I have been dutifully voting for Robert Zhao. Don't forget to vote.
Here.
Merry Christmas!
Interesting exhibitions which we attend. Mainly paintings but everything Art in Singapore with hot collector tips.
Wednesday, 24 December 2014
Monday, 22 December 2014
My Story V - A Symbolist's Witness - Wong Shih Yaw
This exhibition runs from 19th December to 28th December 2014 at Ion Art Gallery and is organised by Utterly Art.
This is the 5th edition of the story series. These works are similar to the earlier two series. The concept of the works was a bit too simplistic and I felt that he justified the addition of the different elements to the paintings by attributing meanings to them and that the overall elements didn't quite gel together.
Having said that six of the nine paintings on display had been sold already. I think this was mainly because of his price point as he is selling at half the price of the well established Singaporean artists of his age. Further, on first impression the paintings lead to an initial burst of interest, but on further contemplation, the works are sort of a novelty and one would get bored with them after a while.
However, the value of art can depend more on the artist than the art work. Interesting article from artnet. Meaning a historically significant artist's worst work will always be more valued than the best work of a insignificant artist, even if the work is deemed technically better than the former's worst work. How would this be relevant? Well, when someone decides to write the history of Singapore's contemporary art, The Artist Village will come up and those artists will be given recognition. Currently, Tang Da Wu is highly recognised as he is the founder or The Artist Village. Wong Shih Yaw is one of the artists associated with The Artist Village - see this postcolonial website article and The Artist Village 20 year on (PDF). So Wong Shih Yaw, along with Tang Da Wu, Hazel McIntosh, Tang Da Hon, Amanda Heng, Lim Poh Teck, Baet Yeok Kuan, Tang Mun Kit and Vincent Leow, were part of The Artist Village's first show. And the Singapore Art Museum / Art Gods have recognised him and have already acquired 24 of his works. You can check them out here at SgCool. So only time will tell if the historical significance of the artist becomes more important than the art.
Points for collectors: You decide after giving thought to the above. But currently I will give it a miss, as in my lifetime, the value won't rise yet. Like the Artnet article, it uses a timeline of 100 years. So in the meantime, I would like something prettier and technically better on my walls.
This is the 5th edition of the story series. These works are similar to the earlier two series. The concept of the works was a bit too simplistic and I felt that he justified the addition of the different elements to the paintings by attributing meanings to them and that the overall elements didn't quite gel together.
Having said that six of the nine paintings on display had been sold already. I think this was mainly because of his price point as he is selling at half the price of the well established Singaporean artists of his age. Further, on first impression the paintings lead to an initial burst of interest, but on further contemplation, the works are sort of a novelty and one would get bored with them after a while.
However, the value of art can depend more on the artist than the art work. Interesting article from artnet. Meaning a historically significant artist's worst work will always be more valued than the best work of a insignificant artist, even if the work is deemed technically better than the former's worst work. How would this be relevant? Well, when someone decides to write the history of Singapore's contemporary art, The Artist Village will come up and those artists will be given recognition. Currently, Tang Da Wu is highly recognised as he is the founder or The Artist Village. Wong Shih Yaw is one of the artists associated with The Artist Village - see this postcolonial website article and The Artist Village 20 year on (PDF). So Wong Shih Yaw, along with Tang Da Wu, Hazel McIntosh, Tang Da Hon, Amanda Heng, Lim Poh Teck, Baet Yeok Kuan, Tang Mun Kit and Vincent Leow, were part of The Artist Village's first show. And the Singapore Art Museum / Art Gods have recognised him and have already acquired 24 of his works. You can check them out here at SgCool. So only time will tell if the historical significance of the artist becomes more important than the art.
Points for collectors: You decide after giving thought to the above. But currently I will give it a miss, as in my lifetime, the value won't rise yet. Like the Artnet article, it uses a timeline of 100 years. So in the meantime, I would like something prettier and technically better on my walls.
Thursday, 11 December 2014
Signature Art Prize - Singapore Art Museum
This competition is held at the Singapore Art Museum and runs from 15th November 2014 to 21st January 2015.
Press Release to read more. SAM website on Signature Art Prize.
3 Prizes on offer, Grand Prize, Juror's Choice and People's choice award.
No paintings here, but it's not unexpected as most Contemporary Museums are shifting away from paintings and it (painters) gets enough support from the private sector galleries.
Anyway, my top choice is Robert Zhao Renhui's Eskimo wolf trap often quoted in sermons. So please VOTE (for him) and you can vote daily! I'm doing it and so can you! Go Robbie! Best work in this show. I feel he is improving and going into other media and not submitting photographs. This work has much impact and is very visually impactful and pleasing. Also like the way he serrated the knife on the top side of the blade making it look like a red feather in the snow. However, he needs to make his works conceptually more complex and deeper. When (not if) he achieves it, he will be one of the best (if not the best) fine art photographer in Singapore. So please vote!
Other notable mentions.
Golden Teardrop - Arin Runjang
Story of a city - Farida Batool
Custos Cavum - Choe U-Ram
Done the most disservice by the installation of the work:
Letters from a distance - Peng Wei. This work was an installation of a big scroll against the wall, two shelves of works and on the floor on a platform of more works. Because the works have to share space with Farida Batool's long lenticular print work, it is only given two adjoining walls of the room. And the length-wise wall accommodates a corridor opening,thus because of this ,the installation was too stretched out and lost it's impact (go see it and you'll know what i mean).I know the curators have to work within the space given, but seeing how much space other artists are given, like SAM's favourite son Ho Tzu Nyen, who got a giant gallery to himself. (the entire gallery in the Waterloo Wing, level 2). Life is never fair.
So Vote for Robert Zhao!
Points for Collectors: Robert Zhao's is a good artist/photographer. Buy rating if you come across his works. Ho Tzu Nyen, as long as the current SAM curators are around, he will be given air time. Being collected by a museum perceptually adds weight to the artist prestige.
Press Release to read more. SAM website on Signature Art Prize.
3 Prizes on offer, Grand Prize, Juror's Choice and People's choice award.
No paintings here, but it's not unexpected as most Contemporary Museums are shifting away from paintings and it (painters) gets enough support from the private sector galleries.
Anyway, my top choice is Robert Zhao Renhui's Eskimo wolf trap often quoted in sermons. So please VOTE (for him) and you can vote daily! I'm doing it and so can you! Go Robbie! Best work in this show. I feel he is improving and going into other media and not submitting photographs. This work has much impact and is very visually impactful and pleasing. Also like the way he serrated the knife on the top side of the blade making it look like a red feather in the snow. However, he needs to make his works conceptually more complex and deeper. When (not if) he achieves it, he will be one of the best (if not the best) fine art photographer in Singapore. So please vote!
Other notable mentions.
Golden Teardrop - Arin Runjang
Story of a city - Farida Batool
Custos Cavum - Choe U-Ram
Done the most disservice by the installation of the work:
Letters from a distance - Peng Wei. This work was an installation of a big scroll against the wall, two shelves of works and on the floor on a platform of more works. Because the works have to share space with Farida Batool's long lenticular print work, it is only given two adjoining walls of the room. And the length-wise wall accommodates a corridor opening,thus because of this ,the installation was too stretched out and lost it's impact (go see it and you'll know what i mean).I know the curators have to work within the space given, but seeing how much space other artists are given, like SAM's favourite son Ho Tzu Nyen, who got a giant gallery to himself. (the entire gallery in the Waterloo Wing, level 2). Life is never fair.
So Vote for Robert Zhao!
Points for Collectors: Robert Zhao's is a good artist/photographer. Buy rating if you come across his works. Ho Tzu Nyen, as long as the current SAM curators are around, he will be given air time. Being collected by a museum perceptually adds weight to the artist prestige.
Monday, 8 December 2014
Spoonful of Sugar - Denise Jillian Tan
This exhibition is held at Artspace222 by Artesan Gallery. It runs from 3rd December to 16th December 2014.
The show is titled after the Mary Poppins song of the same name. So you should be able to guess that the paintings are based on Fantasy and Fairy tale. She presented two kinds of works here. The larger ones were allegorical paintings with much symbolism and references that makes the viewer stop and think, and take a second look beyond the lovely landscape that seems to come straight from a fairy tale. And in these paintings is the little girl again. The artist often includes a little girl as the protagonist in her works. The little girl in these paintings appeared innocent (Chapter 5: The Day We Learnt to Read), at times slightly sinister (especially in Chapter 52: Breaking Promises), and in Rotten Meat, looked serene despite the carcasses next to her. It makes the viewer wonder if there's a narrative stringing the paintings together, or some kind of back story that's known only to the artist and which we will never have access to.
The other type of works are smaller studies, capturing the protagonists in different poses and with different expressions.These were small format but were able to convey the mood. In fact, one of these small-format paintings, simply titled Studies 2, was probably one of the best pieces in the whole exhibition. Rotten Meat was the largest painting of the show and his most likely the best piece of the exhibition.
Denise has definitely improved in leaps and bounds when you compare these works with her first show and the works shown at Found at MOCA last year. She is young and can only improve. So we hope Roberta Dans of Artesan points her in the right direction.
She is definitely one to watch. Very refreshing to find a good young figurative/representational painter. She also has a wide knowledge and understanding of subjects and can draw from her database of references to produce these allegorical works. And as she matures, I am sure her paintings will only get deeper and more complex, both conceptually and perceptually.
Points for Collectors: Strong Buy. Artesan has moved out of Raffles Hotel and is now doing pop ups. So their costs are contained. Hence, the prices are still very reasonable. When I left the exhibition, I noted that quite a few were sold, including the biggest work Rotten Meat and Studies 2.
The show is titled after the Mary Poppins song of the same name. So you should be able to guess that the paintings are based on Fantasy and Fairy tale. She presented two kinds of works here. The larger ones were allegorical paintings with much symbolism and references that makes the viewer stop and think, and take a second look beyond the lovely landscape that seems to come straight from a fairy tale. And in these paintings is the little girl again. The artist often includes a little girl as the protagonist in her works. The little girl in these paintings appeared innocent (Chapter 5: The Day We Learnt to Read), at times slightly sinister (especially in Chapter 52: Breaking Promises), and in Rotten Meat, looked serene despite the carcasses next to her. It makes the viewer wonder if there's a narrative stringing the paintings together, or some kind of back story that's known only to the artist and which we will never have access to.
The other type of works are smaller studies, capturing the protagonists in different poses and with different expressions.These were small format but were able to convey the mood. In fact, one of these small-format paintings, simply titled Studies 2, was probably one of the best pieces in the whole exhibition. Rotten Meat was the largest painting of the show and his most likely the best piece of the exhibition.
Denise has definitely improved in leaps and bounds when you compare these works with her first show and the works shown at Found at MOCA last year. She is young and can only improve. So we hope Roberta Dans of Artesan points her in the right direction.
She is definitely one to watch. Very refreshing to find a good young figurative/representational painter. She also has a wide knowledge and understanding of subjects and can draw from her database of references to produce these allegorical works. And as she matures, I am sure her paintings will only get deeper and more complex, both conceptually and perceptually.
Rotten Meat
The smaller works, Studies 2 the right most.
Hanging (L), Unwanted Plants (R),
Points for Collectors: Strong Buy. Artesan has moved out of Raffles Hotel and is now doing pop ups. So their costs are contained. Hence, the prices are still very reasonable. When I left the exhibition, I noted that quite a few were sold, including the biggest work Rotten Meat and Studies 2.
Saturday, 22 November 2014
Parabola - Genevieve Chua
This exhibition is held from 21st November 2014 to 21st December 2014 at Tomio Koyama Gallery at Gillman Barracks.
Gillman website release, Tomio Koyama release.
Genevieve Chua showed works from her Tillandsia Usneoides, Swivels and Parabola series. But the highlight of the show is Parabola #1.
Not talking much about her body of work as it's well written up and various of her earlier works have been shown at the museums.
One word : Excellent! (bet you said it in your mind in like Mr Burns)
Points for collectors: Definite buy. In fact I would buy the Parabola#1 if it hasn't been sold already. But it doesn't quite fit into our collection criteria, so Pizza Queen drags me away unwillingly.
Gillman website release, Tomio Koyama release.
Genevieve Chua showed works from her Tillandsia Usneoides, Swivels and Parabola series. But the highlight of the show is Parabola #1.
Not talking much about her body of work as it's well written up and various of her earlier works have been shown at the museums.
One word : Excellent! (bet you said it in your mind in like Mr Burns)
Picture from Tomio Koyama FB page, the artist in front of Parabola#1 and flanked by 2 prominent art collectors.
Points for collectors: Definite buy. In fact I would buy the Parabola#1 if it hasn't been sold already. But it doesn't quite fit into our collection criteria, so Pizza Queen drags me away unwillingly.
Just Beyond - Art Fellas
This exhibition was held last weekend 14th to 17th November 2014 by the The Art Fellas gallery at the Ion art space.
The three artists featured were Danya Yu, Tew Bee Lan and Yen Phang.
Tew Bee Lan is a abstract artist, the main works presented were the poured coloured and mixing it about. Interesting but nothing innovative. Ok I guess.
Yen Phang was more interesting working with gel and paint to create an installation of small tiles which are sold individually. He did some 'negative' paintings of a medical subjects and some coloured abstract pieces. More interesting.
Danya Yu, I have mentioned before in a few posts earlier. Much better works here than the ones she presented at Fresh Air Fine Art. She had a new pilgrim series and Paris series which were good.
Points for collectors: The works were priced very reasonably at the exhibition. Yen Phang and Tew Bee Lan; not a buy yet for serious collectors but nice pieces at a good price point. Danya Yu is evolving, the Pilgrim Pieces and the Paris pieces are a buy. Art Fellas is a new gallery less than a year old. But the man behind the company has a good business sense, hope he's not only in this for the money (art boom or bubble in Sg now) and develops a good program for the young artist who are paid a stipend by him.
The three artists featured were Danya Yu, Tew Bee Lan and Yen Phang.
Tew Bee Lan is a abstract artist, the main works presented were the poured coloured and mixing it about. Interesting but nothing innovative. Ok I guess.
From Art Fellas FB page
Yen Phang was more interesting working with gel and paint to create an installation of small tiles which are sold individually. He did some 'negative' paintings of a medical subjects and some coloured abstract pieces. More interesting.
From Art Fellas FB page
From Art Fellas FB page
Points for collectors: The works were priced very reasonably at the exhibition. Yen Phang and Tew Bee Lan; not a buy yet for serious collectors but nice pieces at a good price point. Danya Yu is evolving, the Pilgrim Pieces and the Paris pieces are a buy. Art Fellas is a new gallery less than a year old. But the man behind the company has a good business sense, hope he's not only in this for the money (art boom or bubble in Sg now) and develops a good program for the young artist who are paid a stipend by him.
Sunday, 16 November 2014
Instinc 10 - The Great Collaboration.
The culmination of the past weeks of collaboration between the 10 artists starts with the presentation of a sneak preview of their works.
Why it is a sneak preview is because on show are the 5 different pairs of artist's typical works. But the collaborative works are only 30x30cm small pieces and each pair only shows 5 of these small squares.
Must say the end result is interesting, especially if you are familiar with the artists' works.
They will be at AAF booth 3D-25, showing the larger format and juicier works. So don't think you will be able to catch this opening cause it's for 2 days only. But do catch them at the Affordable Art Fair.
Points for Collectors: This is a collaboration for 'Art's Sake' , producing nice works. Where the works are the objects and the beauty is in the object and the expression of the beauty of the collaboration and of Instinc's past 10 fruitful years. Definitely nice pieces will be produced by these talented artists, but not sure where this will sit in the history of art.
Why it is a sneak preview is because on show are the 5 different pairs of artist's typical works. But the collaborative works are only 30x30cm small pieces and each pair only shows 5 of these small squares.
Must say the end result is interesting, especially if you are familiar with the artists' works.
They will be at AAF booth 3D-25, showing the larger format and juicier works. So don't think you will be able to catch this opening cause it's for 2 days only. But do catch them at the Affordable Art Fair.
Saturday, 15 November 2014
Fresh Air Fine Art Festival
This exhibition is held at the Luxe Art Museum from the 15th to the 21st.
It's a festival of Music and Visual art. You can check out the details at their website.
It features various artists.
Summary of the artists/works that interested me:
Valerie Ng: she showed her usual abstract paintings, some recent, some older. But she really had this excellent new body of work where she painted old linen and canvas (of various sizes and shapes) and sewed them together, so from far it looks like a geometric assembly of visual field works. But up close it's obviously patch work. But it melded very well together. An excellent piece.
Raymond Yap: He did more of his signature texture gloss paint. There were two older pieces (2009) which I consider misses. However he has shown progession with the two newer large circular pieces called Unexplored Galaxies. The new work has the typical textured ridges, spots of paint and covered with a resin (macam Alan Oei) to give a glossy appearance. Very good piece of work.
Danya Yu: some paintings of Singapore. Some pieces of her riparian series. Think her back alley series is better. With this series the paintings are of a darker hue and reminds me of modernist paintings. A step backward? But she used this to good effect with one of the European Architecture paintings (displayed with Art Fellas). The modernist style works well with that obviously. But Danya is a great artist, and just needs to meet a good curator/collector or gallerist to give her a nudge in the correct direction.
Stefanie Hauger:
She showed a couple of her mandala pieces, i.e. the same style that won her UOB painting of the year last year. Nice looking pieces. But the other two, one a ' textured' visual field piece and the other one a swirly, 'rain drops on water' type of painting. Both are misses I feel.
It's a festival of Music and Visual art. You can check out the details at their website.
It features various artists.
Summary of the artists/works that interested me:
Valerie Ng: she showed her usual abstract paintings, some recent, some older. But she really had this excellent new body of work where she painted old linen and canvas (of various sizes and shapes) and sewed them together, so from far it looks like a geometric assembly of visual field works. But up close it's obviously patch work. But it melded very well together. An excellent piece.
Raymond Yap: He did more of his signature texture gloss paint. There were two older pieces (2009) which I consider misses. However he has shown progession with the two newer large circular pieces called Unexplored Galaxies. The new work has the typical textured ridges, spots of paint and covered with a resin (macam Alan Oei) to give a glossy appearance. Very good piece of work.
Danya Yu: some paintings of Singapore. Some pieces of her riparian series. Think her back alley series is better. With this series the paintings are of a darker hue and reminds me of modernist paintings. A step backward? But she used this to good effect with one of the European Architecture paintings (displayed with Art Fellas). The modernist style works well with that obviously. But Danya is a great artist, and just needs to meet a good curator/collector or gallerist to give her a nudge in the correct direction.
Stefanie Hauger:
She showed a couple of her mandala pieces, i.e. the same style that won her UOB painting of the year last year. Nice looking pieces. But the other two, one a ' textured' visual field piece and the other one a swirly, 'rain drops on water' type of painting. Both are misses I feel.
Valerie Ng
Danya Yu
Stefanie Hauger
Points for collectors: Val Ng is a buy and her pieces are ok. Raymond Yap's Galaxy piece was very good but overpriced, even more expensive than an Ian Woo piece if you go by square feet. That's the unique thing about the art market in Singapore. There are very few full time artists, most have other jobs in the art eco-system in Singapore,s o they don't need to sell art to survive and can price things according to their whims and fancy. This is an interesting topic that an academic should write about to understand art in Singapore. Stefanie Hauger's Mandala pieces are reasonably priced. Danya Yu is an artist to watch, but would give these pieces a miss for now.
Tuesday, 11 November 2014
More stuff in November
1. FOST Gallery is having a group show which opens this Friday 14th of November 2014. It's also late night at Gillman Barracks this friday.
The show is called Echoes of Anticipation featuring, Chun Kai Feng, Ang Song Ming, Heman Chong, Ang Soo Koon, Jimmy Ong, RSCLS, Grace Tan, Izziyana Suhaimi, Ashley Yeo, Luke Heng, Khairullah Rahim and Tan Wyn Lyn.
From the website, it looks like works that have been shown before. So will have to pick and choose between the Fresh Air Fine Arts Festival which opens on the same day.
Qn: Is it easier to park at Cathay,on Friday night which also happens to be the last day of the school term or at Gillman Barracks on a "Late Night at Gillman" evening with the SABF going on?
2. Ipreciation is also having a show for these three weeks called "Portable Fine Art", which is a departure from their usual large format paintings. They seldom have medium sized paintings (which are good for most Singapore homes). So you can guess their target audience. Anyway back to the point, the show is about showing small format works of their artists and the price of the objects are under $10000. Getting into the AAF mood? Anyway I will try to check it out and let you know.
Later.
The show is called Echoes of Anticipation featuring, Chun Kai Feng, Ang Song Ming, Heman Chong, Ang Soo Koon, Jimmy Ong, RSCLS, Grace Tan, Izziyana Suhaimi, Ashley Yeo, Luke Heng, Khairullah Rahim and Tan Wyn Lyn.
From the website, it looks like works that have been shown before. So will have to pick and choose between the Fresh Air Fine Arts Festival which opens on the same day.
Qn: Is it easier to park at Cathay,on Friday night which also happens to be the last day of the school term or at Gillman Barracks on a "Late Night at Gillman" evening with the SABF going on?
2. Ipreciation is also having a show for these three weeks called "Portable Fine Art", which is a departure from their usual large format paintings. They seldom have medium sized paintings (which are good for most Singapore homes). So you can guess their target audience. Anyway back to the point, the show is about showing small format works of their artists and the price of the objects are under $10000. Getting into the AAF mood? Anyway I will try to check it out and let you know.
Later.
Friday, 7 November 2014
Three more things to look for in November
In addition to the exhibitions and fairs mentioned in this POST.
3 things to add.
1. Fresh Air Fine Arts Festival (organised by BrownHill consultancy) from 15th-21st November 2014 at the Luxe Art Museum. Amongst the artist featured are Danya Yu, Lawrence Liu, Raymond Yap, Valerie Ng and Stephanie Hauger.
2.Bank Art Fair Singapore from 20th to 23rd November 2014 at Pan Pacific Hotel. Done a la Art Apart style, i.e. paintings in rooms. Intentionally marked for that period to coincide with Affordable Art Fair, as the hotel is just a walk away from the F1 Pit Building.
3. Instinc Art's 10th Anniversary, 'Celebrating a decade of art and collaboration'. The art exhibition's opening and artist talk will be held at Studio67 Art Space on 15th November 2014. They will also have a booth at AAF 3D-25.
One more...
Not exactly an art exhibition, but we have the Singapore Art Book Fair happening at the Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore at Gillman Barracks from the 13th to 16th November 2014. I love to curl up with a good book about art while sipping on my mug of hot chocolate; so I hope to get some interesting books there.
3 things to add.
1. Fresh Air Fine Arts Festival (organised by BrownHill consultancy) from 15th-21st November 2014 at the Luxe Art Museum. Amongst the artist featured are Danya Yu, Lawrence Liu, Raymond Yap, Valerie Ng and Stephanie Hauger.
2.Bank Art Fair Singapore from 20th to 23rd November 2014 at Pan Pacific Hotel. Done a la Art Apart style, i.e. paintings in rooms. Intentionally marked for that period to coincide with Affordable Art Fair, as the hotel is just a walk away from the F1 Pit Building.
3. Instinc Art's 10th Anniversary, 'Celebrating a decade of art and collaboration'. The art exhibition's opening and artist talk will be held at Studio67 Art Space on 15th November 2014. They will also have a booth at AAF 3D-25.
One more...
Not exactly an art exhibition, but we have the Singapore Art Book Fair happening at the Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore at Gillman Barracks from the 13th to 16th November 2014. I love to curl up with a good book about art while sipping on my mug of hot chocolate; so I hope to get some interesting books there.
Thursday, 6 November 2014
Southeast Asia and Diaspora: Breaking and Reconstructing the Circle
This exhibition is organised by OneEast Asia, based in Singapore, but held in London at Gallery Art 8 with help from Asian Art in London, it runs from the 28th of October to 8th of November 2014.
Didn't go to this exhibition;was too far away. But from the from the facebook pictures of the event, you see Jeffrey Say of Lasalle (art history), Cheah Ui-hoon of Business Times and more attending this event. Just really happy to see Singaporean works exhibited overseas and that they are well supported too.
Think this is the third time One East Asia is showing Singapore and SEA art in London. The artists this time are:
Anida Yoeu Ali (Cambodia)
Anchalee Araypongpanit, Prapat Jiwarangsan (Thailand)
Andres Barrioquinto, Mark Lewis Higgins, Renato Orara, Mark Valenzuela (Philippines)
John Clang, Jane Lee (Singapore)
Grogorius Sidharta Soegijo (Indonesia)
Sherman Ong (Malaysia/Singapore)
Loredana Pazzini-Paracciani (Co-curator)
Report from SEAArtsFest.org
Being a blog on paintings, the works that obviously interests us would be that of Jane Lee's. She had two paintings which are called Sacred I and Sacred II. Awesome Jane Lee works. John CLAng photos were interesting too.
Didn't go to this exhibition;was too far away. But from the from the facebook pictures of the event, you see Jeffrey Say of Lasalle (art history), Cheah Ui-hoon of Business Times and more attending this event. Just really happy to see Singaporean works exhibited overseas and that they are well supported too.
Think this is the third time One East Asia is showing Singapore and SEA art in London. The artists this time are:
Anida Yoeu Ali (Cambodia)
Anchalee Araypongpanit, Prapat Jiwarangsan (Thailand)
Andres Barrioquinto, Mark Lewis Higgins, Renato Orara, Mark Valenzuela (Philippines)
John Clang, Jane Lee (Singapore)
Grogorius Sidharta Soegijo (Indonesia)
Sherman Ong (Malaysia/Singapore)
Loredana Pazzini-Paracciani (Co-curator)
Report from SEAArtsFest.org
Being a blog on paintings, the works that obviously interests us would be that of Jane Lee's. She had two paintings which are called Sacred I and Sacred II. Awesome Jane Lee works. John CLAng photos were interesting too.
Picture from OneEastAsia FB page, Jane Lee Sacred I (L) and II (R)
Picture from OneEastAsia FB page
Picture from OneEastAsia FB page
Points for Collectors: Always good to buy a Jane Lee or two if you can. Seems like I am stating the obvious. As for John CLAng's works, they are a buy rating too, if you are into photography.
Art Paris 2015
Though this is not in Singapore but in Paris in the Spring from 26th to 29th March 2015, but still relevant. Press release in art agenda's site.
For Art Paris, the focus is on Russian, Middle East and Asian art so as to set it apart for FIAC. The last two editions, the 'Guest of honor' ie pavillion countries were Russia and China. So for next year, the GoH is Singapore, along with other SEA countries if they still have the space I guess.
Think this is in conjunction with SG50 also, so with National Arts Council's funding and the local galleries, we will be able to see a good gathering of the best contemporary artist in Singapore. And it would be lovely to see it in a commercial setting rather then in a museum, biennale or academic setting with too much involvement of the art Gods in Singapore as to who is presented. I still feel that the commercial galleries and the commercial side of things are mainly responsible for making the wheels of the art world turn.(Coline Milliard's article on Artnet -"What make's an art capital?" is a good read.)
So try to plan your holidays about it. Pity it's on the weekend after the March school holidays, otherwise it would be perfect for people with school going kids if it were a week earlier.
Not much news from Art Paris yet, as I believe the application for exhibitors only close in Dec 2014.
So keep it on your calendar and pop over if you're in Paris for the spring.
For Art Paris, the focus is on Russian, Middle East and Asian art so as to set it apart for FIAC. The last two editions, the 'Guest of honor' ie pavillion countries were Russia and China. So for next year, the GoH is Singapore, along with other SEA countries if they still have the space I guess.
Think this is in conjunction with SG50 also, so with National Arts Council's funding and the local galleries, we will be able to see a good gathering of the best contemporary artist in Singapore. And it would be lovely to see it in a commercial setting rather then in a museum, biennale or academic setting with too much involvement of the art Gods in Singapore as to who is presented. I still feel that the commercial galleries and the commercial side of things are mainly responsible for making the wheels of the art world turn.(Coline Milliard's article on Artnet -"What make's an art capital?" is a good read.)
So try to plan your holidays about it. Pity it's on the weekend after the March school holidays, otherwise it would be perfect for people with school going kids if it were a week earlier.
Not much news from Art Paris yet, as I believe the application for exhibitors only close in Dec 2014.
So keep it on your calendar and pop over if you're in Paris for the spring.
Saturday, 25 October 2014
Good exhibitions to catch this week
Hi all, been busy so not much time to update the blog. Just a few words.
Exhibitions you should catch:
Mizuma gallery:
Hisahi Tenmyouya and Indieguerillas.
All the works are top notched.
Space cottonseed gallery:
Weaving viewpoints.
Check out Seungha Lee's work. The curator artist of the exhibition.
Milan image art and design fair:
First time in sg featuring mainly photographs. Multitude of photographs to whet your appetite.
So catch these if you can.
Things to watch in November.
ChanHampe Galleries going to show young Nafa grads.
ICAS going to show the MFA candidates.
Singapore Art Fair.
Affordable art fair.
Tomio Koyama showing Genevieve Chua.
Later folks.
Exhibitions you should catch:
Mizuma gallery:
Hisahi Tenmyouya and Indieguerillas.
All the works are top notched.
Space cottonseed gallery:
Weaving viewpoints.
Check out Seungha Lee's work. The curator artist of the exhibition.
Milan image art and design fair:
First time in sg featuring mainly photographs. Multitude of photographs to whet your appetite.
So catch these if you can.
Things to watch in November.
ChanHampe Galleries going to show young Nafa grads.
ICAS going to show the MFA candidates.
Singapore Art Fair.
Affordable art fair.
Tomio Koyama showing Genevieve Chua.
Later folks.
Sunday, 14 September 2014
Woven Walls - Zero, Tr853-1, Antz and ClogTwo
This exhibition runs from 12th September to 26th October 2014 at Fost Gallery over at Gillman Barracks.
Stephanie Fong from FOST is at the forefront of art again. Taking a risk to do an urban art show in a Fine Art Gallery.Some may not think of it as being such a risk, as street art is now more mainstream with Banksy and 'main street' accepting street art, i.e. companies are commissioning street art and assigning places for such art. However, buying Banksy is buying a brand, much like Damien Hirst, and street art is more accepted in the streets as illustrative art rather then fine art. (it's just me being biased... there are also other good street/urban artist like Keith Haring, Adam Neate....)
Zero showed his works of body parts painted in a jarring colour palette with words etched in to lend meaning to his pieces. Not really impressed with this set.I think he has shown some of these works before. He was the recipient of the National Arts Council young artist award last year, he also has a BFA from LaSalle and I think lectures there part time. So maybe can watch him, because the local art godfathers think well of him.
Antz showed two pieces; interesting and good street art. Good. But not great yet.
Tr853-1 another well-heard-of street artist who is adequately qualified. (Does a street artist really need a BFA?) Seen his works previously with Utterly Art and also presented at Affordable Art Fair. Nice works, but reminds me too much of Banksy works. Also I felt that his works are a bit simple and not sophisticated enough. That's the problem if Street Art creeps into Fine Art; how to read it? Good fine art should be mature and sophisticated without being too juvenile or simple in delivery of message (but the execution of the work can be simple).
Saving the best for last. ClogTwo. Relatively unknown in the Fine Art Gallery circle. But he has been very active in the urban art and street art scene. He has had multiple commissions to do his street art and has had overseas exposure in the USA and Indonesia. Doesn't have a BFA but graduated from polytechnic with a diploma in Interactive Media Design. (But as said earlier, does he really need a BFA? Unless he wants to go down the Fine Art Route.) He showed 5 paintings of quotes and a triptych called Goldrush. The quotes and Goldrush were really nice and representative of Street Art. The paints done also showed his skill as a painter. If ClogTwo decided to go down the Fine Art/Street Art route, he will do very very well. Really good artist.You should check out his site to see what else he does.Check out this digital illustration of his.
Points for Collectors: ClogTwo - Definite Buy. It's a risk if you are collecting for monetary investment. But with support and he decides to go the Fine Art Route, you will reap your rewards many times over. Some collectors have taken the plunge already and I think a few pieces have been sold (the show only opened two days ago). Tr853-1 I think you have to watch and wait as he develops. Zero can skip this current body of work, but see what he does as the Art Gods in Sg have anointed him.
Stephanie Fong from FOST is at the forefront of art again. Taking a risk to do an urban art show in a Fine Art Gallery.Some may not think of it as being such a risk, as street art is now more mainstream with Banksy and 'main street' accepting street art, i.e. companies are commissioning street art and assigning places for such art. However, buying Banksy is buying a brand, much like Damien Hirst, and street art is more accepted in the streets as illustrative art rather then fine art. (it's just me being biased... there are also other good street/urban artist like Keith Haring, Adam Neate....)
Zero showed his works of body parts painted in a jarring colour palette with words etched in to lend meaning to his pieces. Not really impressed with this set.I think he has shown some of these works before. He was the recipient of the National Arts Council young artist award last year, he also has a BFA from LaSalle and I think lectures there part time. So maybe can watch him, because the local art godfathers think well of him.
Antz showed two pieces; interesting and good street art. Good. But not great yet.
TR853-1's MerlionN95
ClogTwo's GoldRush
Points for Collectors: ClogTwo - Definite Buy. It's a risk if you are collecting for monetary investment. But with support and he decides to go the Fine Art Route, you will reap your rewards many times over. Some collectors have taken the plunge already and I think a few pieces have been sold (the show only opened two days ago). Tr853-1 I think you have to watch and wait as he develops. Zero can skip this current body of work, but see what he does as the Art Gods in Sg have anointed him.
ClogTwo's paintings of quotes
Tuesday, 9 September 2014
Vivd Strata : New Representation of Asia II
This exhibition is held at Ota Fine Arts at Gillman Barracks from 22nd August to 11th October 2014.
This is a group show of 7 artists. Yayoi Kusama, Jia Aili, Firoz Mahmud, Qin Qi, Nobuaki Takekawa, Baek Jin Sook and Yeesookyung.
This is a really good selection of paintings and one of Yeesookyung ceramics.
All are of good standard. But Firoz Mahmud works really caught my eye, his use of garish and harsh colours in the paintings surprisingly sat very well and came out nicely. The works by Jia Aili and Qin Qi were also good. Yayoi Kusama's work was easily recognisably her's.
Go and check out these good works.
Points for collectors: All paintings are in the buy category. Firoz Mahmud's works were priced lower. Yayoi Kusama is established and I think they were asking 1/2 a million for her work.
This is a group show of 7 artists. Yayoi Kusama, Jia Aili, Firoz Mahmud, Qin Qi, Nobuaki Takekawa, Baek Jin Sook and Yeesookyung.
This is a really good selection of paintings and one of Yeesookyung ceramics.
All are of good standard. But Firoz Mahmud works really caught my eye, his use of garish and harsh colours in the paintings surprisingly sat very well and came out nicely. The works by Jia Aili and Qin Qi were also good. Yayoi Kusama's work was easily recognisably her's.
Go and check out these good works.
Points for collectors: All paintings are in the buy category. Firoz Mahmud's works were priced lower. Yayoi Kusama is established and I think they were asking 1/2 a million for her work.
Qi Qin and Jia Aili's works
Firoz Mahmud
Busy Lately
Have been busy lately, so the photos for the previous and upcoming posts will be up soon.
Thanks for the understanding!
Thanks for the understanding!
III (Celebration Day) - Sherman Sam
This exhibition is held at Equator Art Project over at Gillman Barracks from the 5th to 21st September 2014. Due to the small format in which he paints in, the exhibition/ pieces are hung in the project room.
Sherman Sam is a Singaporean artist based in London, so that he can be nearer to the Queen and the future King George. He is an abstract artist who is more concerned about the ontological aspect of painting, i.e. the painting is the image rather then the painting presenting an image. He is also an art historian and art writer for Ocula, Art Forum and so on. He also is represented by Rubicon Gallery in UK,
These works which he presented this time are lighter, less dense, have less layers and less worked on than the previous works which he presented at Art Stage 2014. I think because he is also in this mantra of counter culture where some art teachers in the UK are proposing that an artist have to put in many hours and work many man hours to get a good painting. So by producing good works with less effort he is trying to prove a point. I guess he is correct... in a way. What I felt and understand from most artists, the actual painting is always very fast. But the planning, the thinking where to start, where to end, the solution to problems... that can take many frustrating months or even years.
Anyway back to the paintings. In one word... excellent. Not superb, but I felt the art stage ones were superb. The paintings are still in the same set up small format, on wood boards and frames which he makes and preps himself.
So catch the exhibition if you can.
Points for Collectors: Strong Buy. If you don't like these works, he has more stashed up. Can always contact the Equator Art Project gallerists to show you others.
Sherman Sam is a Singaporean artist based in London, so that he can be nearer to the Queen and the future King George. He is an abstract artist who is more concerned about the ontological aspect of painting, i.e. the painting is the image rather then the painting presenting an image. He is also an art historian and art writer for Ocula, Art Forum and so on. He also is represented by Rubicon Gallery in UK,
These works which he presented this time are lighter, less dense, have less layers and less worked on than the previous works which he presented at Art Stage 2014. I think because he is also in this mantra of counter culture where some art teachers in the UK are proposing that an artist have to put in many hours and work many man hours to get a good painting. So by producing good works with less effort he is trying to prove a point. I guess he is correct... in a way. What I felt and understand from most artists, the actual painting is always very fast. But the planning, the thinking where to start, where to end, the solution to problems... that can take many frustrating months or even years.
Anyway back to the paintings. In one word... excellent. Not superb, but I felt the art stage ones were superb. The paintings are still in the same set up small format, on wood boards and frames which he makes and preps himself.
So catch the exhibition if you can.
Points for Collectors: Strong Buy. If you don't like these works, he has more stashed up. Can always contact the Equator Art Project gallerists to show you others.
You can't depend on depending
Oh! Sweet Nuthin'
Beginning of a great adventure
Monday, 8 September 2014
[after image]My Beautiful... - Susie Wong
This exhibition runs from the 5th of September 2014 to 5th October 2014 at Space Cottonseed gallery at Gillmann Barracks.
You can read the gallery's exhibition write up here.
Basically it's the creation of the image by using old photos, make a tracing then using short strokes of the pencils to give the image its form. Underneath each landscape image is a quote from the author Joseph Conrad. Think that he was the first international author which I read that mentioned Singapore in his writings.
Besides landscapes, she also did her late father and I think cherry blossoms too.
Not too impressed.
Points for collectors: Think can give it a miss.
You can read the gallery's exhibition write up here.
Basically it's the creation of the image by using old photos, make a tracing then using short strokes of the pencils to give the image its form. Underneath each landscape image is a quote from the author Joseph Conrad. Think that he was the first international author which I read that mentioned Singapore in his writings.
Besides landscapes, she also did her late father and I think cherry blossoms too.
Not too impressed.
Points for collectors: Think can give it a miss.
Her Late Father
Landscape with a quote at the bottom
Cherry Blossoms
Young Talent Programme 2013/2014 AAF in collaboration with Ion Art
This exhibition allows the winners of last year's award to feature their work. I think the panel of judges include Benjamin Hampe and Boo Sze Yang. It goes on from 5th September to 23rd September 2014 at Ion Art Gallery.
The award is run yearly by the Affordable Art Fair group in collaboration with Ion Art.
The three winners are Hilmi Johandi, Lennard Ong and Noor Iskandar.
Hilmi Johandi presented a rather large triptych (painting) and multiple video displays. He's working on a new body of work "Framing Camellia : Fragmentation of Frames." The work, visually, is in the same vein as his cinema series, and viewers read the sequence from left to right. Good work. The balance of the painting is good and the control of the viewer/sequence of reading of the painting is excellent.
Lennard Ong is doing a study of form/shape, Filament Forest. He extrudes a white resin like thingy via a suspended apparatus.The white resin stuff hardens and takes the shape/form. He then juxtaposes the white 'filaments' against tree barks. Conceptually interesting but not quite perceptually pleasing.
Noor Iskandar presented Paradie. This consisted of a scroll of cloth running from the far wall to the floor, with words on the section on the wall and words at the end of the scroll. Read the writings, not impressed. On the far wall on either side of the start of the head of the scroll are a grid of frames of small fuji instax polaroid- size, empty polaroid photo frames. On these are written various things about how one wanted to die, and perceptions of heaven. On either of the two flanking walls are digital prints of images worked on with 'photoshop'. Interesting. But I am more traditional and thought this would be good if it were painted rather than just worked on digitally. For Digital art if you have the know how and the eye, the results can be achieved. For paintings, you need the eye and hand.
Good young talents. Good Panelist of Judges.
Points for Collectors: Hilmi is a good young talent to watch.
The award is run yearly by the Affordable Art Fair group in collaboration with Ion Art.
The three winners are Hilmi Johandi, Lennard Ong and Noor Iskandar.
Hilmi Johandi presented a rather large triptych (painting) and multiple video displays. He's working on a new body of work "Framing Camellia : Fragmentation of Frames." The work, visually, is in the same vein as his cinema series, and viewers read the sequence from left to right. Good work. The balance of the painting is good and the control of the viewer/sequence of reading of the painting is excellent.
Lennard Ong is doing a study of form/shape, Filament Forest. He extrudes a white resin like thingy via a suspended apparatus.The white resin stuff hardens and takes the shape/form. He then juxtaposes the white 'filaments' against tree barks. Conceptually interesting but not quite perceptually pleasing.
Noor Iskandar presented Paradie. This consisted of a scroll of cloth running from the far wall to the floor, with words on the section on the wall and words at the end of the scroll. Read the writings, not impressed. On the far wall on either side of the start of the head of the scroll are a grid of frames of small fuji instax polaroid- size, empty polaroid photo frames. On these are written various things about how one wanted to die, and perceptions of heaven. On either of the two flanking walls are digital prints of images worked on with 'photoshop'. Interesting. But I am more traditional and thought this would be good if it were painted rather than just worked on digitally. For Digital art if you have the know how and the eye, the results can be achieved. For paintings, you need the eye and hand.
Good young talents. Good Panelist of Judges.
Points for Collectors: Hilmi is a good young talent to watch.
Saturday, 6 September 2014
Perception and Delusion
Just went to this exhibition by Ng Woon Lam and Don Low at NTU'S School of Art, Design and Media. I don't know how best to describe it but will try. It's quite a fascinating display that seems to test the concept of merging East and West using watercolour and ink. Chinese folklore characters are the subject of Don Low, while landscapes are depicted by Ng Woon Lam.
One of Ng Woon Lam's pieces is on a single long continuous piece of paper, which is also transposed onto screen in 2D animation. He describes it best in the catalogue: "I am inspired to experiment using traditional brushwork adapted from Chinese ink painting methodology within the 2D animation creating process."
Also on display are sketchbooks with studies by both artists, which gives a glimpse into their planning and thought process.
One of Ng Woon Lam's pieces is on a single long continuous piece of paper, which is also transposed onto screen in 2D animation. He describes it best in the catalogue: "I am inspired to experiment using traditional brushwork adapted from Chinese ink painting methodology within the 2D animation creating process."
Ng Woon Lam's long background piece
Ng Woon Lam's Sketchbook
Ng Woon Lams's work
Don Low's Wolverine
Thursday, 7 August 2014
Everyday Heroes - Dyn aka Safaruddin Abdul Hamid
This exhibition runs from the 7th August 2014 till 24th August 2014 at Chan Hampe Galleries at Raffles Hotel Shopping Arcade.
In this series, he pays tribute to the people who have iconic jobs which have contributed to the development and identity of Singapore. And with progress nothing stays the same (except for the tribes in the jungles and the Amish) and soon these fade away into our memories.
He paints in his usual bright and cheerful palettes. For some paintings the colours were harmonious but for others the colours chosen were harsh. In this series the figures are not distinct and a representational image is presented. And the colours for each painting lend to the melding of the figure to the background, the way our memories get foggy over a period of time.
He also spends his time teaching design and drawing and the design aspect is evident in the works.
The process of the creation of the pieces is also interesting and would account for the painterly / perceptual end product. He works with photos and drawings and starts off digitally. The digital images are then flatted and tweaked to requirements. He then projects the images and uses them as a guide for his painting (he doesn't just fill in the colours / paint by numbers). And this would explain the style of painting experienced by the viewer.
Points for Collectors: Buy rating. The prices are under 3k. I think he has three pieces collected by the Singapore Art Museum. He paints actively and is involved in the art world by teaching art.
In this series, he pays tribute to the people who have iconic jobs which have contributed to the development and identity of Singapore. And with progress nothing stays the same (except for the tribes in the jungles and the Amish) and soon these fade away into our memories.
He paints in his usual bright and cheerful palettes. For some paintings the colours were harmonious but for others the colours chosen were harsh. In this series the figures are not distinct and a representational image is presented. And the colours for each painting lend to the melding of the figure to the background, the way our memories get foggy over a period of time.
He also spends his time teaching design and drawing and the design aspect is evident in the works.
The process of the creation of the pieces is also interesting and would account for the painterly / perceptual end product. He works with photos and drawings and starts off digitally. The digital images are then flatted and tweaked to requirements. He then projects the images and uses them as a guide for his painting (he doesn't just fill in the colours / paint by numbers). And this would explain the style of painting experienced by the viewer.
Monday, 4 August 2014
Everyday Heroes by Dyn
This exhibition by Safaruddin Abdul Hamid opens this Thursday 7th August 2014 at ChanHampe Galleries. It will be from 7pm.
Should be a fun show. I think in one corner, they might feature a few of Leo Liu's works too.
Don't forget to thank the people who serve you the cheese and wine.
Should be a fun show. I think in one corner, they might feature a few of Leo Liu's works too.
Don't forget to thank the people who serve you the cheese and wine.
Jimmy Ong by Jimmy Ong
This exhibition runs from 25th July 2014 to 31st August 2014 at FOST Gallery at Gillman Barracks.
In this exhibition he presents the works which he is best at - figurative charcoal drawings. He presents two styles here- one is the recent Nassim Hill Revisited series, comprising figurative still life painting, some with just a splash of colour. This is him reminiscing his life when he was staying in the Nassim Hill area. The other series consists of large format human drawings which are older works from his Beyond LKY and Ancestors on the Beach series.
His Nassim Hill series is very good. It's easy to do still life. But to reach a level of excellence is difficult. (If you have a chance you should check out the Chardin works to appreciate the Master level of still life.) His drawing of human figures is superb and his skill level is shown in these > 2 metre long drawings. Don't think there are many Singaporean artists who know their anatomy well and are able to do half decent paintings/drawings of the human figure. I think the Italian art schools place a strong emphasis on this when they train their students.
Some write ups: I-S Asia, Ocula and Sing Art.
Points for Collectors: Rating: Strong Buy. When I went to the show, quite a few had already been sold. This is probably because he hasn't exhibited his drawings for a while, as I felt that the prices for these charcoal drawings are a bit on the high side. Good artist, good credentials.
In this exhibition he presents the works which he is best at - figurative charcoal drawings. He presents two styles here- one is the recent Nassim Hill Revisited series, comprising figurative still life painting, some with just a splash of colour. This is him reminiscing his life when he was staying in the Nassim Hill area. The other series consists of large format human drawings which are older works from his Beyond LKY and Ancestors on the Beach series.
His Nassim Hill series is very good. It's easy to do still life. But to reach a level of excellence is difficult. (If you have a chance you should check out the Chardin works to appreciate the Master level of still life.) His drawing of human figures is superb and his skill level is shown in these > 2 metre long drawings. Don't think there are many Singaporean artists who know their anatomy well and are able to do half decent paintings/drawings of the human figure. I think the Italian art schools place a strong emphasis on this when they train their students.
Some write ups: I-S Asia, Ocula and Sing Art.
Pineapple & Company
Seven Coconuts
Heart Daughters
Saturday, 2 August 2014
A Drawing Show - Ian Woo et al
This exhibition runs from 1st August 2014 to 14th September 2014 at Yeo Workshop at Gillman Barracks.
Drawing is essential to all artists. Reasons for it can be found here. So I am happy that Yeo Workshop does a show like this.
The four artists are
1. Ian Woo - This series which he did is very interesting. Some are form dominant and I found the bigger ones to be more focused on flow and dynamism like those he did for Tomio Koyama, How I Forgot to be Happy. Quite a few of his drawings were sold - the cheapest way to own an original Ian Woo. These were different from the Lot drawings acquired from the SAM and at show at the Medium at Large exhibition. But I think Ian Woo's painting's are better buys because they show both his drawing skills and his understanding of colours.
2. Wong Lip Chin - Not impressed by his work. In fact he drew a middle finger on the outside of the building as the artists were given free reign to paint the pillars and walls. He also did a performance on opening night to receive a tattoo/drawing on himself. Drawings in the folder, also not impressive. Seen his paintings also not impressed. Maybe as some curators and gallerists have mentioned, he needs direction in what he does.
3. Boedi Widjaja - Architect by training now a full time multi medium artist. Interesting. But not quite my fancy. But at least he's getting invited to be exhibited.
4. Jaitip Jaidee - She is fine art graduate from Thailand. She submitted three works where she cut and inked onto wood veneer. Very painstakingly meticulous job. She sold two of the three works as of writing.
Points for collectors: Ian Woo's drawing is a Buy if you are collecting drawings or building up a collection of Ian Woo's works. If not, save your dough for his paintings. He has a show in Tokyo with Tomio Koyama next month. So if you happen to be in Japan.... As for Wong Lip Chin - can skip for now until he gets his act together. Boedi Widjaja and Jaitip Jaidee - Not sure, but interesting works. Neutral rating. Buy if you like.
Drawing is essential to all artists. Reasons for it can be found here. So I am happy that Yeo Workshop does a show like this.
The four artists are
1. Ian Woo - This series which he did is very interesting. Some are form dominant and I found the bigger ones to be more focused on flow and dynamism like those he did for Tomio Koyama, How I Forgot to be Happy. Quite a few of his drawings were sold - the cheapest way to own an original Ian Woo. These were different from the Lot drawings acquired from the SAM and at show at the Medium at Large exhibition. But I think Ian Woo's painting's are better buys because they show both his drawing skills and his understanding of colours.
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One of Ian Woo's charcoal/graphite works.
2. Wong Lip Chin - Not impressed by his work. In fact he drew a middle finger on the outside of the building as the artists were given free reign to paint the pillars and walls. He also did a performance on opening night to receive a tattoo/drawing on himself. Drawings in the folder, also not impressive. Seen his paintings also not impressed. Maybe as some curators and gallerists have mentioned, he needs direction in what he does.
WTF?
3. Boedi Widjaja - Architect by training now a full time multi medium artist. Interesting. But not quite my fancy. But at least he's getting invited to be exhibited.
4. Jaitip Jaidee - She is fine art graduate from Thailand. She submitted three works where she cut and inked onto wood veneer. Very painstakingly meticulous job. She sold two of the three works as of writing.
_01-Black___Things_or_Another_things,_2013-2014,_Ink_on_Veneer_wood_,_Ebony_wood,_71.1_x_51.1_x_3.5_cm..jpeg)
Points for collectors: Ian Woo's drawing is a Buy if you are collecting drawings or building up a collection of Ian Woo's works. If not, save your dough for his paintings. He has a show in Tokyo with Tomio Koyama next month. So if you happen to be in Japan.... As for Wong Lip Chin - can skip for now until he gets his act together. Boedi Widjaja and Jaitip Jaidee - Not sure, but interesting works. Neutral rating. Buy if you like.
Choreographed Collisions - Yeo Shih Yun
This exhibition is held from 17th July 2014 to 31st August 2014 at Galerie Steph at the Artspace at Helutrans.
Yeo Shih Yun is a brilliant artist who founded Instinc Art Space. She is doing more of her black ink works. And this time she is studying the brush marks made by robots. And like the other series, i.e Conversation with Trees, she collects the marks and makes SilkScreen prints with them. And she then uses a combination of SilkScreen printing, artist strokes and robot markings to create her work. She has a strong ability to work with monochromatic black and is able to understand and use the tonal variance to her advantage. That said, in some of her paintings in this series, she uses white (to assist in adding layers / depth by gradient to the works). She has the talent to produce perceptually pleasing art. In her older works she is able to use colours too, unlike some artists who are better at monochromatic works and don't understand colours well.
Yeo Shih Yun is a brilliant artist who founded Instinc Art Space. She is doing more of her black ink works. And this time she is studying the brush marks made by robots. And like the other series, i.e Conversation with Trees, she collects the marks and makes SilkScreen prints with them. And she then uses a combination of SilkScreen printing, artist strokes and robot markings to create her work. She has a strong ability to work with monochromatic black and is able to understand and use the tonal variance to her advantage. That said, in some of her paintings in this series, she uses white (to assist in adding layers / depth by gradient to the works). She has the talent to produce perceptually pleasing art. In her older works she is able to use colours too, unlike some artists who are better at monochromatic works and don't understand colours well.
Yeo Shih Yun in black with Uptime (L) and Downtime (R)
Against the Spring (Titles of the art from the series were derived from the instruction manuals of the robots)
On the floor, one of the seven SilkScreens used for printing
Points for Collectors: Strong Buy. Yeo Shih Yun was initially a lone ranger in the art world and has since gone more mainstream. But still not a 'blue-eyed boy' of the Art Gods in Singapore, although she presented / was commissioned Conversation with trees at/for the Singapore Art Museum. Even Majorie Chu at Art Forum has represented her for her Learning from Trees Series.
Sunday, 27 July 2014
Behind New World Order - Muhamad 'Ucup' Yusuf
This exhibition runs from 25th July 2014 to 14th September 2014 at Tomio Koyama Gallery at Gillman Barracks.
The works are Socio-Political works with subjects that concern lots of Indonesian artists. In fact the artist is a founding member of the Indonesian artist-activist collective Taring Padi, hence the genre of the artworks. This group emerged during a period of domestic political turmoil, i.e. the Fall of Suharto in 1998.
One of the wood cut prints on paper was displayed next to the woodcut block which was used to print it. This I found was very interesting. The rest of the works were wood cut print on cloth. (Paper and cloth were common mediums of the Taring Padi due to the ease of production and distribution which it afforded) There were also some paintings done by the artist.
Interesting and detailed work. Have to spend sometime looking at the work to see and work out all the different things he has to say or rather mock, criticise and call attention to.
Points for Collectors: Good woodcut works. Can buy if you are interested in woodcut prints and also have an interest in works with a strong socio-political consciousness/narrative on the things (good or bad) going on in Indonesia. The artist and the group have been exhibited widely in the region and thus the works have been given the seal of approval by many gallerists and collectors too.
The works are Socio-Political works with subjects that concern lots of Indonesian artists. In fact the artist is a founding member of the Indonesian artist-activist collective Taring Padi, hence the genre of the artworks. This group emerged during a period of domestic political turmoil, i.e. the Fall of Suharto in 1998.
One of the wood cut prints on paper was displayed next to the woodcut block which was used to print it. This I found was very interesting. The rest of the works were wood cut print on cloth. (Paper and cloth were common mediums of the Taring Padi due to the ease of production and distribution which it afforded) There were also some paintings done by the artist.
Interesting and detailed work. Have to spend sometime looking at the work to see and work out all the different things he has to say or rather mock, criticise and call attention to.
Points for Collectors: Good woodcut works. Can buy if you are interested in woodcut prints and also have an interest in works with a strong socio-political consciousness/narrative on the things (good or bad) going on in Indonesia. The artist and the group have been exhibited widely in the region and thus the works have been given the seal of approval by many gallerists and collectors too.
Saturday, 21 June 2014
Silence By Tung Yue Nang
This exhibition runs for ten days from the 21st of June 2014 to 30 June 2014 at the Cape of Good Hope Gallery.
It's been a while since Tung Yue Nang has had an exhibition, the last one being in 2003. I think that was another showing of his realistic Baba & Nonya series. Afterwhich he was in the wilderness, doing photography and travelling. He did a series on Saigon for White Canvas gallery which wasn't very impressive. I felt it was more of experimental works.
In 2011 and 2012, he started repainting the Singapore River / Chinatown scenes similar to the 2002 Chinatown My Chinatown series. This time, the few works that he did had less colour and more dark wash and darker ink strokes. From there I think he went on to do pure Chinese ink, brushing and washing. And this series was painted en plein air, spending many early mornings on the streets of Chinatown and the Singapore River. He also did alot of research about Chinatown and how people lived there and he absorbed the whole hustle and bustle of Chinatown. He also managed to capture the tranquility of the Singapore River and the activities of Singapore, as opposed to the earlier series where his emphasis was on how Chinatown is modernising and the juxtaposition of the old and new is more obvious.
The result is this brilliant series of paintings; mainly 97x97cm or 49x97cm. There was a big 97 x 180cm and 2 small vertical pieces of 97x49cm.
His ability to work in this way with Chinese ink is unique, he has good understanding of visual perception principles and good compositional skills. If you look carefully at some of Tung's paintings you can catch some of his quirkiness.
Very Very Versatile artist, able to do this series and at the other extreme, the realistic series of Baba & Nonya and his One series. Great photographer too.
And if you were lucky to be at the opening, the generous Mr Terence Teo gave away free copies of the Silence Book, a hard-cover 136pg book to all present.
It's been a while since Tung Yue Nang has had an exhibition, the last one being in 2003. I think that was another showing of his realistic Baba & Nonya series. Afterwhich he was in the wilderness, doing photography and travelling. He did a series on Saigon for White Canvas gallery which wasn't very impressive. I felt it was more of experimental works.
In 2011 and 2012, he started repainting the Singapore River / Chinatown scenes similar to the 2002 Chinatown My Chinatown series. This time, the few works that he did had less colour and more dark wash and darker ink strokes. From there I think he went on to do pure Chinese ink, brushing and washing. And this series was painted en plein air, spending many early mornings on the streets of Chinatown and the Singapore River. He also did alot of research about Chinatown and how people lived there and he absorbed the whole hustle and bustle of Chinatown. He also managed to capture the tranquility of the Singapore River and the activities of Singapore, as opposed to the earlier series where his emphasis was on how Chinatown is modernising and the juxtaposition of the old and new is more obvious.
The result is this brilliant series of paintings; mainly 97x97cm or 49x97cm. There was a big 97 x 180cm and 2 small vertical pieces of 97x49cm.
His ability to work in this way with Chinese ink is unique, he has good understanding of visual perception principles and good compositional skills. If you look carefully at some of Tung's paintings you can catch some of his quirkiness.
Very Very Versatile artist, able to do this series and at the other extreme, the realistic series of Baba & Nonya and his One series. Great photographer too.
And if you were lucky to be at the opening, the generous Mr Terence Teo gave away free copies of the Silence Book, a hard-cover 136pg book to all present.
Bliss
Simple Life
In the flesh the painting is much better, painting's emphasis here was the lighting in the painting
Artist talk (L-R) Terence Teo, Tung Yue Nang, Choy Weng Yang, Lim Tze Peng
Points for Collectors: Tung Yue Nang is a Strong Buy rating. He has sold many of his previous works, like the Baba Nonya series. However, this was placed with many galleries and till this day some of those works are still available. But under the guidance of Mr Teo (a painter himself and someone who knows about the fine art market), Tung has been pointed in the right direction. At the VIP preview last night, quite a lot of works have been sold already. And many of his pieces not at this exhibition but featured in the book, had already been sold since the 2nd half of last year. Mr Teo is good as he is not directing Tung to paint to sell but to paint to challenge himself and to produce brilliant works and that's all. Further with the Cape of Good Hope having access to serious art collectors who are able to recognise these non-commercial pieces, he has managed to help place some of the pieces into these collections. This is the precise reason why an artist should stick to a gallerist who will help develop him. Tung's exhibition managed to be featured in Business Times, Lian He Zao Bao, and also a radio interview with 95.8fm.
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