Zulkifli Yusoff's caricature in-your-eye works of the 1990s made him somewhat into a pahlawan 'Daumier', with the Power Series and Reformasi Series taking rein. While his characters are like the individual chessboard play stands, they have all taken own features of their own, some with suave dressings and some with subhuman looks and demeanour. Starting with digs against the pedantic academic Professor Kangkong and the lecherous Ahmad, the jabs become harder in the wake of Reformasi over the sacking and later jailing of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (then deputy prime minister). While the artist does not necessarily make a stand on the 'issues' he projects in his works, the statement can cut in strong. Zulkifli won the Major Award in the Young Contemporary Artists (BMS) competition in 1988 and 1989. In 1992, he landed Malaysia's biggest art award when won the Grand Minister's Prize in Salon Malaysia in 1992, apart from the 1st and 3rd Prizes in Sculpture. There was a time when he concentrated on his educator's role at the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Tanjung Malim, and his educational credentials and his artist's accomplishments won him the National Academy Award (Visual Art) in 2007. He did his Diploma in Art and Design (Fine Art) at the Mara Institute of Technology, Shah Alam (1989), and then studied at the Manchester Polytechnic in England for his Masters (1991). It is his selection for prestigious international events that raises his profile. 1) The 1997 Venice Biennale under the fringe 'Modernities and Memories: Recent Works from the Islamic World'; 2) 1st Asia-Pacific Triennial of Art in Brisbane in 1993; 3) Singapore Biennale 2013; 4) Rukunegara 2: VOICE, Theo Art Projects, Art Stage Singapore, 2013; 5) Seychelles Biennale 1992; apart from solos: 6) Writing Power, National University of Singapore, 2011. As a team, he won the 2nd Prize in the Sand Sculpture competition in 1988. At home, eye-catching solos – The Power, NN Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, 1996; Brave New Art, The Art Gallery, Penang, 1996; Powerful Dialogue, The Art Gallery Penang, 2000; Icons, Wei-Ling Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, 2008; and Negara Ku, National Art Gallery Malaysia, 2010, advance his cause further.