Exhibitions

Conventional ways of thinking about art, science and engineering would typically lead us to conceive of them as separate, mutually exclusive realms. Dutch artist Theo Jansen, however, seamlessly straddles their boundaries with his world-famous sculptures and inorganic life – the Strandbeests. Conceptualised initially as a solution to global warming, the Strandbeests are synonymous with the iconic PVC pipes that they’re made of. The unique form of artificial life is birthed from an artistic application of engineering principles. The Strandbeests posses a looming grace especially when they’re seen in movement, walking in unique gaits reminiscent of real-life animal behaviour. Aided by…

Private art collection and commercial art galleries are definitely not the first things that come to mind when we consider art culture in Singapore, mainly due to the prohibitive costs of pursuing art ownership. Often associated with snobbery and ostentatious bourgeoisie tendencies – no thanks to popular culture – private art collection and commercial art galleries are thus often given neither attention nor understanding in the public domain. The question remains however: just what kind of place do they have Singapore’s art culture? Mazel Galerie Singapore’s director, Kevin Troyano Cuturi, demystifies this and more in an exclusive tour of the…

Serious photography in Singapore remains relatively nascent in the public consciousness and still suffers from a lack of mainstream recognition as art. This isn’t surprising given that the average Singaporean either associates it with high-brow culture consumption, or doesn’t deem photography to hold enough intrinsic value to be recognised as art. Anyone with a camera can take a photo – so why should it be art? Such obtuse views are repudiated with X EDITION, Asia’s largest hotel photography art fair, through its specially curated exhibition: Marang: The 1950s in Colour and Monochrome. Co-presented in collaboration with Canvas Gallery, the exhibition…

The theme of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was thoroughly explored with two ingenious exhibitions – A-DROYX and Human Version – which were exhibited for the Voilah! French Festival Singapore 2018. A-DROYX by Mathieu Briand was an exhibit that showcased his assembly of androids in his laboratory studio. It is a testament to the fact that the story behind creation can be more interesting than the final product itself. To call the space in A-DROYX messy would be an understatement – the circuits, tools, and makeshift limbs strewn all over were an immediate indication to viewers of the nature of the undertaking.…

The human mind continuously seeks self-expression: this is an enduring desire that has only strengthened in tandem with the evolution of technology as new forms of self-expression are invented. Visual mediums, in particular, catch on especially fast and the invention of photography has seen its meteoric rise towards occupying an integral part of everyday life in the 21st century. Most of us would likely assume that fawning over celebrity Instagram Stories and be making duck faces in our selfies are relatively modern phenomena, gaining recognition as cultural cornerstones with the prevalence of youth culture in the modern global society. The…

“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.” – C.S. Lewis There’s this famous French song by Édith Piaf titled “La Vie en Rose”, which translates to “life through rose-tinted glasses”. The singer croons about how falling in love has made everything around her seem beautiful. Singapore-based French artist Claire Deniau’s new exhibited work, Senses and Lenses, is poetically entwined with the plight of the modern painter. She has incorporated flawless mineral glass pieces that act as lenses in her paintings: looking…

Heads up! Hotel G’s latest art installations are enclosed just beneath, or rather, above your noses! When we first visited Hotel G, we were initially unable to find the gallery. After some clueless wandering, we were amazed – and mollified –to find the exhibition right before our eyes the entire time – up on the walls, hidden in plain sight. Perhaps it was the heat of a Saturday afternoon, or the fact that the gallery seemed to fit in with the hotel’s aesthetic so well that caused us to miss it. Either way, it was difficult for us to stop…

Brought to global attention through the efforts of the French explorer and artist, Louis Delaporte, Angkor Wat stands as one of the most spectacular architectural marvels achieved by any civilisation of antiquity in the world. The culture and art of the ancient Khmer held within its ruins are one of the riches heritage legacies that can be found in the Southeast Asian region. Despite capturing the western imagination for centuries, there has never been a major exhibition of Angkor Wat in Southeast Asia — that is, until now. Singapore’s very own Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) has collaborated with the Parisian…

Personal and endearing, IN FLUX is an artistic endeavour by New York-based Singaporean artist, Dr Wee Hong Ling. A parallel to her constant position of flux, the collection echoes her experiences of uncertainty as she navigates the physical, metaphysical, and humanistic worlds. The project is done in commemoration of International Women’s Day – where Dr Wee expresses her sentiments of the immense gender gap in the field of ceramic production. Less than 10% of the world’s collected works are from women, and Dr Wee saw this as an opportunity to challenge the stereotype. “Perhaps because I am a product of an…

The centre stage is on two shows in LASALLE’s latest exhibitions, Jason Lim: Encounter under the banyan, and head heap heat. The effort is supported by LASALLE’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), in a bid to cultivate inquiry on contemporary art in Singapore and beyond! Here’s a rundown on what to expect at the exhibitions. Jason Lim: Encounter under the banyan For his debut solo exhibition in a public institution in Singapore, artist Jason Lim will perform a programme of durational works that explore the concepts of risk, change, and the transformation of materials. He examines and explores the behaviours…