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A Singapore Art blog
http://sightoracle.blogspot.com/
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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER LAUNCHES A FITTING TRIBUTE TO MALAYSIAN CONTEMPORARY ART
| -Here is the press release for a huge art book that was produced recently by a collector couple in Malaysia. I have a chapter in it. What a marvelous tome! I wish only that I could afford a copy. | | Private Collection of internationally-acclaimed local artists
Kuala Lumpur, Monday, June 7, 2010:-
Deputy Prime Minister Malaysia, Tan Sri Dato’ Hj Muhyiddin Hj Mohd Yassin today launched the MALAYSIAN CONTEMPORARY ART: THE ALIYA AND FAROUK KHAN COLLECTION book (AFK Collection Book), a tribute to the depth and breadth of contemporary artistic talent here in Malaysia.
The book, sponsored by Bandar Raya Developments Berhad (BRDB), known as a builder of iconic communities, showcases works from the private collection of Aliya & Farouk Khan, who have made an impact on the Malaysian art scene through their support of contemporary Malaysian artists and their analytical, systematic approach to building their collection.
At 932 pages, 13”x 13“ and weighing in at a hefty 10kgs, the book showcases the best, brightest, boldest and most inspiring art, sculpture and installation works of over 85 Malaysian artists, depicted across close to 900 images.
The launch was held at BRDB’s Bangsar Shopping Centre, Kuala Lumpur, where selected works from the collection were also displayed.
Also present at the launch was Minister of Tourism Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen, who commended BRDB on its support of the upcoming 1Malaysia Contemporary Arts Tourism Festival (or MCAT), which will be launched this coming July.
Speaking at the launch, Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen said, “Works of art represent the soul of the nation. It manifests our consciousness, curiosity, creativity and excellence. We need them as mirrors to our society. Nation building is as much about patriotism as it is about our identity, our values, world views and position.
“Hence, the Ministry will hold its first ever and Malaysia’s biggest celebration of contemporary arts tourism, the MCAT, in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Malacca and Johor, for a duration of three months beginning July 2010,” said Dato’ Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen.
Commenting on BRDB’s support of the book and launch event, its chairman, Dato’ Mohamed Moiz said, “Alpha global cities are cities that excel across the multiple dimensions of economics, finance, infrastructure, political stability, arts & culture and the creative industries. Alpha global cities attract high quality human capital – the best and brightest of minds -- on which to build vibrant economies.“
“Under the leadership of YAB Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak, we can see the vision to transform Kuala Lumpur into a truly alpha global city, and as one of Malaysia’s oldest and most established property development companies, BRDB is very conscious of the role it can play in helping the Government achieve it s vision and goals under the NEM.”
He said that alpha global cities are characterized by four key elements – significant financial capacity, sound infrastructure to meet the physical and lifestyle needs of its citizens, political stability and a strong arts and cultural presence to inspire the growth of creative industries.
“Kuala Lumpur today is the emerging world capital for Islamic finance, but other major and emerging financial centres have and are investing major capital in their arts, creative industries and cultural sectors to complement their financial and commercial offerings. In order to stay competitive, Kuala Lumpur needs to do this, and do it quickly.
“Kuala Lumpur needs to integrate arts and architecture, culture and business to bring a cultural soul to Kuala Lumpur, and to attract and retain the necessary human capital to ensure its economic and financial success. We need to make Kuala Lumpur a preferred destination for human capital migration and for tourists.”
He added that more than just a compilation of Malaysian talent, the AFK Collection Book would also go a long way in positioning Malaysia as a global hub for contemporary art; a very important recognition, as hubs for contemporary art – like the Tate Modern in London and New York’s Met – have played significant roles in driving tourists into cities.
“We very much hope that this becomes a meaningful and significant step in Malaysia’s pursuit of the global contemporary art tourism market,” he concluded.
On the Malaysian Contemporary Art : AFK Collection Book
The AFK Collection Book features works from the private collection of Aliya & Farouk Khan, a collection considered by many to be Malaysia’s definitive contemporary art collection. The book is curated by ShooShie Sulaiman, an award-winning Malaysian artist of international renown, and is dedicated to Liquat Ali Khan, younger brother of Farouk Khan and the inspiration behind his interest in art. ShooShie worked with the editorial team of Leila Khan and Joshua Fernandez to design and produce the book, which will be distributed at all leading Malaysian and international bookstores.
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09/04/2010 11:36 PM
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A new BBC documentary on Malaysian Art
"Most people come away from a holiday abroad with the odd trinket or tatty souvenir. But while on a break would you consider purchasing a piece of contemporary art? Well, that's exactly what the Malaysian government is trying to promote, a form of art tourism - as Mike London has been finding out." The text above describes a BBC FastTrack documentary on Malaysian Contemporary Art. Watch it here..My piece comes on at the very end just before the clip suddenly breaks... Title: Muse I Size: 74"x 65" Year: 2007 Mixed Media on Canvas In the collection of Aliya and Farouk Khan
08/27/2010 09:01 PM
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A mural of John Lennon in Kuala Lumpur
Just finished a large mural in memory of John Lennon in Malaysia. It took three full days with several helpers..
Title: Lennon Media: Matt acrylic on wall Size : 115" x 111"
08/27/2010 08:05 PM
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A recent press release by the Malaysian Government
MEDIA RELEASE
MINISTRY OF TOURISM MALAYSIA UNVEILS NEW ART WAVE
TO ATTRACT HIGH-YIELD TOURISTS
KUALA LUMPUR, 23 June 2010 - The Minister of Tourism Malaysia, YB Dato’ Sri Dr. Ng
Yen Yen today announced yet another exciting and innovative tourism product, the
“1Malaysia Contemporary Art Tourism 2010” (or MCAT 2010) Festival which aims at
targeting more high-yield tourists to come to Malaysia.
MCAT 2010, the brainchild of YB Dato’ Sri Dr. Ng as an effort to spur the
development of the local contemporary art scene, is Malaysia’s first ever
contemporary art event and will be held annually from July to September each
year. It will showcase the most explosive, dynamic and provocative art produced by
internationally-acclaimed Malaysian-born artists through a series of exhibitions as
well as seminars nationwide.
For a start, MCAT 2010 is aimed at establishing Malaysia as a reputable destination
for art aficionados in the region to enjoy and acquire contemporary art, with
museum-quality pieces. It is also hoped to encourage owners of art galleries to
launch new pieces by young artists that will set the trend for the next few years.
Speaking at a media conference, YB Dato’ Sri Dr. Ng said the Ministry believes that
MCAT 2010 will educate, excite and inspire both local and foreign visitors particularly
on the beauty and variety of contemporary art.
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“We are indeed very glad to introduce MCAT – Malaysia’s first Contemporary Art
Tourism Festival. With rising interest and demand for contemporary creative works, I
hope that this event will serve as a meeting point for art enthusiasts, gallery owners,
artists as well as new generation of collectors from all over the world in forging
business alliance, acquiring new contemporary art works, sharing ideas and
exchanging information - all under one roof. Of course, to discover and learn about
the new contemporary Malaysia as well.”
“The Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia, hopes that through 1Malaysia Contemporary Art
Festival, we will be able to attract more high-yield tourists which is expected to also
increase the contribution towards the economic spin-off through new market niche
areas in the tourism industry.
“Through this new initiative, and tourism industry being among the 12 main National
Key Economic Areas (NKEA), we believe the country will be able to achieve the
goal as stated in the 10th Malaysia Plan -- that the industry will contribute RM115
billion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with two million jobs created by 2015,”
added Dato’ Sri Dr Ng.
Local and foreign visitors who enjoy spending time browsing in art galleries, will have
the opportunity to view many sculptures and art works, revealed for the first time in
Kuala Lumpur at Galeria Seri Perdana, Starhill Art Gallery, National Art Gallery,
PETRONAS Gallery, Malaysia Tourism Centre (or MaTiC); Folk Art Gallery in Melaka
and IMCAS 2010 Danga City Mall in Johor.
Among the key highlights of the Festival will be a display of Aliya and Farouk Khan’s
personal collection as well as several exciting and vibrant works by some of the best
internationally-acclaimed Malaysian artists, both young and established ones such
as Abdul Multhalib Musa, who is regarded as one of Malaysia’s leading
contemporary sculptors; Fauzan Omar; Annuar Rashid; abstract expressionist Yusoff Ghani; Eng Hwee Chu; visual artist/writer A. Jegadeva; Dhavinder Gill and many more.
Other art works that will be showcased include those by Ahmad Zaki Anwar, Hamir
Saib, Tan Chin Kuan, Shooshie Sulaiman, Eng Hwee Chu, Umi Baizurah Mahir, Kaw
Leong Kang, Anthony Chang, Rajinder Singh, Bayu Utomo, Fauzan Mustapha,
Stephen Menon, Ivan Lam and the list goes on. Besides the presence of curators
and art collectors during the three-month period, world-renowned speakers such as
Mika Kuraya from Japan and Russell Storer from Australia will also be there to
conduct the seminars.
The Ministry of Tourism Malaysia is also highlighting the Festival via its “Tourism Art
Trail” - a directory that contains a listing of contemporary art galleries, seminars and
talks on Malaysia’s contemporary art scene, information on places where tourists
can visit as well as events that they can attend or participate.
For more information, log on to:
http://www.tourism.gov.my/en/ContemporaryArts/default.htm
08/23/2010 07:53 AM
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Recent interview I gave for a magazine about my new exhibition - Curio
1. What was the response like at the opening? As expected? How did people react?
Raj: I am afraid everyone balked and scattered for a quick getaway. It was shocking to see grownups cry and exclaim loudly – ‘what rubbish!!’ But seriously, many were intrigued by my portrayal of an alternative early 1900s Malaya. There were scattered comments on the complexity of the visual cues in the paintings. In general the paintings invited the audience to decipher, to step in for a closer look at the fragments of text and images that I used to construct my narrative. Although many plain refused the invitation..
2. It is mentioned that Curio is heavily influenced by your time in Paris. Care to elaborate – how is this so? What was the experience like in Paris?
Raj: Apart from being titillated by the gregarious art scene in Paris (there was this artist who was always in a Castro uniform complete with a beard that stomped around in big army boots), I fell head over heels in love with print. Curio owes a lot to my love affair with screen printing. And Montparnasse is a place which every artist should visit to eat croissants, drink coffee, sit around and philosophise and occasionally make some art.
3. Also, could you kindly elaborate as to how the idea behind Curio is very much supported by your background in Math and Philosophy?
Raj: Hah… can’t get away from the two subjects even if I wanted to. That is what I do when I am not doing art and I guess it seeps in into my art sideways. It has something to do with epistemology and what can be known and how can we go about knowing it and alternative truths and that sort of stuff.
4. How do you combine the two disciplines– your math background and your creative side? Could you kindly elaborate please.
Raj: I don’t. Except when I ask questions pertaining to both mathematics and art. When you do both as much as I do, there are cross overs and the gap that builds up between the two starts becoming uncomfortable and confusing until you do something about it. I did and I have humanized my maths and altered my art in the process.
5. I’ve read the basis behind Curio – based on foreign press clippings on Malaysia – could you kindly elaborate more on this please.
Raj: There is a lot of freaky stuff that goes on around the world no more so then in Malaysia. Everything from crazy politics to record breaking structures, exotic sultanate, mindblowing flaura and fauna, amazing race mix and its accompanying shenanigans and better-than-fiction gyrations etc etc. The non-Malaysian press cannot come near to understanding the freakery of Malaysia. So they often get it all out of context and often the news reports of Malaysia sound like stories of some freak show on some savage unknown corner of the world.
6. What are your personal feelings on what is said in the foreign press about your home country? How have these transpired into your art? From how long ago have you based the clippings on / and what is the most recent clipping?
Raj: I have been living abroad for a long time - never out of touch with Malaysia. I know of many occasions when I have had a chuckle to myself reading some exaggerated news report on Malaysia which I use to go out of my way to find. A lot of what Curio is based on is fiction. I have created a fictitious early 1900s Malaya. I wrote fictitious newspaper columns, dreamed up powerful and highly secretive organizations that played a large role in this fiction complete with secret membership manuals and handshakes and conjured up imaginary Malayan human creatures that entertained the world through high publicized fictitious Freak Shows and circuses. And lots more. There is a mountain of material, all fiction, based on real documents from early Malaya that inform the series.
7. What does Curio celebrate and capture – Elaborate please.
Raj: It celebrates our difference. It celebrates alternative realities and hopefully captures everything and nothing in a sort of a Derridean universe.
8. The play of symbols, words and information in your pieces – what’s the purpose – purely intentional or otherwise?
Raj: Everything conspires to confuse and collaborate to build multiple narratives about Malaya and its many possible histories.
9. What are the issues that this collection focuses on – and why these?
Raj: I am not sure if I am grappling with any issues. I am interested in knowledge and the many ways I can balance or unbalance an equation.
10. Let’s focus on the technique used - could you elaborate how Paris played a role. Plus the techniques involved in creating your pieces.
Raj: There is a cacophony of techniques and processes and screens and fragments of material and layers that make for the final product. The journey, I assure you, is much more interesting than the painting that you see.
11. Why the focus on these particular towns – were these stopovers in your life’s journey? Why Setapak for instance? Which depicts Ipoh?
Raj: Why not? I know the journey from KL to Penang best from my child hood. I imagined that the paintings represented old 50 year walls I would find in these towns in my fictitious world.
12. Is each piece proclaiming the town or its living heritage since people seem to take center stage?
Raj: Nope.
13. The man in the turban – the Sikh figure appears quite prominently – why is this – does this have a connection with your particular heritage (I’m assuming you’re Sikh too).
Raj: He is my grandpa! He represents me, the voyeur, looking on, cashing in on the oddities of the universe around him.
14. The freak show – how do you envision yours and how does it play out?
Raj: Just like in my paintings - a mass of confusion masking the real deal if there is such a thing.
15. Why the weathered look of the pieces – what does it symbolize?
Raj: Old walls recently discovered with layers of discarded posters once proclaiming a land rich with freaks.
16. Why the use of glitter and varnish – what does that symbolize?
Raj: Glitter emphasizes the razzmatazz of my erstwhile world of freakery. Varnish protects my paintings.
17. How does one begin to uncover the layers of your work? What would you like your audience to discover in the core of each work?
Raj: I want them to discover what they want to discover. I do not want to tell them what to see and what not to see. Everyone will see the paintings differently and thank bejesus for that. Just the other day I entertained an art lover who was convinced that the paintings were about Malayan multi-racial history. Who am I to tell him otherwise?
18. You view the country and its goings on from across the border– you capture it in Curio – who are you – a Malaysian longing for home, or for how things used to be, politically, economically, socially?
Raj: Nope, none of that! I am just portraying it another way. And an artist at his best can only hope to reveal an alternative way of looking at things.
19. What does MOLC stand for?
Raj: It stands for whatever you want it to be.
06/02/2010 04:53 AM
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Gallery pic from recent opening at Pace Gallery in Malaysia
06/02/2010 12:19 AM
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Pics from Exhibit at ParkerAsia
Paintings from the Curio Series at the ParkerAsia event. Photographs by Benjamin Yu from Studio One.
06/01/2010 10:30 PM
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Blockbuster Alor Star
Here is one of paintings from the recent Curio series
Title: Blockbuster Alor Star
Media: Bitumen, acrylic, oil, parquette varnish, ink and glitter on PVC
Size: 153cm x 212cm
Year: 2010
Collection: Curio
Presently available with PACE Gallery, Malaysia.
05/25/2010 02:33 AM
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A long awaited new series of works...
I am launching my new series of paintings on the 19th of May - next week - in my home country, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.
I have struggled a year and a half to get here today. Year and a half of practice based research and lots of sleepless nights and half-painted canvases. My residency at Montparnasse in Paris in 2008 at a print studio has had a lasting influence...
'Curio' owes a lot to it....
R
05/10/2010 10:02 PM
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A Room to Read Auction
My painting "Uprooted" was auctioned off. The Room to Read Charity did well. I believe over $2M was raised..
Here is the letter of thanks from the organisers:
Dear RJ,
We would like to sincerely thank you for your donation and support for the Room to Read Singapore Gala Dinner. The evening was a huge success and lived up to its theme of "An Evening of Wine & Philanthropy" with Jancis Robinson taking the guests through the many wines served, and John Wood talking about Room to Read's past ten years and future directions - with especially poignant stories of the children and communities whose lives are impacted so positively through the Room to Read projects and investments.
Due to the wonderful support of organisations like yourselves, and very generous guests on the night - we were able to raise enough money to build 19 Schools, develop 150 Libraries, and support over 1,000 years of Girls Scholarships - in total, last night will impact more than 60,000 children in the developing world. We are truly humbled by and appreciative of your generosity and partnership - and we thank you once again for helping to bring the gift of literacy to so many.
Regards,
A.H., A.R. & K.B.
Singapore Chapter of Room to Read
World Change Starts with Educated Children.®
05/06/2010 11:05 PM
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A Room to Read Auction
Have you heard of this wonderful non profit called Room to Read set up 10 years ago by a microsoft executive who gave up his job to build libraries for children in Nepal, India, Cambodia, Vietnam etc and also a education fund for girls?
To date Room to Read has impacted the lives of over 4 million children by constructing over 1000 schools and 9,000 libraries, publishing 433 local language children's book titles representing over 4.1 million books and donated over 3.3 million English children's books and has been funding over 8,000 long-term scholarships for girls :)
At Room to Read's event tonight I am auctioning one of my older pieces from my " IcoME from over tHERE" series called "Uprooted" showing a Buddha ripped asunder from the ground...
It is in Silent Auction tonight 5th of May - An evening of Wine and Philanthropy. I hope it makes the charity some cash...
05/04/2010 10:04 PM
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Parker In Asia Art exhibition
I will be exhibiting some of my first works from my brand new series 'Curio' at the 'Ultimate Parker in Asia' event at the Fullerton Hotel on Monday the 3rd of May.
See http://www.parkerinasia.com/events.html for details on the super deluxe private event. You will need to cough out a cool $2500 to get in.
I am also donating a painting for an auction in aid of NUH Patient Care Fund.
04/28/2010 02:06 PM
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An interview with artist Lim Shing Ee
I interviewed artist Lim Shing Ee recently. Here is a synopsis of the email interview. I have refrained from editing the interview as much as possible to preserve the artist's voice. An edited version of the interview will be published in LASALLE's Praxis Press.
For those who don't know Shing Ee, here is a profile of the artist written for her recent exhibition at Sculpture Square Singapore:
At 34 years of age, backed by 9 solo and 35 group exhibitions spanning Japan, Korea, Philippines, Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Peoples Republic of China since 2000, Singaporean born artist Lim Shing Ee boasts a commendable portfolio. Her accomplishments have propelled her as being one of Singapore’s notable visual artist.
Upon graduation from LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts (B.F.A.) in 1998, Lim was bestowed with the JCCI Art Scholarship from the Japan Chamber of Commerce to attend one of Japan’s leading art universities, Musashino Art University where she obtained her Master in Fine Arts (MFA) in 2002.
Lim’s work ranges from intimate drawings, paintings to large-scale 3-dimensional installations. Her quiet style has become the hallmark of her voice in her art. She adopts the trait of having whimsical setups of bizarre yet familiar looking shapes and forms which maybe baffling but draws us further into its simplicity. This minimalistic adaptation of her art is possibly stemmed from the education she received in Japan where the artistic genre there has an inclination towards sophistication, clean lines and subtlety.
Her paintings, drawings and installations explore the process of concocting visual associations with fragments collected from everyday encounters with people, things, creatures, architectural spaces, environments and atmospheres, creating what she refers to as 'mental maps'.
Lim Shing Ee currently lives and works in Japan.
Shing Ee provided the following descriptions for the images above from her recent exhibition 'drawing circus' at Sculpture Square. Pictures were taken by Lim YingXi.
1. I associate the idea of circus with acrobatics, physical activities, something that is in between reality and imagination. And the idea of drawing is not only just the physical action of making lines or marks on paper but also the idea of extraction, absorbing and executing. So i thought putting the two words together will be very appropriate as to describing what I do and the resultant objects i make. It is hard for me to describe the exhibition to a person who have not seen the exhibition. I think I would just show him/her the prologue of the drawing booklet and perhaps say that it features a couple of objects that are interwoven into the space responding to the architecture structure of the space, at the same time, creating conversation among themselves and with the ideas of drawing. ... well the best would be to show pictures! :p
2. Just as you say, the shadows somehow allow the objects to "come into existence" . They become visually there. I see shadows sometimes as a solid objects in itself. In my work, spaces become objects and vice versa....3D becomes 2D and vice versa. For example, the hollow passageways of the arches sometimes become solid objects in a dome shape, and the solid dome objects extends from its ends shadows on the floor and onto the wall and that part of the shadow on the wall might just become another object in 3D.... and so on.
3. the branching motif on the floor is a "division" pattern that came up in my earlier works. A line splits on one end to form a Y and from the two splitted ends of the Y, each splits again into two and the pattern repeats itself. I like the repetitive and constant generation of points and lines. Actually the motif of the "ribbon" comes from the division idea as well... the splitting of the ends into two. THe idea of a body having two legs somehow is based on that same idea too -- Splitting. I used to love Math in school.. so I think that is why I like the Mathematic inclination in that thinking. even though it might not make any logical sense.
The interview:
Raj: Upon discovering your associations with Japan, many of your audience tend to jump to associating your work with Japanese preoccupation with daintiness, pop and fetish.Are they wrong in making these associations? Are there any strong influences that shaped your art to what it is today?
Shing Ee: I do not suppose they are wrong to associate my work with the fetish and pop culture of Japan... Even though I do not consciously adopt specific characteristics in my work, living in Japan makes it inevitable to get influenced by the culture.
At the starting point of my expedition into art, I was quite entranced and influenced by Surrealist painters especially Rene Magritte. And when I started moving to making installation work, I loved and still like to look at works of Jessica Stockholder. and also Mark Manders. I think Mark Manders' work is very intriguing. The visual and tactility of his work is remarkable. So i think his work has quite a bit of influence to what I do.
Raj: Sometimes I think of your work as being the work of a surrealist artist involved in something like “character design”? Some of the shapes in your sculptures, your installations, your drawings seem to deserve a name, a family and a history?. The characters might appear in a circus or a freakshow and might inspire someone like Tim Burton to make a superb surreal animation movie with you as the puppeteer? Comment?!
Shing Ee: I LOVE TIM BURTON. I see all his movies and I love all the characters and the colours he uses.
I ever dreamt of working in a studio making muppets... (I love muppet show too)... or try out stop animation production.
Well, within the realms of art, I prefer my objects to remain nameless... ambiguous. I like them being 'in-between'... not here nor there.
Raj: How will you classify your art if at all?
Shing Ee: Same goes with classifying my art. neither here nor there. I don't really wish for my work to be categorized. It would be ideal if it can be sometimes here and sometimes somewhere else. sometimes art, sometimes design, sometimes just everyday things.
Raj: How far are you concerned with making your art seductive? Your work is generally quite pretty. It is difficult to miss it. Do you consciously engineer this seductive quality?
Shing Ee: I do not intentionally make my work to look seductive but I think subconsciously I enjoy looking at attractive things or things attractive in my own sense, so the work I make naturally has a certain appearance or style developed in that sense. In the past, I have tried to venture into making something look messy or grotesque... but somehow it didn't make sense to me and no matter how I tried, the degree of messiness and grotesqueness wasn't quite enough and was too forced. I felt like I was lying to myself and to my audience. ... so I deduced it is just too unnatural a process for me to take. I think when it comes to making a good piece of work, honesty is so important.
Raj: For your readers at LaSalle School of Arts in Singapore, can you help me chart your journey from your LaSalle days on to where you are today in terms of your art? Were you already working with “small furry creatures” and “shadows” that take a life of their own even then?
Shing Ee: During the first three years, I was just painting and drawing a lot with a style that was pretty much surrealistic ...Magritte influence... and sometimes abstract.
There was a period of time when I started getting hooked on red and white stripes... reminiscent of candy stripes, circus, cartoon. I had a series of 'happy' paintings with organic forms (shaped like sausages) that were all striped. and also a series of paintings that were pretty much abstract attempting to 'de-construct' the stripes. at that time, I think I was inspired by Daniel Buren and Yayoi Kusama.
Towards the end of the third year (diploma), I started making puffy wall works. Stretched fabrics over the canvas stretcher and stuffed them with cotton wool or polyfibre so they look somewhat like pillows. The corners were sewn such that they are long and pointed.Some had multiple corners extending from each corner of the canvas. At that time, I was into the idea of fetish. I made a lot of work with protrusion, (pointy corners) sticking out of fabric surfaces. Most of them were wall works.
There weren't much furry things. Mainly I used glossy surface vinyl fabrics or plain cotton... in mainly pink or white.
At the Fourth BA year, I made more objects than paintings. I started making multiples. and the material was mainly balloons. I was into the idea of temporality. I made lots and lots of tiny objects by layering balloons and stuffing them with cotton. so they were really candy-like. then I tried to box or jar them. so they looked like commodities. I made large giant cupcakes with balloons as well... Well I wasn't sure what I was doing throughout... but before i realised I made a lot of work! Think the whole process of making multiples by hand has got to do with fetish as well. All the works ended up looking super brightly coloured and blobby. It was during that year I started making installation as well.. but I didn't think they really work out that well cos I was so naive. :p
Raj: What were your memories of LaSalle? How did it nurture you into becoming the artist that you are today?
Shing Ee: I have a lot of fond memories of Lasalle. The classmates I had, the lecturers. I entered Lasalle after going to Junior College, so it was like culture shock when I got in there. there were lots of weird looking people who weren't serious about doing anything... but I was super inspired by Milenko who was my drawing teacher at that first year. He was playing his guitar in class while we were drawing... I cannot forget it! :)
Of course there are lousy times as well. The heat in the dirty studios was hard to bear. (SO unlike the current stylish studios you have with air conditioning!!!)
I loved the critique sessions. though the sessions always freak us out cos of all the harsh comments we get. But I think they were the main lessons I learnt. I enjoyed listening to Gunalan (he was our theory lecturer).. think he was really inspiring. I enjoyed Ian Woo too. he was my painting lecturer in my third year.
Mainly it is the whole community. I could be around people with the same art interest... so it was heaven. I think I found my identity mainly during those time in lasalle.
Raj: Are you involved in any projects in Singapore at present?
Shing Ee: Over the last year or so, I have been involved in some large scale commission work for the MRT (Cross Street Station) due to complete in the next 2 or 3 years and for the Mapletree Business City which will be completed some time mid this year, but I am unable to disseminate images or sketches for these until the projects are completed.
04/07/2010 10:05 AM
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An interview with the wonderful and exciting Jane Lee
There is a wonderful new artist in town. I last saw her at her first major solo at Osage Singapore end of Sept 09. Who is she? What is her pedigree? Here is her amazing profile, one that reveals that we have still got it here in Singapore - to spot a talent in the making despite our numerous estwhile faux pas.
Jane Lee was born 1963 in Singapore. She graduated from LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts with a BA in Fine Arts and a Diploma in Fashion. Her works have been exhibited in a number of notable exhibitions in the region such as Wonder, Singapore Biennale 2008, where she presented Raw Canvas. Other exhibitions include CODE SHARE: 5 continents, 10 biennales, 20 artists, Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, Lithuania (2009), Coffee, Cigarettes and Pad Thai: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia, Eslite Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan (2008), Always Here But Not Always Present: Art in a Senseless World, Singapore Management University, Singapore (2008) and the solo exhibition, Transformation / Process, Taksu Gallery, Singapore (2006). Lee has won several awards, most recently the 2007 Sovereign Art Prize (finalist), Hong Kong, and was also the first recipient of the Singapore Art Prize in 2007.
I asked her some questions through an email interview. Here are the questions and her responses:
RJ: Jane, how would you describe your art? Are they paintings? Are they sculptures? I sympathize with you if you find this question irrelevant. We use our analytical knife to demarcate areas in our fields of endeavor to be able to make sense of them.Perhaps there is an in-between category for your art? A “fabric sculpture” perhaps? Or a “dressed painting”?
JL: While my works are about painting, it is also about challenging what we understand painting to be. They are about pushing the boundaries in painting, and seeing the impossible. The emphasis, or fetishisation, about the medium is not as important as what my work is about.
RJ:Is there some area of art making that you are challenging with your work? I see the weave,the contours and creases and some sensuous feel in your work that reminds me of fabric.(Perhaps this is further accentuated by the fact that I am cognizant of your background in fashion).
JL: My works question painting—what constitutes a ‘painting’, and how paintings can be made. In other words, my paintings explore the possibilities of constructing one. They are not about fabric at all.
JL: Paint has its own tendencies, so I just let things happen. Sometimes things don’t turn up well,and certain parts have to be retouched. These are parts where you see a thicker layer of paint. Therefore, any similarity to fabric is incidental.
RJ: A famous example cites that if you take a teacup and line it with fur, it has to be considered a work of art, because perhaps there is nothing else left to consider it as. Perhaps this is how you pitch your art work against our increasingly static perception of art (which of course needs to be violently jarred at its very foundations every now and again). You have created a new type of fabric. One that is no longer a fabric. Perhaps you have taken a potentially craft-like area of work into the realms of art? Can you comment?
JL: It’s not my conscious intent to incorporate dress-making (craft) elements into my artwork. The influence of my fashion background on me is subconscious, something that I cannot escape. The concern in my paintings is not for fabric; it’s for the material components of a painting.For example, the canvas—as a material—, which is part and parcel of painting.
RJ: It would be interesting for my readers to understand how you came to using the particular material for the making of your art. What was the process? How long did it take? What influenced you and what were the considerations or the criteria for you to narrow down your choices.
JL: I don’t set out to use particular types of material, although I do explore alternative sources other than fine art shops: everyday life for tools like spoons, forks, cake-making icing nozzles, ham slicers, syringes, and even simply my own bare hands, and industrial suppliers for alternative qualities of acrylic and oil paint and mix media materials. Any and all kinds of material may come into play.
JL: Of course, the tools chosen have to interact well with the paint. They have to be able to bring out the beauty and/or interesting qualities of the paint; they have to be the means through which the paints manifest a certain character. To me, (the characteristics of) paint is what’s important—the tools are merely a medium.
JL: My technique is largely trial and error. As part of my primary motive to push the boundaries of painting, I test and pursue all possibilities.
JL: It all started back when I was painting in the traditional style. One day, I noticed the beauty of the acrylic paint that has dried onto my palette. This made me realise my painting had already begun on the palette, even before the first application of paint onto canvas. Painting can exist without a canvas, I realised. This epiphany inspired me to explore indirect means of painting, such as by working on a painting’s components before sticking them onto the canvas, as opposed to through the direct way of applying paint straight onto canvas. It takes me about a year to complete each project.
RJ: Finally, I am wondering if there was a conscious effort in your part to de-gender or to ‘genderise’ your art. Do you for instance want your art to be recognized as woman-made, bringing perhaps feminist meanings into your work? You might not have consciously thought of it in that vein. Has there been anyone who has suggested that your artwork is essentially feminist?
JL: The delicate details on my paintings may look ‘woman-made’, but then the large scale that some of them are constructed on also implies a ‘man’s touch’. There are both masculine and feminine connotations taking place at the same time. This, I think, reveals my belief in the notion of Yin/Yang, in the idea that a duality exists in every individual. This duality results in elements of masculinity in women, and of femininity in men.
JL: I do understand the imperative to categorise—there is safety and security in knowing for sure that man fit a certain type, and women another. However, I don’t think it’s right to label artists that way, viewing their work through the lens of gender expectation, and thereby possibly interfering with the meaning. After all, the beauty of art is in its exploration of ‘in-between’ conditions and spaces.
JL: I definitely do not take conscious effort to implicate gender into my work. I do, however,consciously discard the limiting notion that I am a woman. During my process, gender identity ceases to exist for me.
RJ: You art is beautiful. It is immediately seductive. What is your view on the aesthetics of your art? Are you seducing your audience to draw them closer to reveal and perhaps hide new interpretations? Is aesthetics to you more than seduction?
JL:I do seek to create a compelling quality about my artworks, compelling enough to draw people closer. This is perhaps the essence of all visual art.
JL: However, I feel that seduction is cheap. Seduction requires effort, conscious intention, and therefore will not last long. Rather, I see myself offering viewers stimuli that evoke the beauty inherent in each one of them. The beauty comes not immediately from what I present to them, but comes instead from my prompting them to slow down and surrender to their inner nature, allowing joy to overtake. My works are purely the trigger.
11/17/2009 07:15 PM
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An interview with artist John Westmark
I recently attended the opening of an amazing artist from Florida,US here in Singapore at Collector's Contemporary. See here for John's work and here for Collector's Contemporary Gallery
John Westmark was born in the Southern United States. John’s first exposure to artmaking was watching his mother draw on paper scraps during long Baptist sermons.
John holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida.
He presently works and lives in Gainesville, Florida. Westmark’s work has been exhibited widely and is held in collections worldwide. Recent acquisitions include the Council on Foriegn Relations, Washington, DC; and the Frederick
R. Weisman Foundation in Los Angeles, CA. John is a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship recipient, was recently featured in New American Paintings, and has been selected for the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art Artist-in-Residence for the summer of 2010. Westmark has earned a position on the watch lists of museums and institutions.
John’s solo show at Collectors Contemporary marks his Singapore debut. The show is on view through September 30, 2009.
I spoke to Dr Koh from Collector's Contemporary gallery and here is what he had to say about John:
My partner and I started collecting John's works before we actually met him. We were in Miami for Art Basel and saw his works which was part of a group show in a local gallery at that time. After 3 intense days of art overload we chanced upon that group show and found his works refreshingly original.
About 6 to 8 months after that, we started communicating by email. We gradually, acquired more of his works and kept the communication channels open.
John's works are so strong and distinct that we found it difficult to fit into any of our group shows. As we acquired more, we felt that it would be best to give him a solo show.
Finally, I had a few questions for John. Here are the questions and his responses:
A. Tell us a little about both your flight series and folklore series.
The flight series was the beginning of my work with the sewing patterns. The close visual relationship of the sewing pattern pieces and sections of aircraft was quite attractive to me. So the first pieces were these Orwellian winged contraptions. The exploration into flight and how it forms and impacts our lives led me to mythological references, such as Icarus, and many others. The notion of flight and myth and
mankind is still a very fertile place to conceive work from – a kind of faith versus reason argument.
Gradually, my focus has become two-pronged, the flight work and most recently, the folklore series. With the folklore work, the sense of narrative becomes a key component to the work - the sense of a story. Several key sources of folklore/storytelling are the Brothers Grimm and the rich heritage of storytelling from the Southern United States. I'm also looking at folklore from around the world, and interestingly, the are many similarities in the moral and message of stories from very different cultures/societies. There is a common human thread that speaks to good versus evil and finding the "right" path. But I will also say that a great many tales are very dark and do not always have a happy ending. The "happily ever after" line is pure Disney.
B. Brockelman links collage to a postmodern knowledge system rooted in paradox. You use collage extensively in your work. Do the epistemic contradictions of collage find any bearing in your work?
“Collage practices—the gathering of materials from different worlds into a single composition demanding a geometrically multiplying double reading of each element—call
attention to the irreducible heterogeneity of the “postmodern condition.” But,insofar as it does bind these elements, as elements, within a kind of unifying field ..”
- Brockelman, T. P. (2001). The frame and the mirror: On collage and the postmodern. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
Ah yes, well put.
Collage has been a pleasant surprise. If you would have asked me about collage a few years ago, I would have scoffed. For many years, I embraced the definition of the artist as a pure painter and nothing else. It's naive and embarrassing, but true, I would not consideranything other than paint and canvas. Now, things are different, and I do agree with Brockelman in that the postmodern condition is and must be inclusive of any process or material, there is a pluralist approach to making art now – and at the root level heterogeneity is the catalyst for metaphor. And I don't just mean the implied material metaphor that collage presents; rather, conceptual metaphor, the ability for a work to "flip" meaning for the viewer. For me, as a viewer and an artist, I get the most joy out of artwork that oscillates from one place of conveyance to another without being obnoxious.
Bertolt Brecht remarked that the mechanics of collage run contrary to the organic model of growth...assumptions of harmony, unity, and closure. The idea that collage is an act of disruption through assemblage of pre-existing images is appealing. It is a fascinating premise: the appropriation of material created by machines of reproduction with a specific intent opens the work up for a new set of associations – essentially reactivating it. Yeehaw!
09/22/2009 12:38 AM
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There is something really interesting and appealing about arrangements of letters..
Text-portraits by Ralph Ueltzhoeffer and a word cloud for this blog by wordle.net
08/06/2009 07:46 PM
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Art is politics
I was at the opening for an exhibition at VWFA entitled Curating Lab: 100 Objects (Remixed) yesterday. It was a crowded opening and there was little time to look at many of the artworks there. I will head back before it ends on the 30th of August.
I write this because I am intrigued about a comment made by Heman Chong in his opening question in the transcript of an interview between curators for the exhibition.
A quote from a german art critic Jan Verwoert was used -" Art and politics belong to the same trade".
I am intrigued.
I have always thought of politics as a struggle for power in the Max Weber's sense. You talk about the politics of a country or corporate politics where oneupmanship is the salient defining trait.
So Jon Verwoert must mean politics in a different sense.
"They [art and politics] share the medium of gesture, which, in its expanded sense, encompasses all the physical manifestations through which people confront each other and seek to evoke desired responses, whether by speech and expressions of body language or by the display of signs and signals in images, texts, music or architecture".
Is Jon Verwoert saying that politics ( and art) is about invoking a desired response?
In the case of art, the above statement seems to subscribe to the aesthetic theory of utile. Art has a function. It evokes a preconceived, premeditated response.
But the above position is trite and I am not concerned about it much. It is discussed forever in art circles.
But what about the other position, vis-a-vis politics is about invoking a desired response? Is this only in a limited sense? Perhaps.
Read another look at art is politics taken from the great xurban.net
Art is politics. It is political as opposed to politics as management (ie. of state), a profession, a power play, manipulation or propaganda. As a matter of existence, art aims at the political as the ultimate means of emancipation, absolute freedom from commodification, if such is still possible. Art is a critical necessity as long as it fights being a part of the spectacle, as it aims to turn the spectacle upside down, as it exposes the 'culture industry.'
The crisis of art and with it the artist in the 'center' (West) stems from the impossibility of politics as such, within the captured psyche of the consumer culture. Political correctness without the political agenda, or art as expression of the ethnic and sexual self is bound to be neutralized through the all encompassing spectacle. While this appears, as it did to Baudrillard, as the 'complete liberation' of art and the artist, free from the historical drive that kept the tradition alive, it also marks the disappearance of the impulse, the loss of the cause: Not that of a liberation en masse (a revolution), but it renders the production (ie. of culture) irrelevant as such.
In the periphery the situation is just as bleak, as the tranquillized masses are more prone to turn into a mob of fascist/nationalist/religious thugs. The lie of globalisation, besides creating a monster as such, aims at a liberation of a different order, that of the capital and free enterprise. While it is business as usual, the power (ie government), already corrupted, becomes more oppressive, more violent. Yet still, if 'pockets of resistance' are a possibility, they are possible within the very pores of the military-police state, as the unavoidable necessity of existence, of simply 'being.'
Ironically, the last refuge of art as politics comes around a full circle, to that of the historical avant-garde in the time of crisis, but with a difference, not as the history repeating itself in the historicism's bordello. To expand on Benjamin's 'optical unconscious' one demands a 'geographical unconscious', a slip of the tongue apart from the genetic, folkloric, regional, traditional and 'oriental.' In these parts of the world, the 'reflexes' of the totalitarian regimes are without a doubt on the oppressive side. But for the ordinary man, the accidental/instinctive favors a special blend of violence, pity and a deeper sensation of poverty that is peculiarly geographical. Already in Istanbul, owing to a long tradition, the civil organization of social space displays an autonomous charity of its own, rarely disturbed by the authority. While the post colonial sphere is marked by inept institutions of the western kind, Istanbul leads a life of its own, again disjunct between tradition and change, but nevertheless with a sense of decency, a comraderie as it surfaced after the 1999 earthquakes. The will of the artist-intellectual in this geography should follow from this, that is an acknowledged belief in the best intentions of the civillian majority, a kind of third world humanism.
Hence the imposibility to turn inwards, a subjectivity of the work of art that misses the catastrophic existence, the scar of social consciousness. Only here the artist avoids being a proffessional and can afford to be a dilettante in order to defy being part of the spectacle as such. The bliss (as in ignorance) is the lack of institutionalized art that turns one's self into a 'specialist' in the specialized sphere of the production at large. Just as Istanbul still resists the logic of late capitalism and the multi-national corporation with its fractured economic organization, so can the artist produce without the burden of consistent, synchronised mode of professionalism that is demanded by the 'industry.' The amateur fascination with 'real life' out on the street leads to an affirmation of sorts: While life supercedes art along the way, emancipation should be sought on varied fronts, indeed through the phantasmagorical fraternity of the cyberspace.
The phantasm of equality in the domain of the great equalizer, that is the world wide web, is bound to give way to a new alliance of the nodes of resistence that demand the recognition of differences. Once the dust is settled and the hype is over, and the commercialization of the cyberspace is complete, the second wave of the telematic revolution should aim at the politicizing of the web via truly artistic means. Referring back to Adorno, if the technique of the concentration camp is to make the prisoners like their guards, the murdered, murderers; and to abolish the difference to an absolute in the sense that nothing different survives, then the resistence is to find its path through the counter-flow of the information technologies, crisscrossing the popular media on the way in order to gather the momentum to overturn the tide. The inverse flow is where the collectivity finds its expression of being simply political, different.
08/05/2009 08:11 PM
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Group show in Malaysia opening on 8th of August 2009
08/03/2009 11:12 AM
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Cadres RG
My paintings at my gallery in Paris were recently framed by world famous and Paris' finest framers - Cadres RG. They have worked with the likes of George Braque and Joan Miro. Cool huh!
See here...
Framing is an art and as with any art it takes much learning and practice. Even though I tend to stretch my own canvases, I leave the framing of my paintings to the experts. I have never been disappointed.
My gallery in Paris uses the best and I can't wait to see the result.
04/30/2009 02:17 AM
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Contemporary Malaysia art gets an airing
The above pic with the collectors Aliya and Farouk Khan with my RAIN painting in the background appeared in Business Times last week on the recent IMCAS. Read the full article here
04/15/2009 09:26 AM
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The opening at IMCAS 2009
Here is the pic of the opening at IMCAS 2009. I am chuffed to be standing with the very very best of Malaysian artists. Everyone from Jai to Fauzan to Yusof Ghani to the Matahati group is on stage. And so is the Director General of the National Art Gallery of Malaysia and the two collectors Aliya and Farouk.
This is in my opinion the start of a new dawn for Malaysian art - a private collector is leading the way..
04/09/2009 11:24 PM
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New Straits Times article dated 7th April 2009
One of my paintings is featured in the article below in NST Malaysia today.
The caption: Rajinder Singh’s ‘Rain’, (acrylic on canvas) at the Iskandar Malaysia Contemporary Art Show 2009.
Farouk's art
By Anis Ibrahim
2009/04/07
CONTEMPORARY art is often misunderstood. It's seen as pretentious, intentionally controversial, even self-indulgent.
Contemporary art pieces, after all, are never just watercolours of pretty flowers or idyllic scenes of village life.
And if the meaning behind a piece of art isn't instantly obvious, some will give up trying to comprehend it and head towards the nearest "friendly" painting in the gallery.
As a result, Malaysian contemporary art is undervalued and unappreciated, says art collector Farouk Khan.
"Appreciating a classical painting is much easier than understanding contemporary installation art," he says. "You need to think a bit harder to appreciate contemporary art."
But therein lies the value of contemporary art, he adds.
"Contemporary art is more intellectual. It's current, it's 'now' and relevant to what is around us."
Farouk and his wife, Aliya, own 800 Malaysian contemporary art pieces, among the country's largest private art collections.
They own works by established artists such as Jalaini Abu Hassan and Ahmad Shukri Mohamed, and Farouk is always on the lookout for emerging artists and encourages others to do the same.
Young artists whose works he started collecting in 1996, he says, have developed into some of the country's best contemporary artists.
Identifying a good artist involves looking at profiles and not simply picking out famous artists.
"I look at where they've exhibited and whether they've been at art residencies," Farouk says.
"That's a good guide to see how far someone's gone and how far he will go."
Farouk is involved in the Iskandar Malaysia Contemporary Art Show 2009 (IMCAS).
Currently running in Johor Baru until June 14, the show features 1,000 works by more than 100 contemporary artists. Some 150 pieces belong to the Aliya and Farouk Khan collection.
Farouk concedes that not everyone can afford to own art, so his tip is to buy art while it's young.
"Buy good quality art by artists in their prime in their 20s to 30s, when it's cheaper. Don't wait until they reach their 60s. By that time, their art will cost tens of thousands of ringgit."
He says the strongest case for contemporary art is that it represents the cultural development of the country.
"Years down the line, art produced this year will be a record of Malaysia's history, its politics and culture. That's what I see when I look at pieces I bought 10 years ago."
Prospective art collectors would be happy to learn that the price of art never drops. Art, especially contemporary art, always appreciates in value. According to Farouk, the prices of contemporary art have risen higher than for classical art for the simple reason that it is more relevant to the times.
"People can relate to contemporary art better. There is no concept of 'the right time to buy'. The right time is whenever the art is available."
Unlike in foreign art markets, Malaysian art prices have not been affected by the recession.
Art works in China and Europe, for instance, have become more affordable in the wake of the economic slump.
"Our base is so low that our art prices have not been and will not be affected. That's another reason to buy art as and when it's available."
The cultural significance of contemporary art should be reason enough for the country's public institutions to expand their art collections.
Farouk says that while private collectors dominate the art scene at present -- "They don't mind parting with their money to buy art" -- he is happy to note that the National Art Gallery has increased its budget for acquisitions.
"I'm very glad that the new director-general, Dr Mohamed Najib Ahmad Dawa, has raised the gallery's annual budget for contemporary art to RM1 million.
"Ever since he took over, there's been a strong movement towards buying more contemporary art, which is very good.
"The gallery should keep its collections up-to-date, so this is a move in the right direction."
The irony is that Malaysian contemporary art has sold for much more overseas.
In May last year, an artwork by Malaysian artist Yee I-Lann, which sold for RM12,000 locally, fetched RM117,000 at a Christie's auction in Hong Kong.
Similarly, a piece by Jalaini Abu Hassan sold for RM196,000 at another Christie's auction.
As his eyes sweep over the creations on display at IMCAS, Farouk says: "Look at this. Anyone can see that Malaysian contemporary art is a world-class product.
"What a shame it would be if we can't see that ourselves."
04/07/2009 08:15 AM
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Why has the British establishment never quite accepted the Singh Twins?
Why has the British establishment never quite accepted the Singh Twins?
Written by independent.co.uk
TUESDAY, 31 MARCH 2009
Amrit and Rabindra have always produced their fabulous art the only way they know how: together. Peter Stanford meets a singular pair
You're doing very well telling them apart," Amrit and Rabindra Singh's elderly father remarks as he watches me talk to his daughters. "I still get them confused." The identical twins, dressed in matching Punjabi outfits, right down to the earrings, necklaces, bangles and jewelled bindis in the centre of their foreheads, smile indulgently at his joke. Even their laughter sounds the same.
But these Sikh sisters long ago stopped worrying about being mistaken for each other and have turned being twins to their advantage. They have made it part of their brand in the art world, where they are known and celebrated as one artist: the Singh Twins.
Their style is a fusion of Indian tradition and contemporary Western influences which they label "past modern". Each canvas is produced jointly and combines the bright colours, intricate designs and flattened perspectives of intricate Indian miniature paintings with modern political, social and cultural themes. Among their best-known are From Zero to Hero, featuring the Beckhams, and Art Matters, a piece commissioned to mark Liverpool's tenure last year as European Capital of Culture, but Singh Twins' works are to be found across major national and international collections. In 2002, they were only the second British-born artists, after Henry Moore, to be accorded an exhibition at New Delhi's National Museum of Modern Art. And the windowsill of their neat, calm, book-lined studio, next to the family home halfway up a sandstone hill between Birkenhead and the Irish Sea, is lined with awards that are sparkling in the spring sunshine.
"One thing that might help," offers Rabindra, as I once again address her as Amrit, "is that I tend to find myself, almost subconsciously, standing on the right." Indeed, the reddish shawl each wears is, helpfully, over her right shoulder and Amrit's left until the photographer mentioned it and Rabindra duly moved hers to match her sister. There is undoubtedly an element of playing with hapless visitors' confusion over which is which, but the twins regard their shared identity, I quickly come to realise, as more than a game or a marketing device. They have turned it into something to highlight the tensions they have encountered, as citizens and as artists, in being both British and Asian.
"Western contemporary art is all about the individual, the inner self," reflects Amrit, the more talkative of the two, as the three of us perch at the end of the long studio table where their latest painting – based on events in Palestine and looking at the impact of politics on everyday lives – lies half-finished. "So in Western art, it doesn't matter if anyone else understands the work, as it is about the individual artist and what they are feeling. This was certainly the view when we were studying art at university [from the mid-1980s until 1991 first at University College, Chester, later Manchester]. We were constantly being told that to be individual was healthy, that we had to be more different from each other, be influenced by different Western artists from each other, but that didn't seem valid to us. From the point of view of Sikh, Indian or even Asian philosophy, the community comes first and the individual is second."
The clash between the two codes, say the twins, left them, like many other British Asians, under sustained pressure to abandon their cultural heritage. Their final degree grades were even reduced because they wouldn't yield – though they subsequently had the marking overturned after a seven-year battle with academia. The prejudice they encountered – at one stage an examiner was reported to have remarked, "Give them a 2.2, they won't mind because they'll soon be in an arranged marriage" – might have broken some, but it brought out the rebel in the sisters. "It was when we were at college," Rabindra recalls, "that we started to deliberately wear the same clothes to challenge the notion of individuality. We'd always had the same clothes, but until then had not necessarily worn them on the same day."
They see their art, too, as a challenge to questions of identity and what is acceptable or fashionable. It favours narrative, detail, colour and time-honoured techniques – none of which are qualities likely to see them lionised alongside their contemporaries, the Young British Artists. Yet it is also very modern and even edgy because of its exploration of what it is to be British and Asian simultaneously.
"We were told by our tutors that the miniature was outdated," Amrit remembers. When they first wanted to exhibit, they would routinely receive "nice letters, saying how much they liked our work, but perhaps we'd do better in an ethnic gallery in the East End of London". They have, with their success of the past two decades, turned the tables – though they feel that a "London, art- establishment elite" continues to look down on their work because of its traditional Indian roots. They decided early on not to sell their works in order to build a touring collection, but do accept commissions and have, of late, allowed some pieces to go into national collections. But it is hard to say what their paintings would command on the open market; substantial five-figure sums are mentioned by dealers.
Though they are "twin-dividuals", they insist, the Singhs spend 99 per cent of their time together. They simultaneously discovered a passion for Indian miniatures aged 13, while spending a year travelling with their father around his native Punjab. They jointly devise and execute most of their works, their skills interchangeable. "We could probably tell which of us has done which part, but otherwise only those very close to us could work it out," says Amrit. Some pieces, especially in the various series they have completed on particular themes (such as "The Hart Project" and "Facets of Femininity"), are wholly by one or the other. "But we don't see it as my work, your work," Rabindra stresses. "It is not that we can't do things on our own, but this is a joint venture. Our thinking, our ideology, our political-social outlook is identical."
She does concede that the sisters have different characteristics. "I am a perfectionist, which is not always a good thing, and Amrit is the one who gets it done." But they also say the last three words in harmony.
Their mode of working, the twins point out, has parallels in the medieval age, when monks would work together on a single illuminated manuscript. And there is something rather monk-like and self-abnegating about the Singh Twins. For all their warmth and humour, they continue to see themselves as outsiders and are more comfortable talking about their work than themselves.
The twins' Sikh father came to Britain when he was nine. They were born in Richmond, Surrey, but moved to the Wirral when they were still small and encountered what they describe as low-level racial prejudice as youngsters – name-calling and, on one occasion, a brick through their window. Though now in their early forties, they continue to live in the extended family home with their father, uncles and cousins. They used domestic settings a lot in their early work – part, as Amrit puts it, "of celebrating the more positive side of the traditional Indian lifestyle rather than girls locked in their bedrooms and forced marriages".
One of their best-known works is based on the wedding of their elder sister, Nyrmla. A print of it is propped up at the entrance to the studio. Typically, it includes both the traditional ritual of the bride's hands being henna-ed with images of globalisation and reminders of consumerism in the Power Ranger toys lying on the carpet. "There is always," says Rabindra as we study it, "a serious message in our work – which includes saying to youngsters who are going through similar pressures to the ones we experienced as teenagers that it is OK to explore your Indian identity, that you can be British and Asian, and have the best of both worlds."
03/31/2009 10:25 PM
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Malaysia's biggest private art collection debuts at IMCAS
Nearly two hundred masterpieces of Malaysian art from Malaysia’s biggest private art collection, the Aliya and Farouk Khan collection will be the main attraction at IM©AS, Iskandar Malaysia Contemporary Art show in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The private collection will make its debut at this renowned cultural show of Malaysia’s contemporary art as a preview to the hosting and launch of the collection by Malaysia’s National Art Gallery slated for early 2010 in Kuala Lumpur. The collection will be launched at an invite-only event at 10.30am on Saturday the 4th of April at Level 4 of Danga City Mall by HRH Raja Zarith Sofiah, the consort of the crown prince of Johor. The exhibition will remain open to the public for three months till the 14th of June 2009.
About the Aliya And Farouk Khan Art collection
The Aliya and Farouk Khan art collection represents the largest collection of contemporary Malaysian art in the country, private or public. Both in terms of quantity and quality the collection’s body of Malaysian art is without peer. Comprising some 800 works of art, it features major paintings by contemporary Malaysian artists from the last three decades including iconic works from the Matahati group, works from major artists such as Jailani Abu Hassan and Anwar Zakii as well as young new contemporary Malaysian painters such as Shooshi Sulaiman and Rajinder Singh.
03/26/2009 12:11 AM
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IMCAS invite
03/20/2009 01:44 AM
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