At 19, Delwin Cheah Sold Out His Second Solo Art Exhibition

The savant artist sold out his second solo exhibition for RM84,000

Thirty minutes into his first day at art school, eight-year-old Delwin Cheah was asked to be sent back home because the teacher “couldn’t handle him”. They told his parents that not only was Delwin the “worst artist” under their brief tutelage but had “no potential” for a career in art as a young boy diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.

Fast forward 11 years later, and Delwin now has under his belt a slew of achievements. His latest solo exhibition in June 2022 at the Pinkguy fine art gallery in Kuala Lumpur titled ‘Freedom—Oxygen of the Soul’ comprised 12 colourful paintings, some of which are three-dimensional horses sculpted using Faber-Castell’s adhesive tack-its.

Delwin’s newest series is an outward expression of his worldview: one where the world is still beautiful, and humans can co-exist peacefully with nature.

Above The Colorful of China (2022)

And just within 20 minutes of the exhibition’s official launch, all the artworks presented were sold for a total of RM84,000. “It’s both humbling and gratifying to know that people appreciate his work,” says Lawrence Cheah, Delwin’s father of this record-breaking result for the young artist. “He draws non-stop—eight to 10 hours a day! He’s a perfectionist and never gets tired of it.”

In April 2013, Delwin was certified and listed in The Malaysian Book of Records for being the youngest artist to hold a solo visual art exhibition that had more than 60 pieces of artwork. Then later in the year, he was granted the title ‘World Youngest Savant Autistic Artist To Hold A Solo Art Exhibition’ by RecordSetter, a US-based repository for world records.

Above The Incredible Knabstruppers (2022)

Delwin as a child was rambunctious, Lawrence recalls, and couldn’t stay still for long periods of time due to his Asperger’s. It wasn’t until he noticed his father drawing a little dog on a café order bill that he finally calmed, enraptured with how Lawrence was bringing one of his favourite subjects to life: animals.

Both Lawrence and his wife noticed the change in Delwin’s demeanour instantly, and after three months of his incessant requests for them to draw something for him, they decided to let him explore the creative space himself. Evidently, it was a life-changing decision, one that allowed their son to realise his creative potential and inspire others with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) themselves.

“He’s always had this profound love for animals. Ever since he was young, he’d watch any television programme related to wildlife: Animal Planet, BBC Earth, National Geographic, and the Discovery Channel,” says Lawrence. “Which is why animals are always the main subject in his work. He’s drawn them for so long. He can even draw them without the initial sketch—upside down too!”

Above The Great Plains (2022)

While he was put into art school a second time, Delwin’s technique, which he dubs as “Delwinism”, is self-taught and cultivated through years of practice as well as his observational skills. The late Teng Yin Teik, a long-time artist of the Penang Art Society, encouraged the family and Delwin to continue his artistic pursuits, describing his art to be full of soul.

It’s clear that many across the globe saw it too. The list of Delwin’s collectors is extensive from Queen Elizabeth II and Barack Obama to Tun Siti Hasmah and Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh, the young artist has taken the world by storm.

In 2017, Delwin was invited to the Shanghai Oriental Art Centre as the cultural ambassador for love and awareness to children in China by award-winning artist Simon Ma. There, he designed a conceptual art piece that was painted on a real school bus that had travelled all over China.

He even has his own coffee table book, titled I Can Draw, which was published in 2014 by Datuk Ch’ng Huck Theng, president of the Penang Art Society. In that very same year, one of those copies was sent anonymously to the White House. Today, a letter of recognition, signed by Obama himself, is framed neatly alongside his many works at home.

“I’m artistic, not autistic,” Delwin emphasises. The sculpture of a bull made of a ball of green tack-it sits lightly in his palm as he speaks. “I want to draw more, sell more artworks, so I can help those in need. I want to travel around the world with my parents, and I want to build a farm, so that I can take care of animals.”

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Credits

Images

Courtesy of Lawrence Cheah

Topics

Delwin Cheah

Tatler Asia

This 19-Year-Old Artist Sold His Art For Almost RM100,000