Belacu Berdepa, Berlagu Berupa was a solo exhibition of portraits by Jalaini Abu Hassan (Jai). Unlike the sooty charcoal and bitumen drawings that he had become known for, this collection of intimate portraits saw the artist playing with exuberant colours and bright patterns.

Here are images of the artist’s seated father, his daughter, Panglima Lubalang Daik, the artist on his bike, and Malaysian artist laureate Syed Ahmad Jamal. The paintings depict characters in Jai’s immediate world, his heroes and loved ones, but they also each signify, with a gentle sense of humour, a value or archetype of the Malay world—the father, the artist, the bomoh, the classic Malay hero, the Malay beauty, and the dalang/shadow puppeteer.

The paintings are a natural progression of the storytelling strain of Jai’s work, which is continually in dialogue with his immediate context and history. Belacu berdepa—the span of canvas—berlagu berupa—the song of image.