Dr. Jolly Koh was born in Singapore in 1941. He studied and lived in the U.K.,U.S. and Australia for many years. Although he had several solo exhibitions in Malaysia between 1957 and 1969, he did not exhibit in Malaysia again for almost 23 years.  Until recently, he has participated in numerous exhibitions in the USA, Australia,Thailand, Brazil and India.

Jolly Koh is considered one of the pioneers of the Malaysian modern art movement . His works have been collected by numerous local and international museums, corporations, banks and hotels – amongst them the  J.D. Rockefeller III Collection in New York, the National Art Gallery in Victoria, Australia, the Kasama Nichido Museum of Art  in Japan, Bank Negara Malaysia and The Fullerton Hotel in Singapore as well as the Kuala Lumpur Hilton.

Jolly Koh’s exploration into colour and space result in works of sublime magnificence. In his paintings, he aims to invoke a feeling of enjoyment for his viewers. “I believe a painting must be beautiful in order to be able to fulfil its function of uplifting the soul”, he said.