“The paintings were very uneasy, dark and all the descriptions you would associate with the word ‘protest’. The paintings served as protests against a lot of things – inequality, poverty, abuse of power and corruption. The Protest paintings were an expression of anger. The process of paintings was also done with that feeling of anger against all the injustice. Looking back, I find the work to be brutal to an extent. But that’s what it was supposed to be.” – Yusof Ghani (Interview with Rusli Hashim) Liat - Siri Protes (Protest series) derived from the artist’s participation with a radical group of artists in Washington D.C. during his student days in 1983. The group protested against American interference in the internal affairs of Nicaragua and El Salvador. Appalled by these overt political maneuvers, the young artist signaled his reactions by creating pictures for an exhibition titled American Intervention in Nicaragua and El Salvador alongside a number of artists registering their protest against America’s involvement. Yusof Ghani was awarded a scholarship to study at George Mason University, USA. He graduated with a BFA (Graphic Art) in 1981 and pursued his MFA (Fine Art) at Catholic University in Washington in 1983. Before his American studies, he had worked as an artist-illustrator (Agriculture Ministry, 1967), an instructor (Fisheries Institute, Penang, 1971) and a graphic artist (RTM, 1977). On his return, he lectured at the Universiti MARA Institute of Technology. In 2014, he unveiled a new body of work named Ombak which was showcased alongside previous series at Sasana Kijang, Kuala Lumpur. Most recently, his artworks was displayed at an exhibition titled Shared Passion (2015) showcasing his old and new works from his personal collection alongside Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan’s collection.