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. ‘Neo Pago-Pago, 1970’ was likely produced in the final year of the Pago-Pago series as the sketch appears to have exhausted the five continuous years of virility and integrity that have materialized in a compelling body of work. The image seems to revisit the sketches of ‘Pangkor (1)’ and ‘Pangkor (2)’ where the geological forms are studied and magnified. ‘Neo Pago-pago, 1970’, sketched in ink with varied motifs and textural density, is without a doubt an abstraction developed from the above mentioned sketches while it signals Latiff’s habitual revisitation of his subject of interest.
