These dog graffiti in KL actually have a special meaning behind them

Walking around Malaysian cities nooks and crannies, one thing becomes immediately evident: the presence of graffiti. Etched from alleyways to lampposts, you can find them everywhere if you look close enough.

When you’ve seen enough of them, you’ll also notice a familiar graffiti style popping up more often than the others. A doodle of a turquoise-coloured dog.

I came upon one of these the other day and thought to myself, who actually made these? With some casual Google-ing, I learned it had a name: Chaigo which apparently is a moniker for the creator, a Sabah-born street artist named Kenji Chai who is known for pioneering the use of cute and vibrant characters in modern Malaysian graffiti.

They say that all forms of art have greater underlying meanings than they show on the surface. I felt maybe this doodle of a dog might have one. Turns out for the artist, the journey towards creating Chaigo was a particularly meaningful one.

 

Chaigo was inspired by the life of stray dogs

Although Chai began his career as a graffiti artist in 2007, the Chaigo graffiti now synonymous with him only first came about circa-2013.

According to Chai, a fateful drive down a windy highway that year brought him to the idea. While driving, he had passed the corpse of a stray dog laying along the road. It wasn’t the first stray he saw that year, but the conditions of that stray’s death struck him with overwhelming clarity.

“Somehow, relating to the stray dog ignited a sense of identity in me. I, too, had to fend for myself and learn never to rely on others,” – Kenji Chai, Creator of Chaigo

Being from a turbulent family, Chai felt he never truly belonged anywhere, just like a stray. Unlike the stray however, he believed he could decide the course of his life through hard work. Inspired by the life of strays, the Chaigo alias was finally given life.

The name “Chaigo” is actually a clever play on the Mandarin word for dog, “Go” and Chai’s surname. Also born in the year of the dog, Chai’s journey into street art brilliance seemed almost fated.

Improving on his style throughout the years, Chaigo slowly amassed a following locally and internationally, occasionally catching even the attention of corporate businesses seeking to work with him. From then on, Chai has primarily worked as a mural artist.

However, as Chai mentions, there is a distinct difference in mindset  separating “real” graffiti artists and mural-makers.

 

Mural artists technically aren’t graffiti artists

Between murals and graffiti, there are three main differences:

1. Complexity
2. Scale
3. Legality

Graffiti is defined as art done on public/private property without legal permission, usually messy and unorganized. Murals however, are projects that have been commissioned by a sponsor. This means funding and legal consent often allows artists to scale up their work in details and size, tho this isn’t an end-all-be-all rule.

A local example would be the “Kids on a Bicycle” mural in Armenian Street, George Town, Penang by Ernest Zacharevic, a Lithuanian artist who also served as an inspiration for Chai.

For most renowned graffiti artists, this is a necessary transition to make as their name is no longer kept hidden anymore, which may bring legal trouble.

Additionally, as paid works, murals go against the original concept of graffiti: to vandalize and leave a mark. Thus, graffiti artists and mural-makers don’t usually gel well together.

Although mainly active in mural-making, Chai still dabbles with his graffiti roots. Tho admittingly, he carries a perfectionist mindset now due to mural work’s attention-to-details. Fortunately, such due diligence has nabbed him the opportunity to even make national records.

 

He is a record-holder in Malaysia’s Book of Records

Back in 2018, Chai became responsible for the tallest mural in Malaysia: a 87m tall project on the wall of the RED hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Entitled ‘Courage to Dream’, the mural depicts a Dayak woman, along with native flora & fauna, and local cuisine. The project took a month with 10 hours work each day to complete.

Internationally, Chai has left his mark in over 20 countries, in cities such as New York, Beijing, India, and Tokyo. Outside of murals, he has collaborated with Tiger Beer, Swatch, Mitsubishi, UNIQLO and many others.

Locally, a prominent work of Chai’s would be the giant chicken mural on the Nando’s building in Petaling Street.

As Chaigo became a brand, life as an artist has never been more complete for Chai. Still, he claims work never really stops for him, and that may be for the better to all artists in general.

 

The lifestyle of an artist is tedious and difficult

For Chai, even his free time is dedicated to passion projects. Being able to love what he does is his most important reason for following his passions.

“When you love something, you will want to understand yourself more through it, so you will keep practicing. Of course, when you feel tired, you can rest. But you won’t really feel sick or tired of something if you truly love it.” – Kenji Chai, Creator of Chaigo

As Chai says to struggling creatives, experience is what matters. Hard work and persistence needs to be practiced often, but one should never give up when confronted with failure.

Take risks and express your deepest self, because that’s when true art emerges. But hey, art is subjective isn’t it? You just gotta believe in your worth, because your worth is how much your art is worth.

Looking for more artistic inspiration? Follow along on Kenji Chai’s official Instagram to keep up with his latest works. Oh, also keep an eye out when you’re in KL and PJ.

Who knows, maybe you’ll spot a Chaigo that appeared overnight 😉