![\"The](\"https:\/\/apicms.thestar.com.my\/uploads\/images\/2026\/03\/27\/3831558.jpg\")
The artist with \u2018Holiday at Pulau Redang\u2019, one of his new works.<\/p>\nRENOWNED artist Teh Hock Aun (internationally known as Hock Aun Teh) is in the midst of setting up an art gallery in his hometown of Taiping, Perak.<\/p>\n
The 75-year-old Teh, along with his close friend Kevin Lee, is turning the latter\u2019s mansion at No 13, Lorong 4, Jalan Dato Sri Ahmad into the Hock Aun Teh Gallery of Modern Art.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I do not bring my art back, I do not think the people in Taiping will have the opportunity to see them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe gallery will also be my connection to my hometown and the people,\u201d said the artist who is now based in Glasgow, Scotland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope it will also be my small contribution to the local culture and nation as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our nation struggles to appreciate modern art because there is very little contact with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think it is important for Malaysians to experience it,\u201d he told StarMetro.<\/p>\n
Teh\u2019s works are featured in various art exhibitions, including at the National Visual Arts Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, National Art Museum of China and The Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow.<\/p>\n
He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions over the years in Germany, Bulgaria and the UK.<\/p>\n
Some of his works have been purchased by the late Queen Elizabeth II and actor Sean Connery.<\/p>\n
He also has a sculpture named \u201cThe Energy Of Life\u201d which was commissioned in conjunction with the 2008 Olympics, located near the National Stadium in Beijing, China.<\/p>\n
The artist with \u2018Holiday at Pulau Redang\u2019, one of his new works.<\/p>\n
Teh hopes the gallery can generate more interest in modern art.<\/p>\n
He said people often have the misconception that it is something far-fetched and detached from reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany think that art is for someone highly intellectual, but it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about our environment and the way we live.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people, when they look at modern art, they always try to seek an explanation and want a story,\u201d he said, adding that art is not supposed to be narrative.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is just like looking at a beautiful flower and you cannot explain why you like it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a certain colour or shape makes you happy, that\u2019s it. That\u2019s art.\u201d<\/p>\n
The key element of being a good artist is having imagination, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an artist, it\u2019s so important to have the eyes of a child.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have that, you see the world in a very fresh and original way.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd once you have your own subject matter, you find your own techniques and expression.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teh said he would go through a spectrum of emotions whenever he paints.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I paint, I do not paint what I see, but how and what I feel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would question myself and challenge my own thoughts and decisions,\u201d he said, adding that he would paint about 30 paintings yearly, but only six would be kept.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would destroy most of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the painting doesn\u2019t speak to me, that\u2019s no good.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said that as an artist, one needs to be exposed to the world and not confined to one place.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should go out to observe, study and feel the whole atmosphere and surroundings, and be inspired,\u201d he said, adding that art also needs to be personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs for children, they need to be given courage, challenged and just let them express themselves freely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teh said the gallery is expected to be opened in August.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be 12 paintings in watercolour and acrylic, pencil drawings as well as eight sculptures created using metal and wood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe collection is from the last six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the opening of this gallery, I plan to give talks from time to time whenever I come back, helping folk understand modern art.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee, a retired businessman, said he allowed Teh to turn his place into a gallery as it was not in use.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family no longer live here and I do not need to sell it, so why not just turn it into a gallery?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to inspire the locals and let them know that their lives can be changed by art.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee, 62, said the concept for the gallery would be different from others.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople can even stay overnight. They can have a cup of coffee while walking around enjoying the artworks,\u201d he said, adding that there would be no entry fee.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want visitors to be immersed in the whole experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who are interested could call us to make an appointment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee also paid tribute to Teh, whom he has known for 30 years, for his contributions to the art scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaiping has many \u2018firsts\u2019 and he should also be one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RENOWNED artist Teh Hock Aun (internationally known as Hock Aun Teh) is in the midst of setting up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[595,18890,365,362,363,364,366,18,117,2033,183791,19,17,694,183792,183790],"class_list":{"0":"post-406536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-art","9":"tag-artist","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-arts-and-design","12":"tag-artsanddesign","13":"tag-artsdesign","14":"tag-design","15":"tag-eire","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-gallery","18":"tag-hock-aun","19":"tag-ie","20":"tag-ireland","21":"tag-modern","22":"tag-taiping","23":"tag-teh"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116300607894055819","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}