VADA Untapped Discovery

This took place at Shophouse 5 from 19 to 23 Dec 2017. It's part of the series of exhibitions by young emerging artists.

This edition featured:
- Bryan Tan - geometric paperworks
- Che Xinwei - semi-sculptural pieces on wood, and a separate piece of miniature wax figures
- Ernest Wu - photographs
- Fiona Seow - ink on paper and mounting board works
- Joshua Gomes - a unicorn and swing - loved these works
- Lim Zeharn - a super-tall pair of canvas shoes and a video on a moving monitor
- Ng Wu Gang - photographs
- Ong Lijie - drypoints and etchings

Nice and interesting works. I felt though, that some of the works didn't do justice to the artists' talents. But I'm optimistic because VADA artists tend to produce better stuff after VADA.

Bryan Tan

Che Xinwei

Ernest Wu

Fiona Seow

 

Ong Lijie

Ng Wu Gang

Lim Zeharn

Points for collectors:
Definite buy rating for Joshua Gomes. That said, the rest are buyable too, although personally, I would watch them a bit more before buying. All have great potential.

Hello all!

Merry Christmas in Advance to All!

2017 is coming to an end and much has come and gone. Anyway, the signal of the end of the year means that Art Week will be coming up in January.

The main highlight will be Art Stage.

A lot has been said and much bemoaning of Art Stage shrinking to 3 days and with less galleries. Many are attributing it to the art stage boss having Art Stage Jakarta which cannibalises Art Stage Singapore amongst other factors.

But I really don't think it does. I think it's just that the interest and demand is down. And certain sectors of the economy aren't booming and thus you don't have people rolling in dough and throwing money in. i.e the big bankers, lawyers and oil & gas people. In a way this is good for art collectors as the speculators are away.

Singapore's art sector is rather unique. There are only a handful of collectors that are hardcore and actively collecting without worrying to much about the future value of their purchases. The galleries are able to flag these people. Majority (aka the rest) of the collectors buy investment grade art. And these are mainly buyers at auction or when the galleries/ primary sales feature these artists.

So the galleries generally are doing ok with the former band of collectors supporting the system. In Singapore unlike in the West, there isn't a strong pressure to collect art to be cultured. There, collecting art makes one cultured and it's not only to show your wealth. Because you don't only want to be rich but you want to be cultured too. So without this pressure in Singapore, a lot of people with extra income or who are rich don't feel the need to collect art. Hence, it becomes difficult for the art market to boom or sustain at a higher level. Singapore Art Fair and Singapore Contemporary bear a testament to it.  There are a lot of people interested in art, with tons of money spent on the diamond of the Singapore Art Scene - the National Gallery of Singapore, multiple art events and with NAC's strong funding, it has given rise to the art loving crowd. But these thingys are free, and there is an unwillingness to spend on art works, even the Affordable Art Fair is downsizing.

So if you ask me, is Art Stage doing anything wrong? I don't think so but it has to think about its vision in Singapore and Jakarta, and what they eventually want to achieve. It will be difficult to compete head to head with HK and Art Basel. But should try to see what offering it can do for South East Asian art. My take is that they should reduce the cost of the fair to galleries, that is the main thing. Maybe move away from MBS and hold it somewhere else cheaper. Singapore has lots of nice convention spaces and great infrastructure. Heck you can also hold it in a tent like Art Central HK or Frieze NY. A successful fair is one that has good attendance, good sales and many exhibitors. I think it starts with many exhibitors and the attendance and sales will follow.

Let's see how it goes next year!

Swallow Shadow - Ruben Pang

This exhibition is held from 1-17 December 2017 at Gillman Barracks, 9 Lock Road, #02-21 (where Michael Jansen used to be).

The first work you will see is before you even walk into the gallery - as you make your way to the gallery's front door, it's hard to miss the huge, bright triptych as you walk past the windows on the left. Walk in, and you'll be greeted by smaller works which are an intriguing departure from his previous works; as well as other pieces with familiar colour palettes on aluminium. Elsewhere in the gallery are works that span across big, tall pieces, and small pieces on canvas or wood, painted with different styles.

There is one small oil-on-canvas piece called From My Milk White Veins, which we found quite fascinating because it was so different from what we have come to expect from Ruben. The triptych, called The Body, scared me a bit, and maybe that was the intention. Then there is a pleasantly sized piece called Parent Cloud, with a riot of bright colours; a small, more figurative piece called Rainmaker; and a piece called Type O Civilisations that seemed to whisper about an epic story.

You have to take your time to look at each piece, big or small. We're just glad that there's a bench in the centre of the gallery so you can sit and reflect on any of the works.

There seems to be a bit of experimenting in some of the works, which is a positive sign that this artist will keep on growing.

Points for collectors: Strong buy rating. His shows tend to sell out very quickly, but with the increasing price points, there may be a chance to still get something, you never know. 

After Asphodel - Luke Heng

This exhibition is held from 2nd December to 25th February 2018 at Pearl Lam Galleries over at Gillman Barracks.

Luke Heng showed a new series of paintings much to do about subtraction of paint from the work. This is Slow art and you must take your time to soak it in.

He also showed a site specific installation of Metal Steps, the Jacob's ladder. He also showed his parafin wax work, metal work and an older blue on blue work.

That was also a small representational painting of a flower, a preview of things to come?

Anyway Luke Heng's works are brilliant and we love where he is and where he's going with the works.

Artwork of the month awardee

Points for collectors: Strong Buy rating. Pearl Lam has managed to place his works with important collectors and with the instituitions. And his works have sold quite well. His works are definitely in demand.