Painted in the year that Jolly Koh returned to Malaysia from Australia after a period of 15 to 16 years absence, this tender work captures the sibling love; the sister holding the younger brother on her arm, while the brother is enjoying the drink, quenching his thirst.
Jolly Koh is an 8th generation Baba, born in Singapore and grew up in Malacca. In 1962, he got his National Diploma in Design at the Hornsey College of Art in London, and the next year, the Art Teacher’s certificate at the Institute of Education in London University. He taught briefly in Malaysia, at the Mara Institute of Technology in Shah Alam and Sabah’s Gaya College. In 1973-1975, he got a Fulbright scholarship to do his Doctor of Education and Master of Science at the Indiana University in the United States. He returned to Malaysia in 1976 and left shortly after for Australia where he taught first in Melbourne, and ended up as senior lecturer at TAFE College in Adelaide. His most recent solo exhibition Jolly Koh @ 76 (organised by Curate Henry Butcher) held at White Box, Publika in December 2017 received good response.