Inscribed Space – 6th Solo exhibition by Chua Say Hua

You are cordially invited to the opening of         

Inscribed Space – 6^th Solo exhibition by Chua Say Hua

 

Opening Reception on 18^th November 2009 (Wednesday) at 7pm – 9 pm

(above Bee Cheng Hiang on Pagoda St, just outside
Chinatown NE Line MRT Station Exit A)
69A Pagoda Street (2nd Level)
Singapore 059228
Tel: 6222 7809
Email: sales@forth.sg

For detailed map, please visit www.forth,sg/contact.htm
Mon-Sat 12noon – 7pm Sun 12noon – 5pm

The exhibition run from 18^th November 2009 to 29^th November 09

Attendance at the exhibitions are FREE.

About the Exhibition:

“Inscribed Spaces” is a visual art exhibition by artist Mr. Anthony Chua Say Hua @ Forth Gallery. It is the 6^th solo exhibition by the artist. A total of 20 paintings in Chinese ink on rice paper will be displayed . The show aims to showcase a fresh interpretation of old shop house spaces located in the preserved sections of Singapore such as Chinatown, Geylang and Joo Chiat. Through the structural arrangements of the painterly elements such as Chinese ink brushstrokes, the artist will like to address the gaps in the formation of one’s memory of spaces with a history. Say Hua conceptualises spaces by the play of background-foreground relationship and innovative use of material. In particular, recognizable parts of buildings were pushed to the edges of the painting which created tension between fields of gestural mark-making with the depiction of architectural elements. By applying such modernist strategies into edging out the lines that barely depicted the architectural forms, the artist has managed to convey a sense of ambivalence. The economy of lines, the abstractions dominate yet define spaces of the past – thus acknowledging the symbiotic relationship between past and present.

The paintings will demonstrate the artist’s experimentations using various materials traditionally used in Chinese ink medium such as pigments and coloured inks on different rice papers & various aspects of ink effects to depict urban landscape and buildings in Singapore, specifically the older parts of the town such as Chinatown.

Forth Gallery is chosen as it is located in Chinatown which enables viewers to relate the physical site with the painting’s subject. The lyrical use of the Chinese ink brush marks for depiction of wall surfaces, windows, ceilings and more is a break from the traditional Chinese ink landscape where such marks are solely for depicting trees and mountains.

Through the free-flowing use of lines, the juxtaposition of surfaces and marks on the surfaces, both tourists visiting the show as well as local audience will be able to appreciate the play of these elements to reference the surrounding old buildings that the works are based on. For professional audience such as artists, museum curators and art students, Say Hua’s paintings will demonstrate the effective use of a traditional medium towards an exploration of contemporary concerns and contribute towards an academic understanding of an expanded interpretation of the medium.

This new series of works by Chua Say Hua will contribute greatly to the language of contemporary ink painting in Singapore as well as the region. Many local artists such as Lim Tze Ping, Hong Sek Chern and the late Chua Ek Kay have been unique in expanding the Chinese ink landscape painting practice. Here, Say Hua’s experimentation has extended the use of the traditional medium in ways beyond what ink painters in its place of origin can achieve.

 

About the Artist

The 2001 Young Artist Award winner for Visual Arts, Anthony Chua Say Hua has been actively engaged in art practices full time since 1996. A Highly Commended winner of the recent UOB Painting of the Year awards this year, the art veteran has had numerous exhibitions in Singapore and overseas. Graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1992, LaSalle College of the Arts in 1993 and Goldsmiths College – University of London in 1997, Anthony has straddled his art practices in the midpoint of Western and Eastern art – combining best of the two cultures.  His unique contemporary Chinese ink paintings are informed in Western Modernist aesthetics whilst employing the logic and philosophy of traditional Chinese ink painting medium.

 

 

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BOUNDLESS THOUGHTS, INFINITE COURAGE by JONATHAN T. RACIMO

You are cordially invited to the opening of         

BOUNDLESS THOUGHTS, INFINITE COURAGE

by JONATHAN T. RACIMO

Opening Reception on 6^th November 2009 (Friday) at 7pm – 9 pm@ FORTH GALLERY
(above Bee Cheng Hiang on Pagoda St, just outside
Chinatown NE Line MRT Station Exit A)
69A Pagoda Street (2nd Level)
Singapore 059228
Tel: 6222 7809
Email: sales@forth.sg

For detailed map, please visit www.forth,sg/contact.htm
Mon-Sat 12noon – 7pm Sun 12noon – 5pm

The exhibition run from 3rd November 09 – 14^th November 09

Attendance at the exhibitions are FREE.

 

About the exhibition

 Boundless Thoughts, Infinite Courage dwells on ordinary and not-so ordinary people with heroic qualities such as the likes of the intrepid freedom fighter, the late President Corazon Aquino who served as a catalyst in moulding Philippine History. She’s metaphorically represented in “The Little Drummer Girl”, which is the artist’s core painting. Armed with an enormous desire for political reform, intense determination and tremendous courage, she led the bloodless People Power Revolution in 1986 and restored democracy in the country. For this reason that we admire and respect these present day heroes who pull disadvantaged people through their wretchedness and destitutions.

The artworks presented in the exhibition recognize and celebrate heroes’ lives, their positive contributions and the adversities they had successfully overcome. The symbolic representation of those unsung heroes who lead normal lives but have got insurmountable willpower to succeed and learn more about themselves are also the main focal points of the images on display. These so-called heroes demonstrated and confirmed to us that impossible were indeed possible. It’s through their selfless thinking and concerted effort that the quality of life improves. Their congregated actions with the infusion of technology are substantial ingredients to society’s development. The artist believes that a country advances as more and more new breed of heroes are created. Moreover, Jonathan Racimo further restates that there’s an untapped hero inside of us and we become heroes when we stop thinking less for ourselves and more for our country.

 

About the Artist

Jonathan T. Racimo is an award-winning, multi-faceted artist who specializes in figurative art. He’s an animator, an illustrator and a painter in the Philippines. He obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Santo Tomas in 1994. He has participated in various exhibitions in the Philippines and has won numerous awards and recognitions from Art Association of the Philippines (AAP), Instituto Cervantes de Manila, Shell National Painting Competition and twice at Metrobank Young Painters Annual Competition, both as a finalist and honourable mention. Most of his artworks are being collected by the founder and chairman of Metrobank Philippines, Dr. George S.K. Ty, PLDT IS Operations Support Manager Cirilo Alberto Lim, US collectors and other private individuals. Presently, he is also a contributing artist to the Wonder Woman Day, an annual art show and silent auction benefitting victims of domestic violence and dedicated to supporting survivors of social justice. Boundless Thoughts, Infinite Courage is Jonathan’s first solo exhibition in Singapore.

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“Teaching Diary” by Cai Qing

21 October 09 to 1 November 09

at

FORTH GALLERY

 

Forth Gallery Pte. Ltd.

69A Pagoda Street (2nd Level)

Singapore 059228

Opening Hour: Monday to Saturday 12pm to 7pm, Sunday 12 to 5pm.

 We can be contacted at 6222 7809 or Debbie Pang @ 9450 7749 or email:debbie@forth.sg

 The opening reception is on 23 October 2009 (Friday) at 7pm – 9 pm.

 Members of the press are most welcome to attend.

 Attendance at the exhibition is FREE.

 About the Exhibition: 

“Teaching Diary” is Cai Qing’s (Qing Sonnenberg) experience in the School of Art, Design and Media (ADM), NTU. Since his first day at ADM, he decided to record his daily life in the school. Instead of a written diary he sketches his teaching experience. The documentation of the art class for over years will be exhibited.

It resembles the court drawing, where no photo can be taken. Sketching is the only media to transmit the mystery to public. In this way, Qing further transformes the daily life into art.

 About the Artists:

Cai Qing (Qing Sonnenberg) has been living and working as an independent artist in Europe and New York  City since 1989. In September 2007 he accepted a job offer from School of Art, Design and Media, NTU and relocated his family to Singapore.

As a contemporary artist, he uses performance, installation, video and pictures to reveal his feelings and explain his ideas. The concept in most of his art is “Observer and be observed”. He is mostly interested in people of various backgrounds in different societies. He enjoys the interaction with different people and is often inspired by them. Thus, his art is full of real life stories, such as “One Week in Hei Nan”(Performance and video, 1998), “Searching for My Uncle” (video, 2000), “Ava People Sing a New Song” (Video, 2001), “A Late Summer Morning on the Queensboro Bridge” (Video, 2001) and Peace (Performance, 2005).

 With the advances in technology, his communication with people is also shifted from the real world to the cyber space. “Sonn and His Friends” (2002) and “Soul @ Flesh” (2005) were the projects utilized the internet chatting as a platform to establish connections without identity.

 While Cai Qing remains highly productive and creative throughout these years, he also curated several important art shows with the same degree of novelty. In 1998 he has co-curated China’s first contemporary art exhibition in a private space “Trace of Existence”, where he also showed his performance “cultivating”. “Long March trough Europe” in 2005, Kassel, Germany was a collaborative efforts between several artists who utilized the “Red Army” to symbolize the revolutionary Chinese spirit in western contemporary art world. “Drift” in 2005, New York was a show dealing with homeless people and refugees. In 2006 “Dancing Across the 38^th Parallel” was showing the images of North Korea in the Gallery within the New York University. “Eating” is a contemporary art group performance in Beijing, which was really focused on eating in the opening night. Recently, in 2008 he curated the “Construction before Destruction”, the last performance show in Sifo art village before it’s modernization by the local officials.

 For more information about his work please see the attached file and his homepage  http://www.caiqingart.com.

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