WHAT do Marilyn Monroe and Campbell’s soup have in common? Besides being part of American culture, they were both subjects of iconic artworks created by Andy Warhol, the legendary New York artist whose name is synonymous with Pop Art. No discourse on visual art in the 20th century can be complete without mentioning Pop Art and its major influencers such as Warhol, Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein.
This art movement surfaced in the UK and US around the late-1950s during a flourishing period of post-war consumerism. Challenging the traditions of fine art, pop art embraced imagery found in popular culture easily relatable and accessible to the masses. Famous personalities and mass-produced commercial items are often depicted in pop art; in fact any images that bombard the public via television, advertising, magazines, comics, product designs and the like.
While pop art made its impact felt in the West and earned recognition by the art world, the same cannot be said in Malaysia. When Perak-born Ahmad Azhari Mohd Nor, better known as Jeri, emerged on the local art scene with his melange of vibrant, bold and graffiti-like pieces, little did he realise that his style would make him Malaysia’s own pop art legend. The late artist dared to push boundaries and provoke thought at a time when Malaysians were inclined towards more conventional expressions of art.
This month, Jeri’s contribution to the Malaysian art scene, especially in pop influence, is celebrated in the exhibition A Tribute To Jeri Azhari at Galeri Prima of which the New Straits Times (NST) is a custodian.
The timing and venue could not be more appropriate as before becoming a fulltime artist, Jeri Azhari worked as a graphic artist with NST for 10 years. The month of July is timely as the newspaper commemorates its 174th anniversary this month — the same month that Jeri passed away 13 years ago. In this tribute exhibition, visitors will find 66 of Jeri’s works on display, with all but one provided by his widow, Norsita Abd. Rahman.
OUT OF THE BOX
In pop art manner, Jeri’s works highlight cultural icons including well-known figures, celebrities (local and foreign), showcasing striking fonts and texts, and sometimes banal everyday items like a can of soup or magazine covers, placed in a different context and reproduced by using mechanical means or other rendering techniques.
The bubbly Norsita shares how Jeri came to develop an interest and become heavily exposed to popular foreign culture. “He used to collect international magazines with bright colours like Cosmopolitan, Times, National Geographic,” she recalls, explaining that when her husband worked at NST, he had an allowance for buying art books and other reference materials.
Smiling, she adds: “From collecting all this, his interest in popular culture grew. He liked popular figures such as Grace Kelly and Madonna.” Norsita herself is featured among the colourful portraits adorning the walls of the gallery, a snapshot of a time when she once sported a bushy blonde hairdo.
The exhibition also showcases other series of Jeri’s work that express his concept of Kret City, boxes and questions. Kret is short for the Malay term “Kreativiti”, reveals Norsita seeing my perplexed expression at the unfamiliar word emblazoned across some of the pieces. She elaborates: “It came from his imagination, this one place where all the creative people live. They all understand each other so there’s no conflict.”
Meanwhile, in the other pieces, what appear to be a random web of colourful geometric shapes and lines show, in fact, deliberate patterns of open boxes, a call by the artist for people to think out of the box.
The late Jeri certainly did much of that, thinking differently, perhaps as a result of his love for reading, particularly the works of famous philosophers like Socrates and Plato. Often misunderstood, Jeri expressed thoughts and ideas that either confused his fellow Malaysians or caused them to question his unconventional efforts.
And even though Norsita herself at times didn’t understand him, she maintains that “… he knew what he was doing. It was just that other people didn’t understand. Dia faham diri dia (He understood himself).”
DREAM ENCOUNTER
Before establishing his artistic style, and way before he had any clue about pop art or Andy Warhol, Jeri had a dream a few years after his departure from NST. He had many dreams, shares his widow, but one in particular had a profound effect on his future as an artist. “Dia mimpi Andy Warhol datang ambik dia naik limo, silver coloured, duduk belakang. Tapi dia tak tahu itu Andy Warhol. Rambut tegak-tegak, dia kata. Dia pergi ke bookstore, dia tengok-tengok buku-buku art… nampak gambar Andy tu!” (He dreamt of Andy Warhol picking him up in a silver limo, sitting at the back. But he didn’t know that was Andy Warhol. Spiky hair, he said. Then he went to bookstores to look at art books and recognised Andy from pictures!)
Jeri followed up by carrying out extensive research on pop art, a form of expression that clearly resonated with him as Norsita recalls seeing the happiness that it brought him. He participated in several group and solo exhibitions at renowned art galleries and venues in Kuala Lumpur and also in the 12th Bangladesh Biennale in 2006, one of his last fateful exhibitions.
At Galeri Prima, visitors will find two of his beloved works Georgia O’Keeffe, a portrait of the American artist, and Esquire, an apparent homage to Warhol. “Jeri was very attached to these two,” shares Norsita, her voice soft. Adding, she concludes: “I guess this was because they were the result of successful experimentation, accidental techniques. Every time he did a show, he would say “Don’t sell this one”. These two are my favourites as well because Jeri’s soul banyak kat situ (is largely there).”
A Tribute To Jeri Azhari
When: Until July 26, 10am-6pm. Weekends by appointment.
Where: Galeri Prima, Balai Berita Bangsar, 31, Jalan Riong, Bangsar, KL