The dictionary definition of Panorama reads as, “An unbroken view of surrounding region, picture or photograph containing wide view (Waite 1994 456)(**). In Ivan Lam’s hands, the aforesaid is elevated to a more complex and sophisticated level.

Panorama is Ivan Lam’s second solo exhibition at Wei-Ling Gallery. Continuing from where he left off in Ivan Lam: after all these years…, the current exhibition is the much awaited sequel to his highly innovative paintings on carefully selected imagery. Ivan’s distinctive style of painting has resulted in him being labelled with different terminologies such as figurative abstractionist and colourist. Derived from a personal visual language, his narration on contemporary issues and popular icons is marked by a reinvention of painting based on meticulous application of a spectrum of colours.

Panorama marks a journey started in 2005, when Ivan started experimenting with synthetic polymer paint. Nippon (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd has played an integral part to support the artist for the past two and a half years. It should be noted that Ivan Lam is the only artist in Malaysia who demonstrates the versatility of Nippon paint in the production of his art works. Since then, he has produced highly enticing and thought provoking images. As a continuation of this genre of painting, Ivan has ventured beyond the confines of experimentation. With subject matter closer to his heart, the new found confidence and familiarity of medium resulted in a diorama-like setting of pictures with maturity abundant.

Ivan Lam: after all these years… featured 12 lyrical paintings, ending with a work entitled Preview, tickling our senses of what is to come. Preview is one half of a panoramic image which is completed in the current show. In popular culture today, many movies are produced as trilogies. In Ivan’s exhibitions, there would yet be another ‘preview’ piece of what is to come in his exhibition at a later date to complete the trilogy.

This thinking artist would be presenting 7 Machiavellian paintings and 1 teaser for the enjoyment of viewers in this exciting exhibition. For those who are inclined towards the artist’s theme of ‘love’, the high quality aesthetic paintings are infused with a shift to a more nostalgic repertoire this time round. A self-labelled contemporary artist, Ivan is well on his way to the annals of Malaysian art history with his cutting edge works that push the boundaries of what we know as painting.

Artist and lecturer Ivan has exhibited widely in the local and international arena. This highly regarded artist garnered multiple awards in a 12-year career laden with solo and group exhibitions. Notably, his painting Three Buses received a final bid of  HKD120,000 three times the higher estimate from Christie’s Hong Kong Southeast Asian Modern and Contemporary Art May 2008 auction.

In addition to the art exhibition, Wei-Ling Gallery will be collaborating with Nippon Paint (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to bring you a series of exciting events to highlight Panorama by Ivan Lam. Look out for details in the near future.

(**) Maurice White, ed. The Little Oxford Dictionary 7th edition, United States: Oxford University Press, 1994.