Remembering Willie Valentine, Marjane Satrapi, and John Claridge
This week, we honor a champion of Southeast Asian art, the giant behind “Persepolis,” and a photographer dedicated to London’s East End.
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 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 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
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.”
Khoo Sui Hoe (1939–2026)
Artist who helped shape Malaysian modern art
One of Malaysia's most celebrated 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
The photographer is renowned 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
His paintings, 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.
