Brothers They and Mistawhy were making a name for themselves on KL’s graffiti and design circuit, as were the many young proponents they regarded as their peers. What, then, possessed them to put their visual art on the backburner and focus instead on opening a gallery for others to showcase their wares?

They Art Studio is an art gallery of a different cloth: it eschews the elitist mindset the established art scene subscribes to, and even refuses to call its exhibitions that, preferring the more egalitarian “show”. They explains that his and Mistawhy’s eight-year experience as artists have ingrained the importance of exposure and getting a break into the public eye, and the studio is their way of facilitating that for others in the burgeoning scene. Approaching visual art the same way as skateboarders, DJs, sneaker fiends and tee collectors get into their obsessions has made They Art Studio more of a party space than a staid exhibition space, where serious connoisseurs and casual enthusiasts can hang out and eventually get down to the business of buying local indie art.

Ever since their first show, Kechik-Kechik, last December, They Art Studio has been getting massive support from the artist community. With 35 artists presenting their work, it was a case of hitting the ground running. Kechik-Kechik itself is about to enter its third iteration on 30 April, coming after the studio’s photography show, Klik-Klik and its first fine art collection, Find Art. The gallery’s approach to artists is also fairly novel: rather than slap a commission on artwork sold, artists are only required to pay a RM110 fee to have up to 10 pieces displayed for sale over any one-week exhibition. With the Annexe firming its grip on KL’s avant garde aesthetic, They Art Studio’s presence on the premises is just going to up the ante even more.

They Art Studio
Lot 2.02, Annexe Central Market
KL.
e: theyartstudio@yahoo.co.uk.

Text+Images Azwan Mahzan