Tan Wei Kheng, The Hunter: Megih Jeluan, 2021, Oil on canvas, 122 x 91 cm
Majestic Hunters is a solo exhibition by Tan Wei Kheng (b.1970, Malaysia), on 10 June 2023. The exhibition will showcase Tan’s stunning photorealistic paintings, including a triptych featuring a skull of the Grey Leaf Monkey, also known as Nyakit, and portraits of elderly Penan individuals.
Tan Wei Kheng is a Sarawakian painter who has developed an interest in the Orang Ulu communities, such as the Penan, and their way of life. The Penan are the last of Borneo’s nomadic hunter-gatherers, and Tan’s works serve as a reminder of the fragility of their culture and their environment, threatened by the pressures of capitalist and state-centric hegemony.
Majestic Hunters explores the theme of death, both as a fact of reality and as a metaphor for the looming demise of the Penan way of life. The Nyakit triptych serves as a memento mori, while the portraits of elderly Penan individuals are posthumous portraits, rendered from memory and photographs after their subjects had passed on.
Venue: Richard Koh Fine Art, Blk 47 Malan Road, #01-26 Gillman Barracks, Singapore 109444
When: 10 Jun - 1 Jul 2023, Tuesday – Saturday: 11 am – 7 pm
