> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Remembering Willie Valentine, Marjane Satrapi, and John Claridge - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/remembering-willie-valentine-marjane-satrapi-and-john-claridge/ - Published: 2026-06-10T16:59:46.000Z - Updated: 2026-06-10T16:59:46.000Z - Description: This week, we honor a champion of Southeast Asian art, the giant behind “Persepolis,” and a photographer dedicated to London’s East End. - Author: Lisa Yin Zhang - Tags: In Memoriam, Community, Obituary [*In Memoriam*](https://hyperallergic.com/tag/in-memoriam/) *is published every Wednesday afternoon and honors those we recently lost in the art world.* --- **Valentine Willie** (1954–2026) *Champion of Southeast Asian art* In 1996, he [founded](https://globalnation.inquirer.net/326888/valentine-willie-champion-of-sea-art-dies-at-71?ref=hyperallergic.com) Valentine Willie Fine Art, a gallery and consultancy dedicated to Southeast Asian modern art, establishing presences in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines, and helping shape the region's art market and broaden international awareness. He helped organize *Faith + The City* (2000–2002), a survey of around 40 Filipino artists that traveled to major institutions in the region, widely considered one of the first major international presentations of Filipino art. “We are not an island," he told an [interviewer](https://medium.com/@kate%5Fmayberry/valentine-willie-finds-inspiration-in-museums-5b90b7a53128?ref=hyperallergic.com) in 2015\. "We need to look at our neighbours and understand our neighbours. We need to look at ourselves through other mirrors and perspectives.” --- **Marjane Satrapi** (1969–2026) *Iranian-French artist and graphic novelist* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/image-23.png) Marjane Satrapi during a portrait session at the 7th Rome Film Festival on November 16, 2012, in Rome, Italy. (photo Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images) The Iran-born, France-based artist drew upon personal experiences of exile, war, displacement, and violence for her masterpiece, the 2000 graphic novel *Persepolis* (2000). That work was adapted into an Oscar-nominated animated feature film in 2007, and she went on to direct films like *The Voices* (2014) and *Dear Paris* (2024). She famously declined the Legion d’Honneur, France's highest state honor, in protest of its dealings with Iran, writing: “I can’t ignore what I see as a hypocritical attitude towards Iran, which forged the other part of my identity.” [*Read the obituary*](https://hyperallergic.com/marjane-satrapi-persepolis-author-and-human-rights-fighter-dies-at-56/) --- **Khoo Sui Hoe** (1939–2026) *Artist who helped shape Malaysian modern art* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/image-24.png) Khoo Sui Ho (left) in 2012 (photo Joey Lim via [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10151137075378793&set=o.84801204512), screenshot Lisa Yin Zhang/**Hyperallergic*) One of Malaysia's [most celebrated](https://g13gallery.com/artists/khoo-sui-hoe/?ref=hyperallergic.com#profile) artists, Khoo's surrealistic and expressionist style merges landscape and abstraction, often incorporating mask-like faces and natural formations. He held more than 50 solo exhibitions across the United States, Southeast Asia, and China in his lifetime, and his work is held in collections like the Singapore Art Museum, the National Art Gallery of Malaysia, and the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia. --- **John Claridge** (1944–2026) *British photographer and author* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/image-22.png) Portrait of John Claridge in 2017 (photo Louisa Gonzales via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait%5Fof%5FJohn%5FClaridge%5FPhotographer%5F2017.jpg?ref=hyperallergic.com), [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=hyperallergic.com)) The photographer is [renowned](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2026/jun/09/john-claridge-obituary?ref=hyperallergic.com) for his intimate black and white portrayals of the East End neighborhood of London, where he lived, many of which were gathered in a 2016 monograph — one of approximately 50 books he published. His works are held in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum and National Portrait Gallery in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and more. --- **Saâd Hassani** (1948–2026) *Moroccan painter* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/06/Untitled-3.jpg) Saâd Hassani (photo @houseofbeauart via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DDxOvZjvqbm/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==), screenshot Lisa Yin Zhang/**Hyperallergic*) His [paintings](https://www.loftartgallery.net/en/exhibitions/10-hassani-saad-hassani/overview/?ref=hyperallergic.com), made with colorful layers of addition and erasure, were influenced by Art Brut, the School of Paris, and Abstract Expressionism, and he was linked to the postcolonial experimental art group the Casablanca School. His work is held in major collections and beyond, such as the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat.