Hijab (Veil) of an Artist

The penang State Art gallery recently held a unique exhibition by one of Malaysia's contemporary artist whose works has been acknowledged as among the leaders in the Fine Arts world. The exhibition entitled "Veil of an Artist", is the multi - media installation works by Hasnul Jamal Saidon, a man I have come to befreinded for almost half a decade now.

The exhibit was officiated by none other than the Don of the Malaysian Arts, Dato Syed Ahmad Jamal, the National laureate, an artist whose works are among my favourites in the Malaysian Art scene. When the man decided that too had to contribute a song after listening to Hasnul singing his piece, I thought, now here is a true performer a man who is ever ready to share his sense of what is creativity.

Hasnul's works were displayed in a blacked out room where everyone were groping all over eachother untill theirs eyes grew accustomed to the very dimly lit environment. I for one almost fell over a low seat and grabbed a hold on to a lady's scarfed head to catch myself, how scary! Well, i could have been slapped for no reason for one thing. The works were all I can say is 'surealistic' and it revealed his long journey towards 'Self' discovery, a an artist, a teacher, a husband and a father.

Hasnul ios no doubt a great painter, but that was not enough for him, he had to seek the next phase towards expressing himself like not too many had done and in this case he combine the projection of himself through the electronic media onto and into the pantings. The closest one could come to being present in one's creation so far untill perhaps in the future he could manifest himself via some other means from his works.

The 'Veil' is an ongoing search and research that hasnul has been grappling with in the context of Islam and the teachings of the Great Sufi Masters such as Ibn Arabi and Sheikh Kadir Jilani and we had many discussion over the topic throughout our relationship untill there is an understanding between us without having to utter a word on it anymore. I see him as someone who is full of energy and climbing a steep mountain to seek out whatever truths therein and before he is through, he will ruffle alot of feathers in the Malaysian Art Scene. He is a challenger and likes others to challenge him in his beliefs and his ways.

Among those who made it to the oppening as always is my Chinese brother LeeKhai who never misses an art show or anything that has to do with it in Penang. Lee is a True Believer when it comes to the Fine Arts. Not only is he a collector but he genuinely supports every effort towards promoting the artist.

My friend Fauzan was also on hand and aught to be as he is also Hasnul's one time teacher at UITM. Fauzan is the pillar of the USM Fine Arts School today. He is a very dedicated lecturer and a no nonsense artist. I respect this guy for his strict discipline and inherent vast amount of creative energy ever producing pieces of art like through his pores.