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Mixed Media

Izat Arif, Duty Free Champagne Tastes Like Cockroach , 2023

Izat Arif Malaysian, b. 1986

Duty Free Champagne Tastes Like Cockroach , 2023
Enamel paint on engraved acrylic
30 x 37 x 4 cm
Edition of 3 plus 2 AP
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To whom it may concern (specifically the culturally enlightened) , Dear audience, I hope this letter arrives at the peak of your culturally curious and voraciously consuming state. Here I...
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To whom it may concern (specifically the culturally enlightened) ,

Dear audience,

I hope this letter arrives at the peak of your culturally curious and voraciously consuming state. Here I present to you my latest artistic endeavours with much excitement: hand painted engraved acrylic sign boards that attempt to encapsulate the many struggles, triumphs and at times exploitation masked as sincere and genuine exchange, that come from being an artist from this exotic outpost.

I have decided to adorn these signboards with text, symbols and imagery that may strike you as merely caricatures but I can assure you they are derived from our rich and diverse cultural heritage, our everyday encounters and situations, and experience going through the many facets of the art world.

Through these works I will “ingeniously” exploit your insatiable appetite for the "exotic other" and package it in a convenient signboard format (for you to take home of course). Just imagine the thrill of spotting a common rural scenery, reduced to a mere decorative element on a board, dangling like a carrot of cultural intrigue in front of your perpetually curious eyes.

But don't fret, my dear audience, I haven't forgotten about the struggles. I'm acutely aware of the pitfalls of being an artist from this corner of the world. Allow me to spell it out for you, quite literally, on these signboards. They will serve as a painful reminder of the hardships that are faced— the lack of resources, the relentless pressure to conform to global art trends, and the never-ending battle against cultural appropriation.

I hope to leave you questioning your own complicity in this circus of cultural commodification. Are you genuinely interested in understanding the complexities of our experiences, or are you merely seeking a photographable moment for the grid?

So, dear international art consumers, I invite you to step right up and indulge in my intricately crafted signboards. Take selfies, ponder the depths of our struggles, and feel the weight of your privilege. For in this not so theatrical spectacle of art, I offer you the chance to reflect, to question, and perhaps even confront the uncomfortable truths that lie beneath the glossy surface of cultural exchange and acrylic sheets.


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Exhibitions

Motif : Lamaran, ARTJOG 2023. Jogja National Museum, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. 30 June - 27 August 2023.
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