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.
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