FROM STREET TO CANVAS

IN the purest definition, street artists paint on anything except canvas. But that was in the past. Of late, many, including Haitian-American artist Jean Michel Basquait (Dec 22, 1960 - Aug 12, 1988) and New Yorker Rammellzee (1960 - June 27, 2010), once buddies in arms, have broken the code in pursuit of livelihood and fame. Basquait achieved worldwide fame for his record-breaking artwork titled Dustheads painted in 1982 which bagged a Hammered Price of US$43.5 million at Christie’s NY in 2013. Meanwhile, Rammellzee’s art is on a steady climb at Sotheby’s.

Closer to home, another street artist has also ventured into the mainstream — Sabahan Donald Abraham, who is finally getting his long overdue solo exhibition. Titled Yang Lain Lain (loosely translated as The Others), this exhibition, held until Sept 9 at Suma Orientalis, a hidden gem of a gallery in the residential enclave of Seksyen 11, Petaling Jaya, showcases about 20 of Abraham’s works from 2012 to 2018.

It’s here that I’m greeted by a shorthaired young woman clad in a long dark blouse who introduces herself as Sophia Shung. She’s the co-owner of this singlestorey gallery, which was established about a year ago. Ushering me in, she calls for Abraham, and soon, an average-built young man donning a stripy, short-sleeved T-shirt, with tattoos on his arm, emerges from behind the blinds.

This exhibition is a showcase of Abraham’s progress in the span of six years, portraying his version of reality combined with graffiti and doodles (the hallmarks of street art), and cartoon-like figures (including robots) in vivid colours.

Since joining the world of mainstream art, Abraham has participated in over 40 exhibitions, all of which have been group exhibitions, including an urban art fair in Paris, France and an art expo in Shanghai, China.

Smiling, Abraham ushers me to a room at the back of the gallery where three of his paintings are displayed on the clean white wall. He points at one acrylic painting titled 3 Scenario and shares: “This one is like our three stages of life — of childhood, adulthood, and old age.”

I notice the colour change in each stage; from vibrant — denoting childhood — to almost monotonous, presumably old age. “It’s the reality of growing up. The world will change you and things get more complicated as we grow older,” he explains.

Moving on to his other paintings, I notice one repetitive element — the words Yak Yak. “Oh, that’s my graffiti tag,” he explains, in answer to my query. “Yak Yak to me is the sound of birds and birds symbolise freedom.” Graffiti tag is like a signature for street artists and its community. So if there’s a Yak Yak in the street art, other street artists will immediately recognise it as Abraham’s.

“Coincidentally, our gallery exterior is in the shape of a bird!” exclaims Shung, delightedly.

True to the exhibition title ‘Yang Lain Lain’, there are no printed labels for each artwork. Instead, every description has been handwritten in pencil on the wall. “We decided not to have a formal setup for Donald’s art. That would be boring. This exhibition is more ‘free-form’. We didn’t hang up the largest painting. Instead, we used three red bricks to lift it up. The bricks came from the street, symbolising Donald’s humble beginnings,” explains Shung, pointing at the 245x204cm mixed media painting titled Untitled (Togetherness).

“I had to paint that large painting in a different location as my studio in Ara Damansara has limited space,” confides Abraham.

“Do you know that he likes to paint where there’s noise?” chips in Shung.

Really? Confused, I turn to Abraham for an explanation. “Yes, I like to work with noise. I paint with my ears, and I think writers like you write with your eyes?” he poses, smiling broadly.

Slowly, we proceed to another room where there are three more paintings. It’s the large, horizontal painting of robots and ‘aliens’ that succeeds at capturing my interest. I squint at the title: Pompodon.

What’s Pompodon? I turn to the artist.