AMSTERDAM.- In Marcos Kueh’s textile installation 福禄寿: Three Contemporary Prosperities, we encounter an animated conversation of color, pattern, and symbol. The installation encompasses eight tapestries of varying sizes, carefully arranged by the artist to afford a view of both the front and reverse sides. Kueh encourages us to move between perspectives on observing, to create multiple encounters while we meditate on the meaning of “prosperity” in modern times.
Kueh’s study of prosperity is driven by an urge to deepen his understanding of his Chinese-Malaysian cultural background. He has become fascinated with the three popular Chinese gods of fortune: the Fú Lù Shòu (福禄寿). Each of these three gods embodies a different form of fortune. Fú (福) stands for prosperity or wealth; Lù (禄) for reputation or nobility, and Shòu (寿) for longevity or eternity. Kueh weaves these attributes into his works through written text, Chinese characters and symbols that refer to the excessive accumulation of wealth and influence by companies like Amazon and Facebook. Under these circumstances – what does it mean to wish someone wealth, reputation, and eternal life in today’s world? Kueh takes a critical look at these blessings by depicting Fú as a millionaire, Lù as a social influencer, and Shòu as a post-human cyborg.
As we continue our exploration of “prosperity” in the contemporary, we encounter a four-meter-long tapestry depicting the most supreme deity of the Chinese pantheon: the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝, Yù Huáng Dà Dì). Here, we as viewers literally sit at the feet of this great emperor and, as the title suggests, Under God’s Eye places us right beneath his gaze. Kueh deliberately shows only the back side of the work, where the colors are decidedly more muted and the weave threads more fluid and painterly. In this tapestry the reverse side is especially less illustrative – becoming a scene where Kueh erodes the material notion of prosperity in pursuit of the spiritual.
During the exhibition,
Galerie Ron Mandos is also presenting the first solo exhibition Botanical Body Bliss by Hadassah Emmerich.
Marcos Kueh
Born 1995 in Malaysia.
Lives and works in The Netherlands
Marcos Kueh is a textile artist from the Island of Borneo, with a professional background in Graphic Design and Advertising. His love affair with textiles started two years ago in his Academy’s textile workshop, while trying to find a sense familiarity to grasp onto while studying in the Netherlands. The ancestors of his land encapsulated their dreams, myths and hopes in their textiles. Many of Kueh’s textile works are explorations and speculations of the traditional meaning of the craft in the contemporary context. His practice has motivated him to work and learn about both the traditional weaving techniques back in Borneo and the ‘modern’ industrial weaving mills here in the Netherlands.
Marcos Kueh graduated from The Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in The Hague in 2022. He participated in the Best of Graduates 2022 exhibition at Galerie Ron Mandos, during which Joop van Caldenborgh, founder of Museum Voorlinden, awarded him the Young Blood Award of 2022. In October of 2022, Kueh started the Ron Mandos Young Blood Foundation Residency at the BRUTUS Lab in Rotterdam. His studio will be opened to visitors during Art Rotterdam 2023, running from February 8th to 12th. Currently, his work is also on view at Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, NL, and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL. Previously, Marcos Kueh had exhibitions at Osaka International Art Fair, Osaka, JP; Architectural Biennal Rotterdam, NL; Kazerne, Eindhoven, NL, and The Backroom, Kuala Lumpur, MY.
