Latiff Mohidin, born in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia in 1941 completed his primary education in Singapore. While in Singapore, at an early age, Latiff’s precocity in understanding paintings earned him the nickname, ‘Wonder Boy’. From 1960-1964, Latiff studied art at Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste in Berlin, Germany and did brief residencies in Paris and New York. Inspired by his exploration of Southeast Asia in 1964, Latiff has since produced compelling series of artworks – the result of a synthesis between his European experience and the rediscovery of his homeland. He is also a poet who has published several volumes of poetry. ‘Pagoda I’ is seemingly an architectural survey Latiff employed for this painting. Arranged in tight masses and at times overlapping, the shapes of the various Buddhist shrines are retained, while their surfaces are altered by a variety of patterns. Latiff’s adherence to the structure of the shrines recalls his foundational still life drawing practice in Europe while the intervention of patterns depicts the possibilities of techniques of expression. ‘Pagoda I’ and the Pago-pago series inaugurate a statement acknowledging Latiff’s reinforcement of the Malay Archipelago as part of his root culture.
