Animal instincts come to the fore
By Chin Mui Yoon
Metro, 31 May, 2001

BLUE and pink stripped elephants with a colourful trunk twirled around its body and a puffed out bright yellow elephant with gold buttons for eyes are Yusof Gajah's trademarks.

Yusof's works are part of the L'Animale in Arte exhibition along with paintings from local watercolour artist Maamor Jantan and new Indonesian talent Klowor Waldiyono.

The paintings at Galeri Tinta exhibit a sense of fun with animals, namely Yusof's elephants, Maamor's dragonflies and Klowor's cats.

Yusof uses bold, brilliant colours for his elephants with chaotic detail.

In his Fun Series (Gajah Gajah), Yusof blends vivid colours and various shapes for his elephants such as turquoise trunks and orange ears.

Have Fun with Me sees a pair of green elephants intertwined together in a fun, frolicking mood.

Several paintings from Yusof's Elephantoidea series are also displayed. Using mixed media, the animals come in wild, fancy shapes applied with thick globs of paint.

Applelephant 1 is an amusing piece. A huge blob of red paint is seen with two green leaves stuck on its top where four gold stumps and a tail appear at the corners.

In contrast, Klowar's cats take on a more surreal appearence in fantasy-like settings with a rather creepy air about them.

Mohon Restu features a pair of cats dressed in red Peranakan costumes with drop earrings of vivid red flowers.

Another that borders on flight and fantasy is Dewi Cinta with images of cats, owls and what appeared as demons juxtaposed together.

The third artist, Maamor Jantan, chose to portray the humble dragon fly or cakcibor. In Cakcibor: Against the World II, the beautifully winged creatures are set against hues of blue and green as part of the natural eco-system.

Yusof Ismail, who is better known as Yusof Gajah, began his career as an artist after returning from Jogjakarta in 1975.

After completing his studies at Akademi Seni Rupa Indonesia, he joined the famous artist colony known as the Anak Alam group.

Born in Johol, a small village in Negri Sembilan, Yusof grew up surrounded by nature.

The roots of Yusof's paintings come from over 20 years of exploring native art.

Yusof is best loved for his Tiga Ekor Gajah children's book. He has won the 1997 Grand Prix award at Noma Concours for Children's Picture Book Illustration in Japan.

Part of the sales from the paintings at L'Animale in Art will be donated to the Yellow House Project by Friends of Unicef.

The exhibition will end tomorrow and will open subsequently at Purna Budaya in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and Gallery Space Pause in Tokyo.

Galeri Tinta opens between 11.30am and 6pm, Monday to Saturday. It is located at 8, Lengkok Abdullah, off Jalan Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur (Tel: 03-2283 4008).