Interview with the Artist.

About the Artist

Artist Interviewed

Biodata of Artist

List of Exhibitions

Tari Series

Tari Series

Tari Series

Interviewer :	So far, you have talked about your group shows. What about your solo exhibitions?
Yusof Ghani :	Before I came back to Malaysia in 1984, I visited my former professor - Tom Nakashima, at his studio. He was busy preparing for his exhibition of paintings called "Ground Zero" to be held at Anton Gallery in Washington, D.C. It was about nuclear war and I shared his concern. I told him that our prophet Muhammad once told his companions about "shooting arrows that travel 2,000 miles away" which will occur towards the end of the world. Obviously, this was an anology on our modern missiles. Nakashima was serious about the matter and he featured "arrows" in some of the paintings. Our shared interest led to friendship and he introduced me to Gail Enns, the owner of Anton Gallery. She wanted to know more about my protest paintings, and she liked what she saw. In less than a month, I was set for my first solo exhibition in Washington, D.C. During the opening, I was quite nervous but also excited. Here I am at the gallery at Capitol Hill, so close to the Congress with my protest messages.
Interviewer :	Why did you come back to Malaysia so soon after that?
Yusof Ghani :	I was on a government grant and I had to come back to serve the people. I went straight to TV Malaysia, my former employee before I went to the U.S. for my studies. However, they suggested that I should teach at Institut Teknologi MARA. Within four days after seeing the people at the college, I reported for work as a teaching staff.
Interviewer :	What do you teach?
Yusof Ghani :	I cover basic design and visual research. It's a foundation course that covers the elements and principles of design such as form, shape, lines, balance, composition, movement, and direction. I also teach drawings on figures to fashion and graphic art students. And also observation drawings for those taking ceramic and textile design. Teaching to young people is an enjoyable experience. It's interesting. They come from different backgrounds. They have their own views and opinions about art.
Interviewer :	What was the Malaysian art scene like when you came back?
Yusof Ghani :	The artists then were very serious about coming up with a national identity for Malaysian art. It was a tough challenge as various attempts were made in the hope of finding the answer. Islamic and indigenous motifs were widely used. My "Protest" paintings were obviously out of place. Since I did a series of paintings on "cultural dance" for my thesis, I decided to expand on this theme for my art. I felt that I could still communicate about how I feel about the world with a dance theme. I called them Siri Tari (Dance Series). I want to convey to the audience about the inequality of life that led to chaos. I feel that dancing is chaotic and directionless. To achieve the effect, my approach to painting was based on immediacy, spontaneity, and guided by my intuition for the colors and the strokes. I had no specific sketches for the paintings.

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