Singapore's great when it comes to art too! Here are some amazing exhibitions to see out the rest of this year.
If you missed out on Yayoi Kusama’s brilliant Life is the Heart of a Rainbow exhibit earlier this year, well, that’s unfortunate. We don’t mean to humblebrag: but we do have some of the world’s most impressive art museums and galleries in town, so it’s highly likely that there’s a handful of other cool exhibitions around the corner. From photography to the classic paintings of the Impressionists era, here’s how to hit the art scene in Singapore for the rest of 2017…
One Man. One World.
Critically acclaimed Chinese artist, Ren Zhen Yu has been increasingly recognised for his distinctive portrait series of historical and political icons. Painting figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Albert Einstein, Lee Kuan Yew and Mao Zedong, Ren has managed to transform the way we usually view these icons. In his works are a spectrum of colours that are juxtaposed to create a unique expressionist interpretation of famous faces and textures built on layering to reinforce the portrayal of faces from different perspectives.
One Man. One World., 1-17 Nov, Ode To Art Gallery, #01-36E/F Raffles City Shopping Centre, 252 North Bridge Road, Singapore 179103
The $200 Art Show
After its first successful run, The $200 Art Show returns to Kult Gallery with more urban and street artwork from all around the world. Best thing? All art will be sold for SGD 200 or less. Joining the line-up of creators in this exhibition is Idle Beats, the Shanghai-based duo are debuting some fresh new silkscreens at the show. These never-before-showcased pieces that play on modern-day dystopian realities of crime, ethics, abundance and the system are going for SGD 200 each. Also for sale are fresh prints by Didier Jaba Mathieu and older works from Mojoko that date to over ten years ago. Kult merch favourites, including the entire Sin City range (with two new designs!) and wearable art series, Kult Kollab is on view too.
The $200 Art Show, 30 Sep-4 Nov, Kult Gallery, 11 Upper Wilkie Road, Emily Hill, C2-5, Singapore 228120
As They Grow Older and Wiser
Singaporean artist Ang Song Nian re-presents the controlled environment of plant nurseries in Bangkok, Thailand in this solo exhibition. The exhibition also includes a site-specific work comprising six installations. These are inspired by the artist’s observations on the ways in which potted plants and trees are manipulated to fit into the urban landscape of growing cities.
As They Grow Older and Wiser, 24 Nov-21 Dec, Objectifs Chapel Gallery, 55 Middle Road, Singapore 188977, p. 6336 2957
Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces From The Musee D’orsay
If you’re a fan of the Impressionist palette, from the soft pastels in the paintings of Renoir and Monet to the deep blacks of Manet’s Spanish-influenced painting, this exhibition will trace the importance of colour to the Impressionists’ radical reshaping of painting in the 19th century. Featuring over 60 masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, including key works by the great Impressionists, this is one exhibition you need to catch.
Colours of Impressionism: Masterpieces From The Musee D’orsay, 16 Nov 2017 –11 Mar 2018, National Gallery Singapore, 1 Saint Andrew’s Road, #01–01, Singapore 178957, p. 6271 7000
Women in Photography
The spotlight is on 8 international women photographers as issues of domesticity, family and feminine identity is explored through their medium. Singapore documentary photographer Bernice Wong will be focusing on a single mother of seven children, Jannatul Mawa from Bangladesh will be documenting the relationship between housewives and housemaids in her home country, American photographer Nancy Borowick will show that last days of her parents who suffer from cancer – just to name a few. Poverty, hardship, motherhood, war and society become subjects in the work of these photographers.
Women in Photography, 13 Oct – 19 Nov, Objectifs Chapel Gallery, 55 Middle Road, Singapore 188977, p. 6336 2957
Between Worlds: Raden Saleh and Juan Luna
Between Worlds will feature the works of Indonesian artist Raden Saleh and Filipino artist Juan Luna, two leading 19th century painters from Southeast Asia in the 19th century who achieved recognition in Europe. This will be the first major survey to bring their works together.
Between Worlds: Raden Saleh and Juan Luna, 16 Nov 2017 – 11 Mar 2018, National Gallery Singapore, 1 Saint Andrew’s Road, #01–01, Singapore 178957, p. 6271 7000
The Artist’s Voice
Relatively new art space Parkview Museum is following up its well-received exhibition, On Sharks and Humanity with The Artist’s Voice, the first in a series of thematic exhibitions that explore the complexity of our times through contemporary art. Curated by art historian Lorand Hegyi, the exhibition will feature 34 international artists such as Marina Abramovic, Bill Viola and more.
The Artist’s Voice, 17 Nov 2017 – 17 Mar 2018, Parkview Museum, 600 North Bridge Road, Parkview Square Level 3, Singapore 188778
Cinerama: Art and the Moving Image in Southeast Asia
Featuring works of visual art from across Southeast Asia that draw upon the world of film and cinema, as well as mass media and popular iterations of the moving image, the exhibition will examine issues such as personal and collective identity, politics, and history.
Cinerama: Art and the Moving Image in Southeast Asia, Singapore Art Museum at 8Q, 17 Nov 2017 – 18 Mar 2018, 8 Queen St, Singapore 188535, p. 6589 9550
Transitions
Kim Tae-Ho, is one of the leading artists of Korean monochrome art since the 1970s. This will also be his first solo exhibition in Singapore, following is four-decade long career. His bold experimentation across media, sometimes incorporating traditional handmade hanji paper within his heavily textured, monochromatic works, has strongly allied his practice with the legacy of his contemporary Dansaekhwa painters.
Transitions, 11 Nov-3 Dec, Mizuma Gallery, 22 Lock Road, #01-34, Singapore 108939
That’s contemporary. Contemporary art From Marc Chagall to Nowadays.
From the “décollages” of Mimmo Rotella where movies and advertising posters are ripped off in a way to develop semi-abstract and unreal compositions; to Marc Chagall’s poetic, figurative style or the romantic use of oil painting in the abstract expressionist of Frank Holliday, or the interaction of paint and digital surfaces in Jeffrey Kroll’s painting; to Savini and his incredible bubblegum pink pop colour – this exhibition aims to show the perspective and artworks of artists from the 70s to the present.
That’s contemporary, 27 Sep-14 Jan, 6 Lock Road, #02-10, Singapore 108934
Tremble Tremble
Tremble Tremble is a multimedia installation which reimagines feminist history and the law. Its title is adapted from the Wages for Housework Campaign from an Italian feminist movement in the 1970s, during which women chanted Tremate, tremate, le streghe sono tornate! (Tremble, tremble, the witches have returned!) and in this exhibtion, Jones returns to the witch as a feminist archetype and disrupter who has the potential to transform reality and institutions of law.
Tremble Tremble, 4 Nov – 28 Jan, Gallery 1, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE, 1 McNally Street, Singapore 187940
Specters and Tourists
Specters and Tourists is a moving image exhibition by Japanese filmmaker and artist, Daisuke Miyazaki, in conjunction with this year’s Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF). Seen through the eyes of Miyazaki, Specters and Tourists depicts urban life, and scenes from Singapore. The isolation and anxiety of modern life is depicted in the first part of the experience, Specters, whilst Tourists reveals the temporary freedom that the protagonists experience in the absence of technology. Awkward and too relatable.
Specters and Tourists, 11 Nov – 17 Dec, ArtScience Museum, 6 Bayfront Ave, Singapore 018974
Treasures of the Natural World
Definitely one to bring the whole family to – the exhibition will bring the wonder of the Natural History Museum in London, to Southeast Asia. This year is the first occasion the museum has allowed its treasures to travel to Southeast Asia, offering an exclusive opportunity for visitors in Singapore to over 200 precious items from the Natural History Museum’s star collection like animals and insects, works of art, gems and minerals, and books and artefacts belonging to some of the world’s greatest scientists, including Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace.
Treasures of the Natural World, 25 Nov 2017 – 29 Apr 2018 , ArtScience Museum, 6 Bayfront Ave, Singapore 018974
