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. ‘Angkor Wat, 1965’, applied in ink, can be deemed as a compilation of familiar architectural and natural forms resembling sculptural ruins, leaves and bamboo shoots, and perhaps a disarrayed assembly of jolting fishing boats. These structures and motifs which Latiff employed regularly appear iconic in his Pago-Pago series. On the other hand, this work could also reflect his attempt in projecting a three-pronged comparative analysis of the architectural ruins, the growth of plant-life among the ruins and the symbolic stance of Cambodian dancers.
