Description
Phuan Thai Meng frequently imbues his works with personal reflections of land, migration, and country. I See portrays finely detailed imageries and associations concerning identity, placed within an ornate black frame. The portrait section on the right side of the card is freely depicted with emoji symbols. The infiltration of fake Identity Card (IC) owners into the electoral rolls may affect the election results.
Phuan Thai Meng, a founding member of the artist's cooperative Rumah Air Panas, is a multi-media artist working on paintings, installations and performance, on contemporary issues of modern social conditions and infrastructure, rapid urbanisation complete with neglect, mildew and structural decay. He was selected for the 7th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane, Australia in 2012-2013, together with Roslisham Ismail, and his works are in the collection of the Singapore Art Museum, The Queensland Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art Australia. He was one of the Malaysian winners of the 2000 Philip Morris Asean Art Awards, and won the Silver Award in the UOB Painting of the Year in 2018. His solo shows were Home (land), Our ArtProjects (2018), Hey Malaysia, Something You ( ) Leave Behind!, Our Art Projects 2017; Mapping Homeland: We Are Proud Of You (? ?), VWFA Singapore 2011; The WE Project, RKFA, KL 2010; Made In Malaysia, VWFA, KL 2009; and PTM0001020304 (RAP, KL, 2004). He was educated at the Malaysian Institute of Art (1993-1996). Thai Meng's auction record was set at Christie's November 2011 Hong Kong Auction when his Road To… (2009) registered a premium of US$20,946 (approx. RM86,491). In Malaysia, his Solution sold for RM24,640 at the Henry Butcher November 2014 Art Auction.