Fruiting Bodies 

5 Sep 2026 - 8 Nov 2026

HASANUL ISYRAF IDRIS

Love and Death in a Handful of Dust: View Here

Exhibition Guide: View Here

Blank Canvas is proud to present Fruiting Bodies, a new solo exhibition by Penang-based artist Hasanul Isyraf Idris. The exhibition takes its title from the mycological term for the reproductive structures of fungi, a.k.a. mushrooms: the visible “fruit” of a larger fungal organism, emerging aboveground to spread its spores while a hidden network of mycelium extends in dense webs below the surface.

In recent years, Hasanul’s painting practice has revolved around the biodiversity of a plot of land that he and his family acquired in Selama, a rural district of Perak located about two hours’ drive from the artist’s George Town residence. Hasanul has been slowly developing the land, erecting a small vacation home for his family and, more recently, beginning construction on a studio for himself. Parts of the land have been cleared to make way for these two new human habitations, while much of its natural environment continues to proliferate in clusters of brambles and bushes around the edges. Within this small patch of privately owned wilderness, an astonishing variety of local flora and fauna can still be encountered. Several of these specimens have appeared in previous painting series, together forming an evolving artistic index of the biodiversity found on Hasanul’s land.

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The present exhibition consists of small paintings on paper depicting fruiting bodies, mycelium, and other small forest friends. The fruiting bodies (a.k.a. mushrooms) are depicted in all their glorious variety: some fuzzy and white, resembling tiny parasols; others brown and oyster-like. They are the faceless extras of the forest ensemble, so humble, small, and chameleon-like as to be easily overlooked, while belonging to vast subterranean fungal networks. Through their mycelium, fungi form intricate relationships with the wider forest structure in an ecological exchange popularly known as the “wood wide web”. On the symbolic plane, Hasanul, being an artist somewhat on the fringes of the scene’s urban centre, is also interested in how life mimics the natural world, how ideas and influences are transmitted and propagated beyond what we see on the surface, beyond even the cycle of life and death.  

Accompanying the paintings is an installation of tactile mycelium experimentation that the artist has developed in close collaboration with Dr Rosnida Tajuddin, a mycologist at the School of Biological Sciences in Universiti Sains Malaysia.

SGSPTHKBH(31)20251028

2026

Acrylic on cotton paper

31 x 23 cm

 

 

 

 

The title is inspired by the way scientists label and 52 catalogue samples collected from research sites.

Each part of the title refers to specific information about the sample:
• SG SPTH — Sungai Seputeh, the location of the artist’s studio
• KBH — Kebun Bintang Hijau, the name of the artist’s studio, situated near the Bintang Hijau Forest Reserve
• (35) — Sample number 35
• 20250201 — The date the artist found the sample: 1 February 2025

SGSPTHKBH(19)20260607

2026

Gouache on cotton paper

29.5 x 21 cm

SGSPTHKBH(15)20260716

2026

Gouache on cotton paper

23 x 31 cm

SGSPTHKBH(35)20250201

2026

Acrylic & gouache on cotton paper

31 x 23 cm

Breakdown 1

2025 - ongoing

Paper, mushroom spawn, plastic bag, sodium hypochlorite

60 x 40 x 10 cm

Breakdown 2

Breakdown 3

Breakdown 2

2026 – ongoing

Paper, mushroom spawn, plastic bag, ethyl alcohol

60 x 40 x 10 cm

 

Breakdown 3

2026 – ongoing

Paper, mushroom spawn, plastic bag, ethyl alcohol

60 x 40 x 10 cm

White Fuzzy Colonies 1

2026

Potato dextrose agar, petri dish, absolute alcohol, parafilm

Dimensions variable

 

White Fuzzy Colonies 3

2026

Potato dextrose agar, petri dish, absolute alcohol, parafilm

Dimensions variable

White Fuzzy Colonies 1

White Fuzzy Colonies 3

White Fuzzy Colonies 4

2026

Potato dextrose broth, conical flask, aluminium foil, glycerol

Dimensions variable

The Skin 1

2026

Acrylic, mycelium skin, glycerol

20 x 15 x 3cm (each frame)

 

The Skin 3

2026

Acrylic, mycelium skin, glycerol

20 x 15 x 3cm (each frame)

 

The Skin 1

The Skin 3

Underground Networks 1

2026

Acrylic copolymer emulsion paint

4.4 x 10.5 meter

Underground Networks 2

2026

Acrylic copolymer emulsion paint

192 x 265 cm

Underground Networks 3

2026

Acrylic copolymer emulsion paint

133 x 157cm

Underground Networks 5

2026

Acrylic copolymer emulsion paint

177 x 102 cm

Underground Networks 10

Underground Networks 12

Underground Networks 10

2026

Acrylic copolymer emulsion paint

18 x 14 cm

 

Underground Networks 12

2026

Acrylic copolymer emulsion paint

28 x 25 cm

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Guided Tour

13 Sep 2026, Sunday & 10 Oct 2026, Saturday
2:30pm – 3:30pm

17 Oct 2026, Saturday 3pm
(Special session in conjunction with Open Studios Penang)

Join artist Hasanul Isyraf Idris and Dr Rosnida Tajuddin, Mycologist at the School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, for a guided tour of Fruiting Bodies.

The tour offers an opportunity to explore the ideas and processes behind the exhibition, from Hasanul’s paintings of fruiting bodies and mycelium to the tactile mycelium experimentation developed in collaboration with Dr Rosnida. Together, they will share how art and science meet through their exploration of fungi, mycelium, and the natural world.

ABOUT The Artist

Hasanul Isyraf Idris (b. 1978, Perak) is a Malaysian contemporary artist based in Penang. Trained at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), his multidisciplinary practice encompasses painting, intricate works on paper, sculpture, installation and video. His visually dense and surreal compositions combine personal memories with imagery drawn from local mythology, science fiction, comics, street culture and the natural world.

Among his most significant bodies of work are the ongoing Higher Order Love (HOL) series and Spiritual Zoo, which explore mortality, grief, spirituality, healing and the complexities of human existence through strange hybrid creatures and imagined ecosystems.

His most recent exhibition was Bintang Hijau (2026, Richard Koh Fine Art, Singapore), which marked a development towards an ecologically grounded and research-oriented approach. Inspired by the Bintang Hijau forest reserve in Selama, Perak, the works combine meticulous observation, collected natural specimens and scientific inquiry with his distinctive surreal visual language. Presented during Singapore Art Week 2026, the series reflected on environmental change, fragility and the memory of the landscape.

Recent accolades include winning the 2024 Malaysian UOB Painting of the Year Award in the Established Artist Category with his work Durio.

Website: https://rkfineart.com/artist/hasanul-isyraf-idris/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hasanulisyrafidris/

The Artist

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