(b. Selangor, 1963)
Jalaini Abu Hassan also known as Jai is an inspirational artist and a dedicated academician who is an advocate for young graduates to pursue careers in the art industry. He obtained a Master of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute, New York, the US (1994); MA from the Slade School of Art, London under the Malaysian Federal Scholarship (1988); and Bachelor of Fine Arts from MARA Institute of Technology (1985). His commitment to drawing and painting and experimenting with the potential of its raw materials and the discovery of bitumen while in New York allows him to constantly push the formal and technical possibilities of both traditional and experimental media in his creative oeuvre. Inspired by his personal experiences – real and imagined, he expresses his thoughts derived from the immediate present as well as remembered past. His works address elements of traditional Malay and modern global culture, the natural and man-made environment, kampung and city life that culminate in a melting pot of visual perceptions that illustrate the Malaysian experience. With an experience of over three decades in artmaking, Jalaini has held more than 20 solo exhibitions over the years with his latest solo titled Landskap Daerah Samar at Segaris Art Center, Kuala Lumpur in 2021. In 2021, he launched a limited edition unique repurposed, hand painted objects labelled Barang² Jai inspired by iconographies derived from his paintings such as banana, kerosene lamp, chicken, and cockerel. He is currently working on his latest project Carbon Organika, a collaborative effort featuring ceramic and giclee prints.