Biography
BRING THE DARK TO LIGHT
By Leong Tuck Yee (Cosmo Mag)
One word to describe Abd Latif Maulan’s paintings - 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
