Rendered with intricate lines and rich earthy colours, the composition is depicted in Zulkifli Yusoff’s iconic use of gestural marks. The artist’s early works explore the questions of power and socio-political issues of the period. Visually arresting, the works of Zulkifli exude emotional energy through board gestural marks. Working across various mediums, his works often touch on issues of power structures, history, folklore, and identity. Differences in opinion and jeopardised interests caused the two ministers to be at loggerheads.
Zulkifli Yusoff emerged as the supernova in the late 1980s when he won the Major Award in the Young Contemporary Artists (BMS) competition in 1988 and 1989. He sealed his status when he won the Minister’s Grand Prize in Salon Malaysia in 1992, apart from the 1st and 3rd Prizes in Sculpture. For his contributions at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Tanjung Malim, he was awarded the National Academy Award (Visual Art) in 2007. After his Diploma in Art and Design (Fine Art) at the Mara Institute of Technology (1989), he studied at the Manchester Polytechnic in England for his Masters (1991). His major exhibitions include the 1997 Venice Biennale under the fringe ‘Modernities and Memories: Recent Works from the Islamic World’; the 1st Asia-Pacific Triennial of Art in Brisbane in 1993; the Singapore Biennale 2013; Art Stage Singapore 2013 (Rukunegara 2: VOICE Theo Art Projects); Seychelles Biennale 1992. As a team, he won the 2nd Prize in the Sand Sculpture competition in 1988. His main solos at home include 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).