Zulkifli Dahlan Art for Sale at Auction

b. 1952 - d. 1977

Witty and playful, the legendary Zulkifli Dahalan, who died young, rails against materialism and hypocrisy in his works, which is against the trend of works of the Nanyang and the Post-May 13 1969 disorientation. Zulkifli Dahalan is without doubt one of the most phenomenal artists to have made a big impact in his short 25 years of existence. He is self-taught and one of the founding members of Anak Alam. His works have been variously described as “naïve, Neo-expressionist and surrealistic”. It was in the 1970s that ‘Jo’, as Zulkifli is known to his friends, started making a huge impact. In 1973, he won a Special Award in the Man And His World exhibition, and in 1974, he was the Best Artist in the inaugural Young Contemporary Artists (Bakat Muda Sezaman) competition. In April 1974, he had an unusual two-man show with Yusoff in the open Taman Jaya in Petaling Jaya. He had a stint as “resident artist” together with fellow Anak Alamist Mustapa Ibrahim under the Indonesian artist Mozes Misdy, in Medan, Sumatra. During the 1970s, he started travelling to Europe, Jakarta and Bangkok. He was resident artist of the Angkatan Pelukis SeMalaysia in 1973-1974.