Lot description
A hill is a hill is a hill. Tall or truncated or eclipsed by an overpowering mist, it still exudes romance and poetry despite its presumptive lack of height. For Jolly Koh, whether it be hills, wild flowers or ferns with the sublimal orange effusion, the watchword of BEAUTY is the be all/end all of any, every creative endeavour. Never mind the meaning, the trajectory of meteoric thrusts or the strenuous climb to the hill top. Just an avalanche of colours, optically drenched. Just the rapture and ecstasy of colour alchemy. Such is abstract art, open to the viewers to appreciate and interpret. As the title has suggested, it's a rising sun (initial phase). Sun gives radiant light and life, while light represents hope â a constant reminder to move forward with hope, amidst the challenges in life. Jolly Koh is best known as one of the Magnificent 7 of the GRUP (1967, 2017) coterie who was given a retrospective-scale solo by Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers in 2017 dubbed Jolly Koh@76 celebrating 60 years of art. His tutelage is diverse: Hornsey College of Art in London; Institute of Education in London University; and Indiana University, USA. He had taught at the Mara Institute of Technology, the Gaya College in Sabah, MSC College (now SeGi) and in Australia (Melbourne and Adelaide). Dubbed a boy wonder in art, he held his first solo at the British Council, Kuala Lumpur, at the age of 16.