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Business Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Times
Wifredo Lam's surreal creatures haunt STPI
[SINGAPORE] At Singapore's first solo show of Wifredo Lam (1902–1982), the walls are alive with shape-shifting spirits. His hybrid creatures defy classification – they are part animal, part machine, part voodoo hallucination. Lam, a Cuban-Chinese-African artist, spent his life dismantling Western modernism from the inside out. Drawing on Afro-Caribbean religions such as Santeria and Palo Monte, as well as the hallucinatory energy of Surrealism, he created a visual language that was both rebellious and deeply spiritual. His prints are populated by beings with frog fingers, taloned feet and goat heads fused with torpedoes. In one striking work (Apostroph' Apocalypse Plate VIII, 1966), a skeletal winged horse appears locked in a cryptic embrace with a vampiric ox. Are they dancing? Mating? Fighting? Lam offers riddles, not answers. Wifredo Lam's Apostroph' Apocalypse Plate VIII (1966) depicts strange creatures mating or fighting. PHOTO: WILFREDO LAM ESTATE, PARIS Titled Outside In, this year's STPI Annual Special Exhibition may be its most unsettling yet. It challenges viewers to reconsider modernism – not as a clean narrative from Paris or New York, but as a tangled, many-headed force shaped by migration and myth. Echoing the ethos of the National Gallery Singapore's recent exhibitions, which have reframed modernism as a global movement born of cultural exchange, Outside In places Lam not on the periphery, but at the very centre of this complex story. The exhibition's more than 60 works on paper give a rare glimpse into the artist's late-career printmaking practice, developed in close collaboration with renowned Italian master printer Giorgio Upiglio between 1963 and 1982. Many were created alongside avant-garde poets such as Aime Cesaire and Gherasim Luca, reflecting Lam's belief that words – like images – could tap into the unconscious and conjure bizarre, new worlds. Wifredo Lam's Untitled (1980) limited-edition print is on sale for 4,000 euros at STPI. PHOTO: WILFREDO LAM ESTATE, PARIS Outside In opens ahead of Wifredo Lam: When I Don't Sleep, I Dream, the major retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art in November. There, the audiences will encounter the full sweep of Lam's spectral imagination. But here in Singapore, this quieter, more intimate exhibition offers a wonderful entry point into a lesser-known chapter of his practice. Wilfredo Lam: Outside In runs from now till Jul 13 at STPI
Tokyo Weekender
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tokyo Weekender
City of Others: How Asian Artists Shaped Paris' Golden Age of Modernism
There are few periods in modern art history as revolutionary and prolific as the one spanning the 1920s to the early 40s in Paris. Beginning with les années folles — 'the crazy years' — the epoch saw an explosion of experimental art, music, literature and film. Writers and painters from around the world flocked to the city in pursuit of creative freedom and collaboration, forming the École de Paris (School of Paris): a community of French and foreign-born artists associated with intersecting avant-garde movements. For decades, the legacy of this cultural zeitgeist has largely been filtered through a Eurocentric lens — Pablo Picasso's fragmented geometric creations, Salvador Dalí's psychological landscapes and Marc Chagall's lyrical, azure canvases permanently etched in our popular imagination. Moving beyond this dominant narrative, the National Gallery Singapore provides a kaleidoscopic window into the vibrant network of Asian artists in Paris, who contributed immensely to global modernism in their own ways through an extraordinary stylistic and cultural hybridity. Titled 'City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s–1940s,' the comparative exhibition consists of six thoughtfully curated thematic sections, paying tribute to the artists' visions, lived experiences and nuanced self-reflexivity. The displays draw from over 50 lenders from around the globe and include works by Tsuguharu Foujita, Georgette Chen, Lê Phổ, Yun Gee and many more luminaries. At the heart of 'City of Others' is the question of how these artists, romanticized yet peripheral in a foreign land, shaped complex visual languages within dual spheres — one populated by a Parisian public with preconceptions of 'Asian' aesthetics and the other shaped by the increasingly cosmopolitan, rapidly shifting notions of modern art back home. List of Contents: Portraits of Self as Other Art Deco and 'Asian' Influence Colonial and Anti-Colonial Agendas The Promise of Prestige A City of Artistic Freedom and Exchange About National Gallery Singapore Related Posts Pai Un-soung. Self-Portrait (Atelier). Early 1930s. Oil on canvas, 60.5 x 51 cm. Collection of Centre culturel Français de Daejeon Georgette Chen. Self Portrait. c.1923. Oil on Canvas. 35 x 27 cm. Collection of National Gallery Singapore. Portraits of Self as Other The exhibition opens with a set of self-portraits by the artists featured throughout the exhibition, focusing on how they dealt with a new and shifting identity as 'other' while shaping their public image. Pan Yuliang, one of the few Asian female artists in Paris during the 1930s, casts a quietly confident gaze upon the viewer, rejecting exoticized portrayals of Chinese women. Korean artist Pai Un-soung appears solemn and professional in his portrait, dressed in a coat and tie. Vietnamese painter Mai Trung Thứ, on the other hand, playfully adopts the trope of a modern artist-bohemian, smoking a cigarette with an eyebrow cocked. Foujita Tsuguharu. Autoportrait au chat (Self-Portrait with Cat). 1926. Oil, pen and ink on canvas, 80.4 x 60.2 cm. Gift of the artist in 1927. Collection of Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon. © Fondation Foujita / ADAGP, Paris, 2025. Image © MBA Lyon – Photo Martial Couderette. B 1435. In his self-portrait, the aforementioned Foujita, a prominent figure of the École de Paris, illustrates his stylistic duality as a foreign-born painter, using an innovative technique of fine black sumi ink lines on a ground of chalky white. 'Self-Portrait with Cat' (1926) sets the tone for his skillful fusion of modernism and Japanese painting traditions throughout the exhibition. Art Deco and 'Asian' Influence One of the main fields in which Asian artists wielded significant influence was the decorative arts, especially pertaining to the art deco movement. Art deco (short for arts décoratifs) is often characterized by rich, bold colors, geometric shapes and material splendor. Lacquerware and lacquer art were particularly in vogue and essential to the flourishing aesthetic — and many of these luxurious ornaments were crafted by Vietnamese and Japanese artists. 'Japanese prints that have circulated in Paris for centuries set a certain audience expectation [about Japanese aesthetics],' says Phoebe Scott, lead curator of the exhibition. 'What's different about this period is that it's not just art objects coming from Asia … artists, designers and workers arrived in large numbers and actually participated in the ateliers of the decorative arts.' (From left to right) Hamanaka Katsu. six-panelled screen with mythological scene. 1939, Composition. c. 1930, Panels. c. 1925. Installation view, City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s–1940s, National Gallery Singapore, 2025 Katsu Hamanaka, a prominent Japanese lacquer artist, was acutely aware of the French appetite for exotic motifs and textures, as evidenced by his sumptuous and elaborate pieces; yet, he avoided reductive 'Oriental' imagery by drawing from a variety of visual references. 'The era of simply introducing 'things Japanese' is over. We must create products that fit into European lifestyles, items that fulfill practical needs rather than being exotic curiosities. This is the only path forward,' he claimed. Hamanaka's rarely seen 'six-panelled screen with mythological scene' (1939), composed of lacquer and gold leaf, is a particularly striking example of his engagement with classical mythology, rendering what appears to be the Three Graces on a deep crimson backdrop. Hamanaka had no previous training in lacquer when he arrived in Paris in 1924, but the surge in demand for lacquer at the time enabled him to establish a workshop with a team of artisans, once he learned techniques from compatriot and master lacquerer Seizo Sugawara. Jean Dunand. La forêt (Forest). 1930. Gold and silver lacquer and hinges; 12 panels, total 300 x 600 cm. Collection of Mobilier National. Image courtesy of Mobilier National; photo by Isabelle Bideau, GME-7196-000. While certain Vietnamese artists, like Phạm Hậu, exhibited lacquer paintings under their own names, many Vietnamese artisans remained uncredited for their expertise. For instance, the studio of Jean Dunand, a preeminent Swiss-born lacquer artist, saw enormous growth upon employing expert workers from traditional lacquer-producing regions of Vietnam. The exhibition honors and credits some of these invisible artisans for the first time, with a rare record of their names from the French national archives. View of the Pavilion of Indochina at the International Colonial Exposition, 1931, photographed by M. Cloche. Reproduced from M. Cloche, 60 Aspects de l'Exposition Coloniale (Paris: Éditions arts et métiers graphiques, 1931), unpaginated. Collection of National Gallery Singapore Library & Archives, gift of Adrian Jones. Colonial and Anti-Colonial Agendas Although the population of Vietnamese artists in Paris was relatively small compared to those from Japan or China, their art gained prominence in the cultural sphere, partially to promote French colonialism. Paris was the site of the International Colonial Exposition of 1931, where European powers showcased their empires through art from the colonies and grand reproductions of native architectural styles. 'It was felt that the broad French public had disconnected a bit from the idea of colonialism, and the intention was to re-engage them with an excitement about the colonial setting,' Scott explains. Some eight million people visited the exposition. Activists from both France and Indochina, including Ho Chi Minh, resisted the valorization of colonialism through political cartoons, satirical images and text. Also contesting the Colonial Exposition were surrealist intellectuals and artists like André Breton and Yves Tanguy, who established an anti-colonial 'counter exposition' titled 'The Truth About the Colonies' in union with the PCF (the French Communist Party) . Lê Phổ. L'ge heureux (The Happy Age). 1930. Oil on canvas, 126 x 177 cm. Private American collection. Photo: © Aguttes. For many Vietnamese artists, like Lê Phổ and Vũ Cao Đàm, however, the exposition presented a complex 'politics of achievement,' as Scott notes. Vietnamese modern art had its first international exposure there, allowing its constituents to forge their careers in Paris. The Promise of Prestige 'City of Others' further delves into the intricacies of how Asian artists strategically positioned themselves within the competitive Parisian art scene, discussing the kinds of works that received interest and the platforms that launched careers. Navigating the practical and cultural boundaries of salons, museums and commercial galleries was no simple task; it meant balancing issues of personal and national identity, along with public appeal. (From left to right) ink works by Chen Shuren, Wang Yachen, Qi Baishi, Gao Qifeng, Zhang Daqian, Xu Beihong. Displayed at the Exhibition of Chinese Painting, Musée du Jeu de Paume, Paris. 1933. Installation view, City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s–1940s, National Gallery Singapore, 2025 In response to the city's surge in artists from around the world and audience interest in foreign styles, a space dedicated to foreign modern art was established. The Musée du Jeu de Paume exhibited and collected the art of 'contemporary foreign schools' throughout the 1920s and 30s, showcasing Japanese and Chinese paintings among others. 'It's interesting to see that in these two exhibitions, the organizers had many choices of what to present of Japanese or Chinese art, but they purposely, unconsciously, I think, chose to focus on works done in ink,' remarks senior curator Lisa Horikawa. 'What the French audience expected to see from artists from Asia was important for the organizers.' The French audience's preconceptions of Asian art were also on the artists' minds. Xu Beihong, one of China's famed modern painters, gravitated toward oils and academic realism in the 1920s but initially chose to present his traditional ink works in Paris. 'This [duality in oil and ink] represented not only the two distinct threads in Xu's practice, but also the trends of Chinese artists in Paris in general,' curator Teo Hui Min explains. Itakulla Kanae.《赤衣の女》(Woman in Red Dress). 1929. Oil on canvas, 116.8 x 80.3 cm. Collection of Matsudo City Board of Education. Image courtesy of Matsudo City Board of Education. 'Their time in Paris was not intended to be for good. The artists had a limited time in Paris, perhaps a few years, and it was important for them that they find an opportunity to exhibit their work in Paris,' Horikawa says. Household names like Kanae Itakulla (also spelled 'Itakura'), Pai, Chen and Liu Kang were among the sea of hopefuls competing for their works to be selected for large-scale, juried salon exhibitions at places like the Salon d'Automne — having their names published in salon catalogs or winning awards became an important stepping stone toward exhibiting at commercial galleries. Liu Kang (right) and Fu Lei (back row, right) with friends in Paris 1930. Collection of the family of Liu Kang © Liu Kang Family A City of Artistic Freedom and Exchange Many Asian painters, like Xu and Itakulla, found success through figurative and academic styles, which coincided with the rappel à l'ordre ('return to order') movement in Paris at the time — a renewed interest in the classical ideals of the Greco-Roman tradition, emphasizing realism, balance and harmony. Others experimented with more avant-garde styles and Western techniques, crafting singular and beautiful modernist masterpieces. The École de Paris did not have a uniform style and celebrated a variety of new informal and progressive methods, further encouraged by the presence of independent art academies in the area. various works by Liu Kang, 1929-32. Installation view, City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s–1940s, National Gallery Singapore, 2025 Much of this experimental spirit stemmed from the free, bohemian environment in Montparnasse, the famous artistic hub located on the Left Bank of Paris' Seine River. 'Such a community … is not composed solely of Parisians, and indeed one can find people of over 50 nationalities,' Foujita, one of Montparnasse's most famous foreign residents, mused. 'It is no wonder this environment fosters unconventional ideas and creativity.' 'The artists didn't arrive in Paris with a blank slate, but brought their own artistic trajectories that they built in their home country or elsewhere,' Horikawa notes, highlighting Chinese American modernist Yun Gee, who lived and worked in Guangdong, San Francisco, Paris and New York City, as an example. 'Place Maubert' (1929), a swirling, dreamlike rendering of a glowing Parisian night, captures his expressionist and surrealist influences. Yun Gee.《莫伯特广场》Place Maubert. 1929. Oil on canvas, 73 x 60 cm. Private collection. Image courtesy of Tina Keng Gallery. Kigai Kawaguchi, a key figure in Japan's Western-style painting tradition, likewise demonstrates his cubist influences in 'Still Life, Mandolin' (1927–31). The work's title and subject matter reference Picasso's 'Still Life with a Mandolin' (1924), while its geometric abstraction takes inspiration from the synthetic cubism of Picasso and Chagall. As the site of such unprecedented and generative cultural exchanges, Montparnasse itself — and Paris by extension — became a muse for the artists who infused it with texture and life through their brushstrokes. While the aftermath of World War II brought an end to the city's cultural prestige, visual languages and many Asian artists' Parisian tenures, their love letters to 'the crazy years' immortalize its electric atmosphere and boundless creativity. photography by Lisa Knight courtesy of national gallery singapore About National Gallery Singapore National Gallery Singapore is home to the world's largest public collection of Singaporean and Southeast Asian art and endeavors to recontextualize the region's artistic contributions within global narratives. The institution is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025. Beyond its extensive permanent collection and thoughtfully curated special exhibitions, the gallery embodies Singapore's unique history through its architecture. It is housed in two national monuments — the City Hall and the former Supreme Court — making it an iconic cultural landmark. 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Time Out
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Gallery Children's Biennale
The Gallery Children's Biennale returns to National Gallery Singapore from May 31, 2025 to March 29, 2026 for its fifth edition, themed Tomorrow We'll Be.... Coinciding with the Gallery's 10th anniversary and Singapore's 60th birthday, this year's event invites visitors to explore the possibilities of their future through the values of joy, kindness, dream and love. Families can look forward to eight immersive and multi-sensory installations by local and international artists, alongside a series of engaging programmes designed to inspire creativity and reflection.
Tatler Asia
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
Stunning Singapore locations that star in BTS Jin's new music video, ‘Don't Say You Love Me'
Marina Bay Above BTS member Jin at an apartment in Marina Bay, Singapore for the music video of 'Don't Say You Love Me' The scene then shifts to the pair's apartment in Marina Bay, Singapore's premier waterfront district. This area is known for housing tourist hotspots like Marina Bay Sands, the Merlion and Gardens By The Bay—but it forms a melancholy backdrop for Jin's relationship to fall apart. The space, though cluttered with mementos of their shared life together, becomes proof of their estrangement from one another. National Gallery Singapore Photo 1 of 3 BTS member Jin at the National Gallery Singapore for the music video of 'Don't Say You Love Me' Photo 2 of 3 BTS member Jin at the National Gallery Singapore for the music video of 'Don't Say You Love Me' Photo 3 of 3 Jin and Shin Se Kyung at the National Gallery Singapore for the music video of 'Don't Say You Love Me' Jin explores the National Gallery, hoping for the spark between him and Shin Se Kyung to return. The expansive collection of Singaporean and Southeast Asian modern art look on as the pair explore the space, leaving viewers wondering if the pair will reconnect amid such grand surroundings. In case you missed it: Escape the heat: 9 cool-climate places in Southeast Asia Gardens By The Bay Above BTS Jin at Gardens By The Bay Singapore for the music video of 'Don't Say You Love Me' The theme of hopefulness continues as Jin explores Gardens By The Bay, a Singapore landmark where natural light pours out over lush greenery. This urban park in Singapore is the perfect place to bring a date—the Supertree Grove has a dazzling light show, while the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest are not to be missed. Still, the space is not enough to keep Jin and Shin Se Kyung together. Anderson Bridge Above BTS Jin at Anderson Bridge Singapore for the music video of 'Don't Say You Love Me' Jin runs across the Anderson Bridge to escape the heaviness of his emotions, unable to find a better way out of the situation. Though the bridge is only 70 metres long, its neoclassical design makes it a memorable backdrop for Jin to explore the feelings of his relationship falling apart. Singapore Flyer Above Jin and Shin Se Kyung at the Singapore Flyer for the music video of 'Don't Say You Love Me' One of the last Singapore landmarks in Jin's music video is the Singapore Flyer, a 165-metre tall observation wheel that offers panoramic views of Singapore's breathtaking skyline. The pair sit with their backs facing each other, finally accepting their fate and looking to whatever lies ahead for them. NOW READ Luxury car brands transforming skylines: How Porsche, Bentley and Bugatti are redefining ultra-luxury living The ultimate bucket list for discerning coffee lovers: 9 best travel destinations to visit Dolly de Leon and Jon Jon Briones join the cast of 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Credits Photography: Big Hit Music
Business Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Times
Zobel & Basoeki: Two artists, two styles, one regional conversation
[SINGAPORE] National Gallery Singapore's new exhibition on Fernando Zobel opens like a soft breath – quiet, deliberate, and reverent. It is as much an exercise in restraint as it is in revelation, with Zobel's best paintings often feeling like memories suspended mid-air. In an age that values speed and immediacy, his practice reminds us of the virtue of patience and refinement. For him, meaning emerges not from noise, but from order – hence, the exhibition title, 'Order Is Essential'. Born in 1924 in the Philippines to a prominent Spanish family, Zobel was far more than just an artist. He was a scholar, a collector, and a founder of institutions – including the Ateneo Art Gallery in Manila and the Museo de Arte Abstracto Espanol in Cuenca. Influenced by Asian calligraphy, American abstract expressionism, and European art history, Zobel created a language that was abstract but deeply meditative – a fusion of East and West, intellect and instinct. Fernando Zobel's Saeta 44 (1957) appears spontaneous – but it was meticulously planned, the thin lines applied with the use of a syringe. PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE This is the first time Singapore has staged a solo exhibition of Zobel's work, and it does so with conviction. There are 200 works, spanning paintings, prints, sketches, photographs and archival materials, arranged across two galleries. They trace a cosmopolitan career that moved between Manila, Madrid, Cuenca, and the United States. Each section of the exhibition reflects a different phase of Zobel's practice. The first section, titled 'With every single refinement', chronicles his time in New England, where he immersed himself in Harvard's art history classes and sketched his way through museums. The next section, 'Thin lines against a field of colour', transports visitors to 1950s Manila, where Zobel developed his signature technique: using a syringe (without a needle) to draw delicate, controlled lines of paint across the canvas. His Saeta series demonstrates the precision and grace that would define his mature style. Later works, particularly those in the Serie Negra and La Vista series, reveal Zobel's increasing interest in distillation – both of form and meaning. His compositions grow quieter and more minimal, searching for the essence of a moment. By the time the viewer arrives at 'The light of the painting', the exhibition's final section, Zobel has become almost monk-like – abstracting the landscapes of Cuenca into soft gestures, as though painting the memory of light rather than light itself. 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 Fernando Zobel's unfinished final painting El Puente (The Bridge) (1984) depicts a quiet bridge in Cuenca. PHOTO: MUSEO DE ARTE ABSTRACTO ESPANOL The curators – led by Dr Patrick Flores – have taken care to contextualise Zobel not only within South-east Asia, but within global modernism. Works by artists he collected and championed, such as Antoni Tapies, Liu Kuo-sung, and Mark Rothko, are shown alongside his own, reflecting a life spent building connections across geographies and disciplines. That spirit of transnational dialogue continues elsewhere in the Gallery: While Zobel's exhibition unfolds across two grand galleries, a smaller presentation in the Dalam Southeast Asia gallery spotlights the work of the late Indonesian painter Basoeki Abdullah. Like Zobel, Basoeki traversed borders and power structures – but with a very different brush. Where Zobel pursued abstraction and restraint, Basoeki embraced realism and spectacle – crafting luminous portraits of political elites and pastel drawings of idealised women that positioned him as one of South-east Asia's most sought-after portraitists in the post-war era. Basoeki Abdullah specialised in portraits of socialites and politicians, capturing the glamour of wealth and power. PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE Titled Diplomacy And Desire, the exhibition explores Basoeki's complicated dual role as both court painter and cultural diplomat. During his time in Singapore between 1958 and 1960, he painted and gifted two large-scale works – Labour (1959) and Struggle For The Re-establishment Of The Democracy And The Right For The People (1981) – as acts of symbolic alignment during a pivotal moment in the nation's political development. 'These works – now part of Singapore's National Collection – represent art not simply as aesthetic output, but as ideological soft power,' explains curator Kathleen Ditzig. Basoeki Abdullah's painting Labour (1959) presents an image of a futuristic civilisation and was gifted to the City Council of Singapore in 1959 – the year the island achieved self-governance. PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY SINGAPORE Displayed alongside them are pastel portraits of local women and political figures – stylised, idealised, seductive. His sitters included the leading socialites of the time, as well as political figures such as Soekarno, Soeharto, King Bhumibol, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, and Sultan Bolkiah. Behind the glamour, Basoeki was painting power and privilege. Seen together, Order Is Essential and Diplomacy And Desire offer a compelling juxtaposition. Zobel chased silence, Basoeki captured noise. One worked in metaphors of memory and light, the other dealt in likeness and legacy. Both, in their own ways, used painting to navigate postcolonial South-east Asia – a region then, and perhaps still, grappling with identity, modernity, and influence on the world stage. Fernando Zobel: Order Is Essential runs until Nov 30, 2025. Diplomacy And Desire: Basoeki Abdullah in Singapore runs until Feb 1, 2026
