I’ve been thinking about including a new dimension to my blog about exhibitions that I visit. To start off, I’ll be writing about various visits to galleries during Jan and Feb 2024 in Singapore. These posts may come in the form of questions, thoughts, or opinions and should be taken as a single person’s point of view. I welcome thoughtful discussion so please feel free to comment at the end of these posts!
Since my parents moved to Singapore in 2019, I have adopted the National Gallery Singapore as my Asian art mentor. Having only studied art and art history in the US and UK, my art knowledge is primarily western focused. I’ve discovered artists such as Georgette Chen, Chua Mia Tee, and Liu Kang in their permanent collection as well as arousing interest in Singaporean history.
Permanent Collection, National Gallery Singapore.
The special exhibition on display in January, Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America brought together works that visually speaks to me in a way that I didn’t know I was missing. The colour palettes and depictions of every day scenes particularly invigorate my senses.
Mother Nature’s Bounty Harvest, 1935.
Oil on canvas.
Bulul at Babae, 1930s.
Oil on canvas.
Courtship Ritual, 1937.
Oil on canvas.
Maka Lahirlah Angkatan ‘66, 1966.
Oil on canvas.
Labour (detail), c. 1950s.
Oil on canvas.
Membasoh Kian Di Tepi Sungei (Washing Cloths by the River), c. 1960s.
Oil on canvas.
At the moment, I am still in the overview stage of stimulus input and will need more time to research and study what I’ve been seeing.