With his distinctive talent, self-taught artist Nasir Nadzir is a rising star gone too soon. To celebrate his life, those who know him best put together his first posthumous solo exhibition.
By Emilia Ismail
It can certainly be said that there has never been, nor will there ever be, anyone quite like Nasir Nadzir. Best known for his realistic paintings and drawings of nature, Nasir was a talented self-taught visual artist whose life was cut short due to COVID-19 complications in January 2021 at the age of 31. In his short career, which spanned 2015 – 2021, Nasir had participated in various group shows, including Saving Wildlives, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Art for Nature, and took home the consolation prize at the 2018 International Watercolor Society’s (IWS) 1st International Watercolor Biennale competition. Already, his works are included in the permanent collection of the Penang State Art Gallery (PSAG).
Most importantly, his generous and caring nature quickly enabled him to grow as an artist and make many friends within the Penang art community. He was often described as being a baby of the group, a young chap with incredible curiosity about everything and a big, warm personality.
So it’s no surprise that his family and friends honoured Nasir with his first posthumous solo exhibition, “Nasir Nadzir In Remembrance: A Celebration of His Life and Artistic Journey”, just four months after his untimely demise. Presented by The Art Gallery Penang, the exhibition is curated by Ivan Gabriel and is supported by The Art E Space, Penang Art District, Penang Museum & Art Gallery, Chroma Art Studio, and Viva Victoria.
Curator Ivan Gabriel.
Photo credit: Emilia Ismail
According to The Art Gallery Penang director Tan Ee Lene, it was Nasir’s dream to have a solo exhibition at the gallery, being the place that encouraged him to start his artistic journey. “Unfortunately, he left us too soon before we could put together a solo of his choice. That’s why I am glad that Ivan Gabriel contacted me a few months back. He mentioned that together with Nasir’s friends and family, they wanted to put together an exhibition for Nasir to celebrate his life, in conjunction with his birthday month,” says Tan.
“Nasir Nadzir, In Remembrance” features 20 artworks (including an installation of the recreation of his home studio space) from 2016 till 2020 focusing mainly on his wildlife series. The exhibition, held at The Art Gallery in Pulau Tikus, was set up in a way that took viewers through Nasir’s artistic journey from when he first started out as a full-time artist in 2016 until the very last painting he was working on just before he passed away.
The Drunken Tiger, 20xx. This unfinished piece is the last known painting Nasir was working on just before he passed away.
To Tan’s knowledge, Nasir was the first artist who had ventured into colour pencil paintings and Indian ink and later experimented with other mediums such as acrylic and mixed media—most other artists usually stick to one art medium. But even as he experimented with different mediums, it became quite apparent that Nasir did not stray away from one common theme—love for wildlife. To date, Nasir is best known for his acrylic painting of “Tam”, the last known critically endangered male Sumatran rhinoceros in Malaysia which died in 2019. The painting was sold to a private collector for the sum of RM10,000.
Tam In Remembrance, 2019.
For curator Ivan Alexander Francis Gabriel, putting together the exhibition was not easy. “The hardest part? Putting up the exhibition in an unprecedented time. Some 20 people toiled for months, from researching to cataloguing and working on the logistics.”
More than 20 people banded together to prepare for the exhibition.
Photo credit: Nizom Nadzir.
“At the same time, some of the art pieces were untitled because Nasir didn’t manage to title them. And because it took a village to put this exhibition together, I wanted the village to be part of the exhibition in different capacities. So a lot of people got the task of naming some of the pieces that are present here,” he says.
Learning from the Closest, 2018.
This piece was titled by Head of Langur Project Penang, Jo Leen Yap.
The death of a loved one is always difficult, but for Nasir’s eldest brother, Nizom Nadzir, the circumstances of Nasir’s death made his grief incredibly challenging. “We did not get to be with him physically at the hospital. In one of his last messages, he informed us that the doctor was intubating him soon. And when he died the next day, his funeral was handled by the health ministry personnel. We were not allowed near the funeral due to the SOPs. We didn’t get to see his body. I only got to watch his funeral from my car, some 100m away.”
Nizom Nadzir.
Photo credit: Emilia Ismail
When asked how he coped with Nasir’s sudden death, Nizom says, “In the beginning it was really tough. But along the way, we healed. Even this exhibition really helped with our grieving process. It gave us some sort of closure.
“I’m glad that people get to go through Nasir’s art journey. This is something that he really wanted to do and he got to do it.”.
Many visual artists are often liked, respected, and admired. But few, like the late Nasir Nadzir, are loved. At its heart, the posthumous Nasir Nadzir, In Remembrance exhibition not only showcases Nasir’s works and style evolution but also demonstrates Nasir’s family members and friends’ intense warmth and affection for him. Loved by all who knew him, the memory of Nasir’s extraordinary talents and warm personality will always be cherished.
The exhibition, scheduled to run from 8 till 23 May 2021, has been postponed indefinitely due to the MCO 3.0. In the meantime, the exhibition will be made available online at https://theartgallerypg.com/exhibitions/nasir-nadzir-in-remembrance/.
Emilia Ismail is the co-founder of Penang Hidden Gems and a writer. Her articles can be found in The Star, Penang Monthly, and Penang Global Tourism.