They were able to create masterpieces that are revered around the world,” he said.
Abdul Latif has held many exhibitions starting with his first in Rupa Kata at Pekan Seni in Ipoh, Perak, in 1996. His paintings also adorn the offices and homes of many corporate figures.


( Article from New Straits Times Newspaper, Tuesday 11 July 2006 )

(Article in Resources magazine; petroleum club mmbers)
DENIZENS OF A PARALLEL UNIVERSE
By Helen Ann Peters

Abd Latif Maulan is a master of the dark, of forbonding lurking in the wings. The almost Hitchcock-esque sense of the imminent danger is written all over his seemingly innocuous pictures. A man reading the newspaper in a playground in BEWARE! seems ordinary enough but take a closer look. A child's slipper strewn
carelessly nearby. Now, we cannot be so sure as to the bona fides of this man. A paedophile, perhaps?

A women in the front of the bus, face contorted with misery. She is not alone .
A shadow lurks in the background. Does he mean her any harm or does it just so
happen that the bus is empty on that day? SILLHOUETTE JOURNEY recalls a real life incident in newspapers a little while back where a women was raped and killed
on bus in the early morning while going to work.



Latif does not say very much. he just places a few choice objects in his composition and lets you make the connection. His is a case of " what you see is NOT what you get" and he often uses sings and graffiti to help illustrate this irony. Take for instance , OPEN FOR BUSINESS where the facade of a motor workshop is clearly visible. But what catches our eye is not anythings connected to the business at hand. Rather our attention is drawn to the partially hidden couple holding hands ( whether innocent and illicit). The fact that the image is so remote from what we would expect of a workshop seems to suggest that all is not quite above board.

Similarly, in TOXID WASTE, the sign states, " DILARANG MENJAJA DI DISINI" but
the people are doing just that - hawking! IN another work, FOREST RESERVED?
the area is clearly signposted as a forest reserve, but the illegal loggers have blatantly ignored the sign and are doing just the opposite. It almnost begs the question, "Reserved...for whom ...logging companies? Meanwhile , the rape of the forest continues with the tree trunks oozing scarlet blood.


This flouting of the law is quite common in Malaysia so much so we often do not realize we are guilty of it. How many times have we made U turns in areas where we are not supposed to or parked right in front of a No Parking sign? Of course the most blatant infractions are commited on our "death" highways where express busses speed recklessly in the fast lane and " heroes" overtake around a blind corner, thus giving Malaysia the dubious distinction of a country with one of the highest number of traffic accidents disproportionate to our popolution.

Latif's work mirrors the dichotomy between the seen and the unseen. Nowhere is this more apparent than in his stark urban landscapes. On the surface, all is well... the LRT ferries city dwellers to work, eateries are crammed with office workers, buses clog the city streets, sky scrapers jostle for space in the teeming city. But Latif does not choose to document this urban sprawl; rather he is more interested in another world, existing side by side with the obvious one.

This is the parallel universe, a shadowy arena inhbited by the dregs of society - prostitues, migrant workers, vagabonds, no-gooders - those that fall through the cracks. It is this underbelly of humanity - the marginalised - that captures Latif's fancy. The prostitute in the seedy rumah tumpangan in ONE WAY stands at the window, as if defiantly prclaiming to the world that she exists. In BELAKANG, Latif chooses to portray the back of the coffee shop with its attendant grit and grime, not its gleaming facade. The homeless hobo (FANTASY DREAM) sleeps beneath a glossy cosmetics ad - a world away from his abject existence.

The bleak and treeless urban landscape is a metaphor for the dehumanised nature of modern cities. Even when human appear in his paintings, any form of social interation is missing. In ULAM MENCARI SAMBAL, while the women looks longingly at the man, he is oblivious of her and has his back towards her.There is no joy apparent on the faces of his pratoganists; pain, anguish, suspicion and a sense of foreboding is the order of the day. It is the alienation which the city breeds that is mirrored on their visages.

So how does an artist who has hitherto revelled in fruits, flowers and kitchen utensils a work bordering on darkness? Where has the light that illuminated the kitchen, showing off gleaming fruits and vegetables, transparent bottles and flowing batiks disappeared to?

" I first painted things that were part of my upbringing..... being a Kampong Boy,
it was only natural to paint waterfalls, trees and flowers that I saw everyday.....when I had improved my technique, I become more confident and decided to try my hand at other things such as the QURAN and TEPAK SIREH. I guess as an artists, you are continually growing and there comes a time where you feel you want to try something new, " says Latif.

Latif's previous work bears the imprimatur of a contemporary realist well-versed with his craft. The flowers look so real you want to reach out and touch them; the fruits are good enough to eat. Latif is truly a master of the water droplet. Whether hanging from a hibiscus leaf or clinging to an orange, the water droplet lends a certain immediacy to the picture and was , for a time, the artists's signature.

Latif then found that he could transfer this technique to painting glass and plastic bottles - water jugs, 100 Plus Bottles, cooking oil containers. No matter if the plastic bottle stood out like a sore thumb amids the fruits nd flowing batiks. Latif was more interested in detailing everyday objects that were lying around the kitchen. Travelled to UK, France, Italy, Australia and New York. With each trip abroad, the lad from Bentong became more worldly, exhibiting a greater understanding of the world beyond the confines of his Kampong. There was more to capture on his canvas besides pretty pictures and still life.

Consequently, in his first solo exhibition, we see the artist venturing forth into the real world, beyond the seeming calm of everyday life , there is a parallel universe...dark, sinister nd defiant.

Latif is a protege of the Raja Azhar Idris. He has been under the tutelege of the latter for a number of years now and was for some time the resident artist of At Case Galleries. " I have had the good fortune of being tought by a wonderful artist and mentor..... I wouldn't be having this solo were it not for the encouragement of Raja and his wife, Shahimah," he gushes.

All is not as it seems. This exhibition has a subtext: sordid reality may not be pretty but we cannot deny its existence. Go on, unearth the code. Trust me, it is a lot more rewarding than deciphering the Da Vinci.

The exhibition is on from 7 JUNE 2006 to 16 JULY at
ART CASE GALLEY, Jln Tun Razak, 504500 KL
Tel: 03-21635160

( Helen Ann Peters is an art critic who has been covering the art scene for the last 12 years. A former tv host and radio personlity, she writes for both the electronic and print media, emcees and is a corporate trainer. )