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Business Times
5 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Business Times
National Gallery Singapore's ink show is ambitious
[SINGAPORE] National Gallery Singapore's new ink exhibition sets out with an ambitious goal: to show ink not as a fixed tradition but as a living, changing language shaped by calligraphers, poets, abstractionists and experimental artists over time and across cultures. Titled Where Ink Tides Meet, the show traces ink's long history and highlights moments of creative exchange and discovery. But with only about 50 never-seen-before works taken from the museum collection, the exhibition also reveals its limits. There are clear gaps here – especially the general lack of women artists and younger voices. The story focuses mainly on male artists from the 20th century, which reflects how the collection was built through past acquisitions and private donations. Wu Guanzhong's Running Stream (1988) is one of the best works in National Gallery Singapore's uneven showcase of ink art. PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE This is understandable, but still raises important questions: Whose stories get told? And how can ink continue to feel relevant if we don't see it evolving through the eyes of today's emerging artists? Why do we have so few young ink artists? Some curatorial choices are puzzling, like dedicating almost a fifth of the show to Chinese-born artist Hong Zhu An. He is an undeniably gifted artist and his ink works – many gifted by him to the museum – are among the most captivating here. But the heavy focus on one artist feels unbalanced. Curated by Jennifer KY Lam, Lim Shujuan and Chee Jin Ming, the exhibition makes an effort to include artists beyond the Chinese tradition. It features South-east Asian and non-Chinese artists who use ink in unconventional ways, expanding what the medium can do and reflecting the cultural diversity of the region. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up Vietnamese artist Nguyen Minh Thanh's Waiting (2001) uses ink in unconventional ways. PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE Vietnamese artist Nguyen Minh Thanh offers thoughtful self-portraits combining local materials and calligraphy to explore identity and memory. Filipino artist Nena Saguil takes ink into abstract, almost spiritual territory, pushing the medium's limits. Malaysia's Latiff Mohidin uses calligraphic strokes to capture the dramatic limestone hills of southern China, blending Nusantara styles with East Asian traditions. But these diverse voices don't compensate for the show's uneven quality. At the heart of the exhibition are works by Chinese artists from the mid-20th century onward. Within this core, the quality fluctuates. Early pieces such as Khoo Seok Wan's (Not Titled) (Orchids On A Scholar Rock), Liu Xiande's (Not Titled) (Rambutans And Sparrows), and Chen Jen Hao's Who Wakes Up First From The Dream shine with nuance and refinement. Chen Jen Hao's Who Wakes Up First from the Dream (1943) is another show standout. PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE Among the later creations, Wu Guanzhong's Running Stream (1988) boasts his signature brilliance, while Lee Hock Moh's intricate depictions of Pulau Ubin and Fort Canning draw viewers in with minute details. But several other works lack this same vitality, breaking the rhythm and intensity of the show. It becomes clear why some of these pieces rarely see the light of day – they just don't carry the same emotional pull. Ultimately, Where Ink Tides Meet offers a thoughtful but uneven exploration into ink's evolving presence in South-east Asia. While it reveals moments of true beauty and insight, those moments also highlight the gaps that need be bridged so that future showcases can genuinely reflect ink's rich, dynamic and ever-evolving tradition. Where Ink Tides Meet runs at National Gallery Singapore from Jun 6 to Nov 16, 2025
Straits Times
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Arts Picks: Fernando Zobel show, Sun Yee and students exhibition, SCCC's Cultural Extravaganza
Transcontinental artist Fernando Zobel's exhibition Order Is Essential at the National Gallery Singapore opens from May 9 to Nov 30. PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE Fernando Zobel: Order Is Essential Transcontinental artist Fernando Zobel is the subject of an illuminating exhibition that reveals how various strains of modernism – brewing across the 20th century from the United States to Europe to Asia – coalesced in a towering figure of modern art. Zobel – born in the Philippines to a prominent Spanish family in 1924 – was dazzled by a Mark Rothko exhibition when studying in Rhode Island, lived in a house of Japanese design, studied Chinese ink and experimented with the use of a syringe in applying paint to his canvas . Order Is Essential, co-curated by Patrick Flores and Clarissa Chikiamco, is a whirlwind tour through his worldly education. Transcontinental artist Fernando Zobel experimented with using a syringe to paint. PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE In Manila, he created the first museum of Philippine modern art, Ateneo Art Gallery. An earlier work, Carroza (1953), was inspired by his interest in Philippine religious imagery such as floats and carriages – but the picture is fractured through his experiments with Cubism . Things get radically pared down as one moves through the rooms and witnesses how Zobel's abstraction almost sublimates into pure form. The magnum opus in the exhibition i s La Vista XXVI (1974) – a painting of an enormous gorge Zobel could see from outside his museum in Cuenca, which is perched on a cliff. The magnum opus in the exhibition is La Vista XXVI (1974) – a painting of an enormous gorge Zobel could see from outside his museum in Cuenca, which is perched on a cliff. PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE What remains in this piece are airy brushstrokes reminiscent of the movement of Chinese ink on rice paper and faint lines made by a syringe that hold up the entire edifice of the painti ng. It is not just Zobel on show. Artists whose works he collected and those he was influenced by make the exhibition special. American painter Rothko's Multiform (1948) is a treat, as is Chinese artist Liu Kuo-sung's Lofty Zigzag (196 8) and works by Spanish modernists. In place of a straightforward linear biography at the end of the exhibition, a networked illustration closes the show, visualising Zobel's various connections to modernism across time and spac e. Where: National Gallery Singapore, 1 St Andrew's Road MRT: City Hall When: May 9 to Nov 30, 10am to 7pm daily Admission: Free for Singaporeans and permanent residents, $20 (standard) and $15 (concession) for foreigners Info: The Storytellers at Confluence Art Space Singaporean artist Wee Kong Chai's The Storyteller (1961) is on show at Confluence Art Space. PHOTO: CONFLUENCE ART SPACE Few can name a female pioneer artist in Singapore's art history who is not Georgette Chen. A small exhibition offers an opportunity to view a work by Sun Yee (1919 to 2010 ), t he former head of the Singapore Academy of Arts, and the impact she had on four of her students. Like her Nanyang artist peers, Sun Yee blended Chinese and Western techniques in her art. She is represented in the exhibition by Cathedral (1960s), in which she depicts modern automobiles and horse-drawn carriages cross in front of a towering cathedral. Mr Goh Chee Keong, director of Confluence Art Space, says of Sun Yee: 'Her French training may have likely inspired some of her students such as Wee Kong Chai and Yeo Kim Seng to pursue further studies in Paris.' The late artist Wee, one of her students at the academy , vividly captures the drama of ordinary life in his oil paintings – be it of a street storytelling scene or of workers at a charcoal factory in Tanjong Rhu. Dim hues of yellow and blue cast his crowded scenes in a melancholic glow, reminiscent of Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh's palette. If one finds The Storyteller (1961) familiar, it is because a sister piece from 1962 now hangs in the National Gallery Singapore's revampe d art history exhibit Singapore Stori es. Works by Eng Siak Loy and Tong Chin Sye are also on show. Where: Confluence Art Space, 02-29 Havelock 2, 2 Havelock Road MRT: Chinatown When: May 9 to 25, 1 to 6pm (Wednesdays to Sundays); other days, including public holidays, by appointment only Admission: Free Info: Cultural Extravaganza Ding Yi Music Company is presenting The Last Episode, which spotlights vanishing trades, such as lion dance head-making and Malay songkok crafting through Chinese chamber music, at the Cultural Extravaganza. PHOTO: DING YI MUSIC COMPANY The Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre's (SCCC) annual festival of Chinese arts is back from May 9 to June 7, with a range of shows examining themes of cultural fusion. Nine Years Theatre's Home Kitchen (May 10, 11, 17 and 18), written and directed by Nelson Chia, stages a father-son rivalry within a three-generation Teochew restaurant business. While chef Lau Dua Gim believes in preserving the tradition of old Teochew cooking, his Paris-trained son believes that old ways have to evolve. Dance Ensemble Singapore also brings its own brand of fusion with Intersections (May 16 to 18), a multisensory dance experience that blends arts forms such as Cantonese opera, music, theatre, multimedia art, Peranakan fashion, photography, wayang kulit and calligraphy. Music lovers can look forward to the Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra Alumni Concert Reunion 3.0 (May 31), which will showcase how Chinese music can embrace global influences while maintaining its essence. The repertoire includes a performance of a Studio Ghibli soundtrack. Ding Yi Music Company is presenting The Last Episode (June 6 and 7), which spotlights vanishing trades such as lion dance head-making and Malay songkok crafting through Chinese chamber music. Where: Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre, 1 Straits Boulevard MRT: Shenton Way When: May 9 to June 7, various timings Admission: Free and ticketed Info: Go to for a full list of events Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
