DATO’ SHARIFAH FATIMAH

Born 1948 in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia, Dato’ Sharifah, widely regarded as the First Lady of Abstract Art, is the pioneer batch of fine art students from MARA institute in 1967. She graduated in 1971 under the tutelage of Dr. Jolly Koh and Dr. Choong Kam Kow with the best student award. She has won a slew of prestigious awards including the Bank Bumiputra Prize and consolation prize in the Young Contemporary Artist award.

Her wonderful works of art was officially shown to the world in Singapore in 1972. ‘Follow your passion” is her advice. That she did when she enrolled in fine art at Reading, University of London and post graduate studies at Pratt Institute in New York in 1976 with a John D Rockefeller Fund Fellowship. The National Art Gallery held an exhibition in 2013, showcasing her five series, namely Touch the Earth; Mindscapes; Joy is the Theme; Garden of the Heart and Celebration. Her Song of Eucalyptus series not only marks 50 years of her career but sees her at her most innovative and creative. Datuk Sharifah’s art embodies bold expressive colours and strong gestural strokes imbibing the spiritual side of conveyance. She is indeed a formidable artist whose works are hung in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Jordan National Art Gallery, the Singapore Art Museum and many others.