SingartThe Chance to Own
The wonderful thing about being a volunteer docent with Friends of the Museums at the various public art galleries in Singapore is the great insight we get about the myriad of established artists and their works of art within the Asian region, and occasionally the rest of the great wide world.
Although, the down side is this: when we really fall head over heels in love with a piece of art, we know from the start that we will never be able to own it – the masterpiece belongs to a public or private institution’s permanent collection. So we console ourselves by getting the next best thing – the exhibition’s catalogue and snapping the beloved artwork with our iPhones.
Seldom does it ever happen that what gets displayed in a public art museum is concurrently on sale in a commercial gallery in town. But this is about to change: Sundaram Tagore Gallery at Gillman Barracks will very shortly proudly display yet more of what is currently running as a special exhibition in the National Museum of Singapore.
This commercial gallery, with its primary base in New York, will be exhibiting in our little red dot under the sun yet even more of Sebastiao Salgado’s very much prized black and white photographs from not only his “Genesis” series – it will be bringing in works from this Brazilian photographer’s 2 earlier, but equally famous, collections: “Workers” and “Migrations” too.
This welcome news puts me over the moon: I can not only examine first hand the progression in the development of Salgado’s form of art through these 3 series, I can view them with the very real prospect of making 1 or 2 my very own – to take pride of place in my study where I lovingly labour over my Mac as I make preparations to guide an art exhibition.
But the ecstasy does not stop there this May and June: 3 other commercial galleries in Gillman Barracks are presently featuring established artists that the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) has showcased in previous exhibitions over the last 18 months.
I first came across Singaporean artist, Jeremy Sharma’s intriguing “Terra Sensa –Lovell” at SAM’s “Singapore Biennale 2013” and it was ranked within my top 10 highlights of must sees in my story for SingArt. That Michael Janssen Gallery is exhibiting a few from his series of dying star’s pulsar inspired works right now is literally catapulting me beyond the stars.
Called “Mode Change”, this exhibition includes, for stark contrast to his 3D rendition of the rhythmic undulations of the galactic signals, a number of Sharma’s intriguing grey paintings. By so doing, he succeeds in getting the 2 unique bodies of work to dialogue with each other and slyly, as well as convincingly, draws us into their candid conversation.
At the same time, Fost Gallery is luring my pen to my cheque book with its exhibition of Phi Phi Oanh’s “Palimpsest” series of sculptural light installations. These consist of layered ‘skins’ of lacquer paintings that are ingeniously projected through crystal clear glass slides.
Each a reminiscent image that appears to be seen when we peer through the lens of a telescope or microscope. Each view offering a rare glimpse of either a marco or micro view of the universe that has been projected onto translucent silk screens: each creating an atmospheric phantasmagorical space.
American Oanh has thus surpassed the work she had displayed at SAM’s “Singapore Biennale 2013”. Though I had included this “Specula” as 1 of the exhibition highlights in my SingArt story, her current works at Fost Gallery have taken her signature style of using an art form that dates back to her Vietnamese heritage into the 21st century.
Even then the potential that my spending spree may not end there is very real: you see, Arndt at Gillman Barracks has brought in Jumaldi Alfi’s newest specialization – a series of paintings collectively named “Melting Moments – Re-Reading Landscapes, Mool Indies”.
‘Mool Indie’ is Indonesian for the country’s Molek style of applying the artist’s paint brush – one that was popularized during the period of Indonesian history under Dutch colonial rule; hence exemplifying the nostalgic landscape visions of the Dutch East Indies.
By placing his primary focus on creating ‘Mool Indie’ brush strokes and artistic style, Indonesian Alfi succinctly captures his intense interrogation of the potential historical roots of the modern painting accomplished by natives in his home land.
This, in turn, effectively takes him a progressive step away from the signature style he is internationally renowned for – his string of “Blackboard” artworks; of which his “Life/Art #101: Never Ending Lesson” was displayed at SAM’s “The Collectors Show: Weight of History” in the 1st half of 2013.
Share my pleasurable dilemma of which artists’ works to choose by spending a leisurely weekend at Gillman Barracks drinking in the marvelous pieces of artistic merit offered by Sebastiao Salgado, Jeremy Sharma, Phi Phi Oanh and Jumaldi Alfi:
- Jumaldi Alfi’s “Melting Moments – Re-Reading Landscapes, Mool Indies”
Where: Arndt, 22 Lock Road, #01-35, Singapore 108939
When : 10 May – 6 July 2014
- Phi Phi Oanh’s “Palimpsest”
Where: Fost Gallery, 1 Lock Road, #01-02, Singapore 108932
When : 10 May – 29 June 2014
- Sebastiao Salgado’s exhibition
Where: Sundaram Tagore Gallery Singapore, 5 Lock Road, #01-05, Singapore 108933
When : 20 May – 6 July 2014
- Jeremy Sharma’s “Mode Change”
Where: Michael Janssen Gallery, 9 Lock Road, #02-21, Singapore 108937
When : 10 May – 13 June 2014
