The Pocket Arts Guide (Oct 2011)

TPAG • OCT 2 01 1 / ISSUE 2 4

Roberto Cortázar

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POP AND CONTEMPORARY FINE ART

FEATURED ARTISTS:ANDY WARHOL DAMIEN HIRSTKEITH HARINGYAYOI KUSAMA

BURTON MORRIS TAKASHI MURAKAMIROBERT LONGOROY LICHTENSTEIN

Yayoi Kusama - Pumpkin YT - Screenprint

390 Orchard Road, Palais Renaissance 03-12 Singapore 238871 Tel: +65 6735 0959 Hours: TUE - Sat 11:30 - 6:30 Sun12:00 - 5:00

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ContentsTPAG October 201 1 / Issue 24

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4 EDITOR’S LETTER8 ART WIREGalleries updates and events

42 PORTFOLIO: MARKET VOICESSundaram Tagore: Tradition and Transcendence

48 PORTFOLIO: COLLECTORSNew China Hands: Art market boosted by mainland Chinese buyers

50 PORTFOLIO: BUSINESS MODELBelgravia Gallery: Etching out a niche

53 SPACESimone Boon: Shaping the Flow

57 MAPArt Galleries in Singapore

63 DIRECTORY LISTING68 CLASSIFIED

14 IN THE FRAMERoberto Cortázar:Contemporary Humanist

28 ART LANDSINDIA: Changing Faces

22 FEATUREIndonesian Eye: New Perspectives

34 STORIES IN LIGHTPainting on Shadows

38 GLIMPSEDeadlocked

ISSN 2010-4375 / MICA (P) 130/03/2011

Editor-in-Chief Remo Notarianni [email protected]

Art DirectorMelvin Ho [email protected]

Contributors Gladys Teo, Bharti Lalwani, Roy Voragen

Advertising [email protected]

General enquiries and [email protected]

Submission of press [email protected]

Dear Readers,The October 2011 issue of The Pocket Arts Guide (TPAG) coincides with Fine Art Asia, one of Asia’s premier art fairs. TPAG’s presence at the fair puts it in the midst of immense change in which the world of antiques and jewellery meets that of contemporary and modern art. Contemporary art is a relatively new addition to the fair and conceptually that makes it an interesting showcase of ancient and modern. Of course, a market value that is surpassing that of antiques is driving this but for TPAG that starts a discussion on a number of levels. Beyond this, the convergence of the two worlds makes an interesting comparison. Overall, it shows how limiting categories can be and it also reveals that art in different categories can be more similar than we realise. Somewhere in the colours, brush strokes and the creative imprints, there is a similarity that connects aeons of creative people. For that reason, it is fitting that this issue includes esteemed Mexican artist Roberto Cortázar for In the Frame. Cortázar’s devotion to classical techniques in art has made him a Renaissance artist in a contem-porary world. In this issue, there’s more writing with light in our ‘Story’ section with an innovative light painting artist from Singapore and Portfolio, the busi-ness section, looks at the growing importance of the mainland Chinese collector. Every month, TPAG keeps up with an art world that is changing by the day. This issue offers another snapshot of talent in transition.

Remo Notarianni Editor-in-Chief

editor’s letter

04 TPAG | Oct 2011

Roberto Cortázar, Retrospective Image: The Tyrannicides. 235 x 160 cm. Silver-point, lead-point, oil, charcoal and flatting varnish

on wooden board. 2004. Represented by Puerta Roja at

“The Space”, Hong Kong.

On the Cover

THE POCKET ARTS GUIDE PTE LTD (TPAG) 43 Jalan Merah Saga, #03-62, Work Loft @ Chip Bee, Singapore 278115All advertising bookings and materials for TPAG should be received by 21th each month.Printed in Singapore by International Press Softcom Limited.Copyright of all editorial content in Singapore and abroad is held by the publishers, THE POCKET ARTS GUIDE MAGAZINE. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from the publishers. THE POCKET ARTS GUIDE (TPAG) cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage to unsolicited material. TPAG, ISSN 2010-9739, is published 12 times a year by THE POCKET ARTS GUIDE MAGAZINE. Every effort has been made to contact the copyrights holder. If we have been unsuccessful in some instances, please contact us and we will credit accordingly. Even greater effort has been taken to ensure that all information provided in TPAG is correct. However, we strongly advise to confirm or verify information with the relevant galleries/venues. TPAG cannot be held responsible or liable for any inaccuracies, omissions, alterations or errors that may occur as a result of any last minute changes or production technical glitches. The views expressed in TPAG are not necessarily those of the publisher. The advertisements in this publication should also not be interpreted as endorsed by or recommendations by TPAG The products and services offered in the advertisements are provided under the terms and conditions as determined by the Advertisers. TPAG also cannot be held accountable or liable for any of the claims made or information presented in the advertisements.

Published monthly, complimen-tary copies of TPAG are available at several places in Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.SINGAPORE: Copies are distrib-uted at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), Singapore Tourism Board’s Singapore Visitors Centre at Or-chard (junction of Cairnhill Road and Orchard Road), MICA Building on Hill Street, leading art galleries (Galerie Joaquin at The Regent and Sunjin Galleries in Holland Village), art groups and venues (The Luxe Museum on Handy Road and Art Trove. Pop & Contemporary, Bruno Art and Indigo Blue Art)HONG KONG: TPAG is widely distributed in Hong Kong and has a presence in most galleries and art venues. It is distributed at the Bookshop (Hong Kong Arts Centre) and browsing copies are available at cafes such as Uncle Russ Coffee. Complimentary and browsing copies are also available at popular art venues such as the Fringe Club. TPAG has a presence at major art events in the territory. THE UNITED KINGDOM: TPAG is available at select cafes and art venues around the UK and com-plimentary copies can be found in major galleries, including the Alan Cristea Gallery, in London.

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art wire

Exhibition Terracotta War-riors: The First Emperor and His Legacy 24 .06.11 – 16.10.11Special Exhibitions Gallery, Asian Civilisations Museumwww.acm.org.sgSingapore

An exhibition organised by the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, in partnership with the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau and the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre, China showcases thou-sands of terracotta warriors, buried for over 2,000 years and the Emperor Qin Shihuang’s im-perial legacy. It shows the fundamental in-fluence of the First Emperor and his dynasty. It offers the chance to marvel at the First Emperor’s impressive burial complex and his mighty terracotta army. The terracotta army discov-ery is considered one of the big-gest archaeological events of the twentieth century. Recapture the mystery of the warriors – how they were discovered, why they were created and what they represented.

Living in Ceramics – Solo exhibition by Lee Se Yong20.10.11—10.11.11Sunjin Gallerieswww.sunjingalleries.com.sgSingapore

Korean ceramic artist, Lee Se Yong, creates opposites. Em-bracing tradition, he refines and redefines basics with modern forms of clay-sculpturing, at the same time working freely with both traditional and modern im-ages. The ancient craft of inlay, spinning and firing is his fa-voured mode of artistic delivery. Seeking inspiration from na-ture, Lee emphasizes imperfec-tion and perfection at the same time. His style is purposely mini-malist and at times asymmetrical and roughly textured, seemingly unfinished and flawed. Yet he attains perfection through the intricate artistry of the work. Us-ing blue paint on white porcelain, Lee is concerned with depicting light and shade, delicate lines and bold spaces. Lee also blends the gap be-tween utility and aestheticism seamlessly. While the idea of the everyday object is not new, Lee’s unique contribution lies in the creation rather than the product and creates ceramic works that are conceptual in ideas and form.Living in Ceramics runs from 20 - 30 October at Social Creatives Museum @ Millenia Walk, 9 Raf-fles Boulevard #02-54; thereafter from 1 - 10 November at 2 Mistri Road #01-02.

WANTED: possession and rejection – New works by Eric Chan05.10.11 – 05.11.11Chan Hampe Gallerieswww.chanhampegalleries.comSingapore

Preceding Eric Chan’s highly anticipated solo exhibition of new works, Chan Hampe Galler-ies will present a snapshot ret-rospective of his paintings from 2005—2010 during the month of October. Amongst the works featured will be the artist’s sig-nature floral paintings. Then, in November of this year, Chan Hampe Galleries@Raffles Hotel will exhibit an en-tirely new series in a bold new direction never before taken by the artist. A watershed exhibition in which Chan takes personal risks in the artwork. The work is reflective of his deep personal struggle to ac-cept the past and embrace the future. This exhibition offers viewers the chance to revisit the foundation of Eric Chan’s artistic practice, before his latest series of works is unveiled in his exhibi-tion in November.

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Croisés: a selection of Asian Contemporary Art07.10.11 — 10.12.11Art Plural Gallerywww.artpluralgallery.comSingapore

“Regards Croisés pays homage to contemporary artists whose works confront one another to create a narrative through issues of globali-sation, industrialization, consum-erism, the environment, identity and individuality. The works are unparalleled embodiments of the cultural diversity in Asia, mediating the tale of Asia today,” comments Frédéric de Senarclens, CEO of Art Plural Gallery. The exhibition includes Ko-rean sculptor, Choi Xoo Ang who has created The Dreamer Red, 2007. Chinese artist, Shi Jinsong reinvents baby products that are unexpectedly hostile. Shi‟s Baby Carriage, 2007, from the Na Zha series is a metaphor on which a baby should be like Na Zha, the legend from Chinese mythology, known to be an aggressive warrior armed with the armillary sphere and sash; transported by wheels on fire beneath his feet even though he is just a child. With L’Un, French artist, Fa-bienne Verdier, presents an inter-esting element to the exhibition. The only Western artist to have had been trained by the most out-standing masters in China for al-most ten years, she has realised a synthesis between East and West; between ancient calligraphy art and minimal abstraction.

A Four-Day Antique Asian Maps and Prints Special: Exploring History through Maps and Prints01.10.11 – 04.10.11Indigo Blue Artwww.indigoblueart.comSingapore

Indigo Blue Art is hosting a four-day special of prints and maps of Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblocks and hand coloured botanical prints of Asian flora. It will include hundreds of rare and beautiful antique maps, hand-coloured prints of Asian flora and fauna, Japanese woodblock prints, ar-chitectural engravings and early etchings and postcards of Sin-gapore. In this fine collection of works are genuine original prints, and many go back to the early 1800’s and several as early as 1630. The purpose of this exhibition is to invite the viewer to look deeply into the subtle messages deliv-ered by artisans who created the prints and maps. Subjective in nature, these antique maps provide an impor-tant social, political and religious context. The factors that moti-vated the production of individual maps often become apparent through close scrutiny of their decorative features and the infor-mation their creators chose to in-clude or omit. For more informa-tion, email Jill or Harry Pickering at [email protected]

ETHOS VI12.10.11 – 30.11.11Indigo Blue Artwww.indigoblueart.comSingapore

Ethos is an annual exhibition conceived by Indigo Blue Art, as a series of aesthetic journeys through the Contemporary World of Indian Art. This year’s ‘Ethos VI’ features 15 high-calibre, sig-nificant paintings by leading art-ists of Contemporary Indian Art. The exhibition provides a unique opportunity to view and procure works from a rare collection never showcased in Singapore before. Artists include Arpana Caur, M.F Husain, Ram Kumar, SH Raza, Paramjit Singh, Jayas-hree Chakravarty, Akkitham Na-rayanan and Paresh Maity. These renowned artists, with their individual language and distinctive personal styles, have successfully negotiated the for-mative years of modern Indian art. Each artist was influenced heavily by the West, but eventu-ally broke away from the moulds of existing art practices, lead-ing them to develop an Indian sensibility and language which responded both to international trends and national expressions. These works selected for Ethos VI represent the uncom-promising tenacity and experi-mentation embraced by these artists, following the uncertain yet liberating years of India’s independence. There will be an exhibition walk-through on Sat 10 November at 2pm and a talk on M.F. Husain on Sat 17 Nov 2pm. Please call 63721719 for more details.

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IWAN EFFENDI, Eye of The Messenger01.10.11 — 13.11.11Yavuz Fine Artwww.yavuzfineart.comSingapore

Yavuz Fine Art is pleased to present a major exhibition by Iwan Effendi that goes back in time to depict real-life stories that happened during a coup in Indonesia 46 years ago. This is Effendi’s first solo exhibition in Singapore and will feature a series of new paintings and sculptures. The 1965 uprising led to a violent army-led anti-communist purge in which more than half a million people were killed. The purge was a pivotal event in the transition to the “New Or-der”; the Indonesian Communist Party was eliminated as a po-litical force, and the upheavals led to the downfall of president Sukarno. Effendi captures this dark chapter in Indonesia’s history through surrealistic visual lan-guage. He weaves the stories that he wants to share into his complex, multi-layered compo-sitions evoking a fantasy world. Effendi delicately addresses in-dividual stories of loss and hope.

Cherry Poke: Reconstituted Philosophies22.09.11 — 31.10.11Museum of Art and Designwww.madmad.com.sgSingapore

Singaporean artist Jahan Loh’s latest collection at M.A.D centres on reconstituted canned food, Ti-tled Cherry Poke: Reconstituted Philosophies, Loh examines the MaLing brand of luncheon meat and lychees in syrup at the ex-hibition. The works construct a visual parable that dissects post-colonial Asian history and pro-found Western cultural influence. Loh refers to the moderni-sation of Asian culture—where mass consumption of ho-mogenised food have socio-logical implications resulting in shifting cultural paradigms. How does the underlying text translate to Asia’s disappearing values in light of Westernisation and glo-balisation? Offering some consolation to an inevitable phenomenon, each piece of art hanging on the gal-lery walls, while uniform in ap-pearance, differs slightly to the next, suggesting individualism within collectivism. The percep-tible deviations of his opus culmi-nate in the romanticism of con-sumption culture and nostalgia.

The Paintings of Pan Zheng Pei (1934 - 2004) 24.09.11 — 08.10.11ZiJuan Art GallerySingapore

Art is the emotional vectors of painter. You will feel Pan Zheng Pei’s sincere feelings and emo-tions when you appreciating his paintings. This painting shows the customs of Southeast Asia, the life styles, art forms and his deep love of his native land. Es-pecially the painting with street scenes and people’s daily life, many precious and records in-dicate the true art of life and charm of Southeast Asia. Pan Zheng Pei developed art cre-ation of Southeast of Asia. He used visual art and style of western oil painting to paint lo-cal people and culture of South-east Asia. People will feel deeply charming Southeast style when you appreciating Pan Zheng Pei’s artworks. Thus through this exhibition, people can get a better under-standing of the spirit that Pan Zheng Pei pursuit. Meanwhile this exhibition can let more peo-ple to appreciate his artworks. For more information, please contact: (65) 6733 0289 / HP: (65) 8160 0058.

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Energy in Colors22.09.11 — 31.11.10Going Dutch Furniture Group Ltdwww.goingdutch-group.bizSingapore

A wave of boldness has swept over Going Dutch. The designer furniture shop will showcase ‘Energy in Colors’, a dramatic art exhibition by 14-year-old Sin-gapore child artist, Dawn Kwan who has completed over 300 paintings since aged five. The unique furniture shop on River Valley Road features some of the finest international designs from The Netherlands. Undeniably, Dutch designs have been celebrated the world over for their originality, person-ality and innovation. With re-nowned brands such as Leolux, Gelderland and Pastoe. While forward, organic shapes break out of conven-tional expectations, Going Dutch is blowing yet another whirlwind of surprise in colours. This being Kwan’s 6th solo art exhibition, pulse-quickening paintings like fiesta Masks, Seahorse, Reach-ing Out and story-themed dogs such as Pink Panther Dog and Big Bad Wolf Dog complement the organic furniture designs.

To Add a Meter to an Un-known Mountain: An Iconic Collection of Contemporary Chinese, Photography (Working Title)23.09.11 – 30.10.11The Private Museum Ltd www.theprivatemuseum.orgSingapore

The exhibition “To Add a Meter to an Unknown Mountain: An Iconic Collection of Contem-porary Chinese Photography” (working title) features the works of four Chinese artists Cang Xin, Ma Liuming, Liu Wei, and Zhan Wang, whose bold, conceptual art challenges the conservative society that they grew up in. In their respective styles, each of these contemporary Chinese artists expresses so-cial critiques of the world, from the impermanent state of human actions to the harmony between nature and mankind, the photog-raphy in this exhibition highlights the relationships between man and nature, new and old, and modernity and tradition. Their work serves to capture significant moments of interac-tion between two starkly different worlds. The iconic photography featured in this exhibition cap-tures individual performances and installations by these artists as they explore the dynamics that shape our surroundings.

Arrival of Lladró, Guardian Lions in SingaporeAvailable from 21 September 2011 Lladró Paragonwww.highporcelain.comSingapore

Lladró, the world’s foremost creator of handcrafted porce-lain sculptures, is synonymous with exquisite works of art ren-dered in seamless porcelain and delicate colours. In September, Angeles Lladró, the daughter of Juan Lladró, came to Singapore. For Lladró collectors, a piece of art personalised with a Lladró signature becomes an even more treasured piece in the collection. In conjunction with her visit to Singapore, Angeles Lladró also unveiled the Guard-ian Lions, a highly anticipated High Porcelain collection by Lladró. In the Fall 2011 collection, Lladró presents some of its very best works. These include majestic and imposing guardian lions inspired by the traditional statues flanking the entrances to palaces, temples and noble homes in Asia. The artists from Lladró’s High Porcelain work-shop took on the challenge of recreating them in porcelain.

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Opera Gallery Singapore at ION Orchard presents “Mod-ern Masters” 23.0911 – 23.10.11Opera Gallery www.operagallery.comSingapore

Opera Gallery Singapore at ION Orchard is pleased to present “Modern Masters”, an exhibition held in September 2011 during Singapore’s 4th F1 night race. It will bring together an unparalleled selection of modern art in one of the most colossal exhibitions to be held in Southeast Asia. Along these great masters, Baltasar Lobo, a Spanish artist and sculptor will be showcased for the first time in Singapore. Famous for his unequivocal style combining roundness of volume with great perfection, Lobo’s exhibition will be staged out-doors along the promenade of the prestigious Orchard Road. Complementing Lobo would be a monumental bronze sculpture “Horse” by Colombian artist Fer-nando Botero. While the exhibited artists during the “Modern Masters” ap-proach art from various vantage points in terms of intensity, socio-political engagements and paint-erly styles, the thread which un-ambiguously unites them is their persistent and unremitting Mod-ernism. Opera Gallery is proud to offer collectors an unparalleled opportunity in Singapore to ex-perience in a single exhibit - the creative brilliance of these mag-nificent painters.

Jumuwarnti and Goon-boorooru - Waterholes and CavesAn exhibition of new Kimber-ley ochres by Lloyd Kwilla and Claude Carter19.10.11 – 09.11.11Australasian Art Projectswww.australasianartprojects.comSingapore

In October this year, exceptional young artists Lloyd Kwilla, and Claude Carter, will travel from their Kimberley homes near Fitzroy Crossing to attend the opening at Australasian Arts Projects, for their first exhibition in Singapore. For this their first Singapore exhibition, Kwilla and Carter have created a new body of work.. It showcases the artistsʼ own distinctive iconography and sub-tle crafting of natural pigments. Both artists demonstrate prodi-gious artistic talent as well as a serious commitment to main-taining the culture in which they were raised. Accompanying Lloyd Kwilla and Claude Carter on their long trip to Singapore, is respected agent Kevin Kelly, of Red Rock Art, Kununurra, Western Austra-lia. Susan McCulloch OAM, is a well-known Australian art writer, publisher and curator and his work is published.

CHU TEH-CHUN: Process & Transformation19.10.11 — 19.11.11Feast Projectwww.feastprojects.comHong Kong

Chu Teh-Chun, born in 1920, belongs to the second genera-tion of Chinese painters who went to Paris, and he is recog-nized as one of the few mod-ern Chinese Masters. Recently his paintings, calligraphies and ceramics have been exhibited at the Guimet Museum, Paris (Summer 2009), National Art Museum of China, NAMOC, Bei-jing (03/2010), Hong Kong Uni-versity Art Gallery (04-06/2010) and Macau Museum of Art, MAM (07-08/2010). The paintings that follow os-cillate between suggestions of reality in landscape and com-positions paying homage to eastern and western masters. The French poet and art critic, Jean-François Chabrun defines him as a “2Oth Century Painter of the Song dynasty”. He often retreats to his studio striving to perfect his vision. This process produces a series of oil paint-ings on paper. These works are truly excep-tional because they announce the future developments in Chu Teh-Chun’s oeuvre, as well as demonstrate Chu’s special place in the history of modern art. Though Chu leaves China for France, he never abandons his Chinese culture and roots: This is exemplified in his daily practice of calligraphy.

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Embracing the Slow – ANNIE HSIAO-WEN WANG30.10.11 – 30.11.11The Gafferwww.gaffer.com.hkHong Kong

Taiwanese artist Annie Hsiao-Wen Wang uses paint to evoke states of mind. Unlike Rothko, however, Wang sets out to offer an opportunity for the viewer to stop and meditate upon the nu-minous and the emotional in the artwork. Prior to even starting, Wang prepares the canvas through applying numerous layers of gesso. Working slowly to build up the depth of Wang’s surfaces through careful glazing, a tech-nique employed by the Baroque masters, Wang reflects a glow-ing light & shade. Not uncommon for Wang’s large- scale colourist abstrac-tions which require enormous discipline as some are worked on for over one year and as Aus-tralian art Critic David Bromfield summarised perfectly “If Rothko polished the world with icy emp-tiness, Annie Hsiao-Wen Wang tunes it to melodic perfection.” The Gaffer will be showcasing Wang’s work at Art Stage Singa-pore in 2012.

‘Beyond Walls’04.0911 — 01.10.11Blue Lotus Gallery www.bluelotus-gallery.comHong Kong

In this exhibition, Hong Kong’s Blue Lotus highlights some of its artists’ previous achievements and future possibilities. It also highlights the additional role of Blue Lotus as a consultant for sourcing and commissioning art-work for public art projects. The participating artists are Hong Kong-based German artist Cornelia Erdmann, Hong Kong’s Danny Lee and Wong Tin Yan, American Lynn Basa, and the Hong Kong-based Dutch artist Simone Boon. The artist each has his or her own unique way of reshaping the world around them. The exhibition highlights how enriching works of art can be when applied to commission-ing projects. If more creativity was allowed to shape the struc-tures and environment around us, there would be more than box-like architectural structures in Hong Kong’s skyline. These artists, it is hoped, are part of a new era.

Belgravia Gallery at Asia Fine FairOctober 3 – 7Asia Fine Art Fairwww.belgraviagallery.comHong Kong

Belgravia Gallery will announce a retrospective exhibition of water-colours by architect, A. Eugene Kohn in conjunction with Hong Kong Land and Kohn Pederson Fox Associates that runs from October 1 to October 14. Known internationally for his prominent works of glass and steel, Kohn’s thoughtful watercolours reveal a deep understanding of colour, freeness of line and form. With contacts throughout Asia, Europe and the United States, London’s Belgravia Gal-lery, opened its first international office in Hong Kong in January, 2011. It offers art advisory ser-vices to private and corporate clients looking for works by es-tablished or emerging artists. Belgravia Gallery is par-ticipating in Fine Art Asia for the second year. The gallery is exhibiting a selection of works by Rembrandt, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Lincoln Selig-man, Charlie Mackesy and fine paintings by significant post-im-pressionist painters art the fair. Booth number at Asia Fine Art Fair: J1.

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IN THE FRAME

Tyrannicides No.3, 2004. Oil, silver point, charcoal and flatting varnish on wooden panel. 200cm X 160cm

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Roberto Cortázar:Contemporary Humanist

Saturn #14, 2004. Oil, silver point, charcoal and flating varnish on wooden panel. 250cm X 175cm.

Text by Remo Notarianni

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IN THE FRAME Roberto Cortázar

The figures of Mexican artist Roberto Cortázar are rendered

with classical precision, as if the hands of Leonardo Da Vinci or Albrecht Durer have reached into the modern world. The celebrated Mexican artist, who has been described as a “contemporary classicist” revitalises tradition with his embrace of different art move-ments, through which he poses questions about humanity. “Throughout Roberto’s work there is an ever-present representa-tion of the human figure amidst evolving and changing spacial and emotional contexts,” said Adriana Alvarez-Nichol, owner of Hong Kong-based Puerta Roja,

the first art dealer in Hong Kong specialising in Latin American art. “Through these representations, the artist forces upon us a sense of self awareness, and a moment of introspection into our own human nature. It is as if his works were portraits not of the body but of our soul.” Cortázar graduated from the National School of the Arts in Mexico City in 1983. Since then, his strong academic rigour has been evident in his signature classical human forms, which fit into a long Mexican tradition of figurative painting. However, his incorporation of abstract tech-niques brings the humanist ideas

Figures in a room. Variations, 2000. Oil, charcoal, pigments, polymos and wax on wooden boards.

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and questions of the Renaissance period into the present.” The question of what humanity is, while rooted in academic classi-cism, has followed Cortázar in his exploration of different move-ments. Throughout, he has placed a quintessentially classical form into abstract, modern and post-modern settings, on an almost encyclopedic journey of Art history. The classical figures are a supporting structure but their juxtaposition gives the work an evolutionary dynamic. By placing the figures in a dif-ferent context, Cortázar defamil-iarises them and the fragmented images of the human body pose questions about the place of

humanity with its power struggles, tenuous relationships, and uncer-tainties. This classical solidity seems fragile in a modern setting, but Cortázar’s devotion to it makes him stand out in contemporary art. His statement is made not only in the content of the images but also in the techniques used. “Roberto is an artist who still uses techniques such as silver point drawing and oil painting on wooden panels. These date back to the Renaissance and they require a high degree of draftsmanship from the artist and are rarely seen in contemporary art.” said Alvarez-Nichol. “Beyond the technical virtuosity and resulting compelling

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El Puente, 1988. Oil, cahrcoal, grafitti, wax and pigments on wooden panel. 198cm X 136cm.

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Orozco. 2009. Oil, silver point and flatting varnish on wooden panel. 305x220 cm.

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visuals, the method itself en-gages the artist at a different level throughout the process of creation. The resulting works are more bal-anced and powerful, inviting us to revisit them over and over again.” With his marriage of tradi-tion and cutting edge modernity, Cortázar has taken part in projects that offer new perspectives on art history. In 2006, Cortázar em-barked on four years of work aimed at revisiting great masterpieces in collaboration with three of the major museums in Latin America. First, “Saturn and the Parricides”, presented by the Museo Amparo and the Museum of Contemporary Art, inspired by stories of Greek mythology and variations on the theme of “Saturn Devouring his

Son”, by Spanish master Goya. In both, he kept true to his classical figures while adding emotional intensity through an expressionistic reinterpretation of the piece, achieved with modernist and postmodernist techniques. The combination of classical figura-tive imagery and expressionistic artwork epitomises his dynamic visual language. In 2009, Cortázar was invited by the Mexican National Museum of Art, MUNAL to recite paintings by Mexican master muralist J. C. Orozco. The first living artist to ex-hibit at the Museum he rooted him-self within the history of Mexico’s best artists, by rediscovering one of the greatest known muralists in the post-modern world.

“To go beyond, Ibelieve art should

pursue more complexways to construct

forms.”

Acrobat, 2009. Oil on wood panel. 200cm X 140cm.

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An exhibition of Cortázar’s work by Puerta Roja, held at “The Space” in Hong Kong offers a perspective retrospective through more than a decade of works and adds Cortázar’s latest unseen ‘Kinetic’ series. This explores kinetic movement in art focusing on the relationship between form and space. “In this series, I wanted to explore not only the relationship between form and space but go be-yond to incorporate the concept of temporal spatiality. I continued to feel troubled and dissatisfied with the lack of volume and the burden on the imagination to see form. I believe art loses strength when constantly relying on imagination. I believe art should pursue more

complex ways to construct forms, to go beyond” said Cortázar. “In these new series of paintings, I’ve attempted to place form and vol-ume in “unexpected places”. This allows me to distort their represen-tation, not through the imagination, but through the position of the form relative to the viewer’s own position to the painting. If I change this position slightly, the composi-tion is either distorted to the point of becoming incomprehensible or, on the contrary, regains clarity and intensity.”

ROBERTO CORTÁZAR will be Presented by Puerta Roja at “The Space”, Hong Kong, 27-29 October, 2011

Kinetic – untitled, 2011. Silver point and oil on three dimensional wooden panel.

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FEATURE

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Forest Unknown – Andy Dewantoro

Soldier from Fukuoka series – Angki Purbandono

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Waiting for the Signal – Haris Purnomo

Ego Execution – Ay Tjoe Christine

Text by Roy Voragen

Indonesian Eye: New Perspectives

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FEATURE Indonesian Eye: New Perspectives

Dynamics Towards the Truth – Edo Pillu

I have the answer – Farhan Siki

An exhibition of Indonesian art is running at London’s Saatchi

Gallery for the months of Septem-ber and October. This may not seem like a major breakthrough but it is in fact a huge honour that offers new chances to the participating artists. Indonesian Eye is the brainchild of David and Serenella Ciclitira (founders of Parallel Contemporary Arts). The couple organised the exhibition Korean Eye, which was visited by a staggering 250,000 people in London. Indonesian Eye aims to introduce Indonesian contemporary art to a foreign audience and to provide the artists involved with new possibilities by making their work internationally more prominent. Indonesian artists have stepped into the global limelight in recent years. Actually, the event is part

of the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) which pioneered the map-ping of artistic treasures from Indo-nesia, as recent exhibitions attest. And the advantage is that SAM’s daring acquisitions are accessible to the public. Government support for the arts is negligent in Indonesia and there is no institute that seriously collects and showcases art to the general public. Unfortunately, therefore, this exhibition wouldn’t exist with-out its private sponsors. Before moving to London, Indo-nesian Eye was shown in Jakarta at the Ciputra Artpreneur Center. In-donesian Eye includes 41 works by 18 artists and, beside a catalogue, it is accompanied by a book: Indone-sian Eye, Contemporary Indonesian Art (500 works by 74 artists). Selecting the artists took a year.

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A Heaven’s Tale – J. Ariadhitya Pramuhendra

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FEATURE Indonesian Eye: New Perspectives

It started with 400 artists. Such an intensive process required an extensive curatorial team; the in-ternational curators are Nigel Hurst (CEO Saatchi Gallery), Tsong-zung Chang (visiting professor at the China Art Academy and director of Hanart TZ Gallery in Hong Kong), and Serenella Ciclitira (she is also the chief editor of the book); and they were assisted by local cura-tors Jim Supangkat (curator CP Foundation), Asmudjo Jono Irianto (independent curator), and Farah Wardani (executive director Indone-sian Visual Art Archive). Hurst sees Indonesia’s cultural diversity as a strong point and he selected on hybridity. Much of contemporary Indonesian art is indeed characterised by combining different techniques and narratives resulting in fluid juxtapositions. However, according to Supangkat,

often this isn’t a deliberate goal; he claims, in fact, that Indonesian artists’ strength is their impulsive creative process, which is a polite way of saying that conceptual thinking isn’t their strength (Angki Purbandono is an example, his experimental scanned images look amazing, but that’s it). Artists are influenced by the context they live in, which is reflected in and commented upon in their work. Their work can function as an entry point into the complexi-ties of Indonesian culture. However, putting together this mixture of young and established artists – from Pramuhendra and Muhardanto (both ’86) to Haris Purnomo (’56) – doesn’t necessarily succeed as a group exhibition. Now they only seem to share a geographic location (Mella Jaarsma is Dutch-born). A stronger thematic focus would have helped. Still, this is a must-see exhibition; Andy Dewantoro’s ‘For-est Unknown’, Edo Pillu’s ‘About Cosmology’ and Haris Purnomo’s Waiting for the Signal are among the highpoints of this exhibition.

The author is a Bandung-based writer; he can be contacted at fatumbrutum.blogspot.com

Much of contemporary Indonesian art is

indeed characterised by combining different

techniques and narratives resulting in

fluid juxtapositions.

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Looking for a Fake President – Heri Dono

Divided and Fold – Pramuhendra

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ART LANDS

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I N D I A

Uniform series – III 122 x 91 cm

C h a n g i n g

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Text by Gladys Teo

F a c e s

Unifrom series – IX 61 x 66 cm

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Framing the Framed’ is Indian artist P.G. Dinesh’s first solo

exhibition in Singapore. The artist presents an irreverent, yet often witty, critique of India’s social hierarchies and representations. Using a visual language of bright primary colours and pop-art im-ages of people and animals, Dinesh puts the “happy picture frames” that are reminiscent of illustrations from childrens’ books under a sarcastic veil. He combines human bodies with animal heads, and encourages the viewer to question the morphed imagery of the artists’ protagonists. “PG hails from Thrissur, Kerala, which has a very high literacy rate and is a city known for its wit and humour,” explains gal-lery director Ms Suman Aggarwal. “This is evident in multi-layered, cerebral works that are characterised by high-pitched satire. One of PG’s main critiques is of the Indian middle class, which is growing rapidly. This has, however, changed so much in the past 10 to 20 years. These families, particularly those in the big cities of Delhi and Mumbai, are hungry for material goods as a symbol of social status. They work them-selves silly so that they can spend two months’ salary on a Louis Vuitton bag.” ‘Family Puranam’ represents a series of family portraits that are emblematic of the desired image that middle class families wish to portray to the rest of society. Here, Dinesh’s critique is clear: despite

the ceaseless efforts of the middle class family, clad in fineries and other representations of avarice, to present the right image to others, they are held back by their tena-cious traditional roots. Dinesh pre-sents this dilemma by replacing the human heads with those of animals, attributing each family member with the traits of animals and birds, and critically subverting the cliched and stereotypical posturing. The viewer chuckles at the forced smile of the matriarch who looks more sinister than saintly; the granddaughter sitting beside her seems gender confused, having a masculine face complete with a moustache atop a girl’s body; meanwhile the daughter-in-law is swathed in a gold-trimmed sari with pearls strung around her neck aside a husband with the face of a devil. “This is a typical image of a daughter-in-law in an Indian family,” Ms Aggarwal reflects. “It is something I can relate to. How I dress at the gallery is very different to how I am expected to dress as a daughter-in-law in family func-tions. There is an expected dress code that is expected to represent the family status.” In his ‘Tongue in Cheek’ series, Dinesh paints middle class men that are reminiscent of the male villains in traditional Kalighat paintings and they are the embodi-ment of treachery and greed. How-ever, he gives them pious facial expressions that bloom from lotus motifs, as if alluding to Buddha. He then deconstructs the image

ART LANDS India

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by dressing these men in corpo-rate suits and crowning them with headgear made out of leaves or fashionable, expensive sunglasses.

Culture and kitschDinesh is not the only artist with a critical, irreverent attitude towards popular high culture. Cutting across a range of styles and rep-resentation, contemporary Indian artists project allegories, so-called urban detritus and the social ma-laise of the modern Indian family. “The idea of materialism is something that is very relevant,” said Ms Aggarwal. “You see a similar subject matter in the works of Farhad Hussain. He paints mid-dle class families in a more kitsch, pop-art style and every single character has that etched, plastic

smile on their face. Artists like PG come from a steady, stable, indif-ferent state where he can laugh at the spectacle of consumerism, however, if you come from the big cities like Delhi and Mumbai where there’s a booming middle class and new wealth against a backdrop of social class and status, you become part of the system!” The emphasis on social rel-evance is perhaps what makes con-temporary Indian art so refreshing. Ms Aggarwal observes how art is not just a celebration of beauty but a pedagogical, discursive tool that is used to debate issues and exhibit commentaries on social, cultural, political currents in India. Through a labyrinth of refer-ences, artists return to narrative modes of representation, telling

“If you come from the big cities like Delhi and Mumbai where there’s a booming

middle class and new wealth against a backdrop of

social class and status, you become part of the system!”

Aggarwal.

Uniform series – IV 122 x 91 cm

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Family puranam series II 183 x 183 cm

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stories, revisiting folktales and mythologies. While there are di-verse groups of artists across India responding to different themes giving rise to artistic eclecticism, diverse visual taste among artists, viewers and collectors, the same currents of globalisation, migra-tion, gender identity are sweeping through in reality, affecting and syncing both artists and non-artists alike, creating strong platforms of dialogue and interaction between artists and viewers. Arpana Caur’s works, which touch on the plight and sorrow of women, combined with religious references to Sikhism and Bud-dhism as well as narrative references to traditional folklore, have been institutionalised in the museums of India. Dinesh’s satirical depictions of military personnel resplendent in sharp crisp uniforms showing im-plicit power and identity, are instead donned with the heads of pigs, dogs, monkeys provoke acknowledgement and/or denial of the loyalty, corrup-tion, greed of the State.

Age of artisans Indian artists have a wide visual vocabulary, and the plurality stems in part from different trends in different parts of the subcontinent. However, Aggarwal notices that easel painting has been consistent throughout. The consistent adher-ence to the traditional, conventional technique of the two-dimensional surface of the canvas seems to

remain the choice for artists at a time when technologically ad-vanced art forms like installations, photographs, and silk screens have dominated the market. Although the reluctance to move away from tradition appears to find resonance with the behavioural pat-terns in society — where modern families are struggling to break free from the roots of tradition — there may be greater forces at work here. The return to easel painting may be read as market driven, where collectors are starting to move back towards the ‘artisan’ over the ‘digital’. “We might be moving back to the fundamental notion of art, where the artist uses his hands to create. People may like to see the actual work being ‘touched’ by the artist, the physical touch of the creator validates the work as a piece of art, and you can see the market starting to favour paintings, sculptures over digitalised medi-ums,” says Ms Aggarwal. But it is also likely that avant-garde notions of progress are indexed through the embrace of convention. Artists are not being held back by the tradi-tion of easel painting, but instead re-inventing forms and styles with modern, relevant subject matters, despite sticking to the traditions of a two-dimensional pictorialism to redefine the contemporary.

Framing the Framed ran from 1 – 30 September 2011 at Indigo Blue Art, 33 Neil Road, Singapore.

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ART LANDS India

STORIES IN LIGHT

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Text by Gladys Teo

Painting on Shadows

It is not every day that a person sits in a dark room trying not to

blink, but the light paintings of Charlie Lim open one’s eyes to amazing creative possibilities. As the artist waved the torch light around me in quick strokes, he etched different parts of my body in light. Seconds later, he instruct-ed me to tilt my shoulders and avert my gaze from the camera. I could almost hear the intense concentration. His deliberate movements were swift as he painted me with light from the same torch all over again. Seconds later, I was free to move and take in what had happened as the lights flickered on.

A few minutes later, the work of the last 30 seconds showed up as a single image on the com-puter screen. Expecting an abstract composition, I was gazing at a clone, and where our arms met and overlapped, there was an area of delicate softness as double layers created different exposures for the torchlight. With no digital manipulation, and no computer rendering, this was a pure image captured by a single torchlight and a single camera shot. The true creative triumph, however, lay in the rendering of the “oil painting photograph” and the question of whether it was an oil painting or a photograph?

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Dancer

Painting on Shadows

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I wasn’t sure. It was definitely an image captured by a camera. However, it had all the characteris-tics of a Renaissance oil painting. It was also quite a lot like the Dutch master Rembrandt. In the image was a dark scene lit by a dim light source, and the chiaroscuro was evident. The dim hues and shadows created a sense of intrigue and mystery, and somehow captured the psychology of the subject, suggest-ing a sense of introspection. Such is Lim’s artistic incandes-cence. Lim is the creator and sole practitioner of this “oil painting photography” technique. Lim’s first love was oil painting, and he later ventured into commercial photography, and advertising art spawned his insatiable thirst to combine both oil painting and photography into a single tool. After years of experimenting, he developed this revolutionary technique of painting with light, successfully blurring the line between two traditionally differ-ent art forms. And the magic is that he used a simple LED light

source to shoot a still subject. He captures the clarity and realism of a photograph, together with the mysticism and magnificence of an oil painting. “I am literally painting the subject with light, where I want the camera to see,” said Lim. “It’s a cheap, simple, fuss-free, flexible photographic technique, but it takes lots of experimenting and forethought to get smooth even tones with no interference as well as quickly and accurately capturing the interesting creatives of the com-position. I need to visually com-pose the picture in my head, decide

STORIES IN LIGHT Painting on Shadows

“I am literally painting the subject with light in areas that I want the camera to see” – Lim.

Rosa, the dancer

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where and how I want to torch my subject. The torch needs to keep moving to avoid spots where there is too much light or there will be over exposure. Speed also matters as it affects the brightness and sharpness of the final image.” A martial arts expert himself, Lim’s emphasis on movement is manifested not only in his tool (the torchlight), but also in his com-positions. Beyond still lifes and portraiture, Lim’s mastery of light painting is displayed in his shots of dancers and performers, capturing time, space and movement with a technique that seemingly only works if the subject holds still. Using a three-minute exposure on

his camera, Lim shoots a Spanish-Chinese dancer. She is dressed in a mandarin collared-top and a red skirt, holding an ornate oriental fan to her chest. She holds this pose for ten seconds. She then spins forward, turning to her side and poses there for another bunch of seconds as Lim illuminates her with his torch. Nimbly, the dancer pulls off her top to reveal a mid-riff second layer and throws the fan to the side, as if all this was part of the performance. The final pose culminates in the same dancer in the middle of a Flamenco number, holding a pirouette and elegantly stretching her arms over her head. A visually stunning composition showing the dancer’s Spanish and Chinese her-itage, the strength of Lim’s light painting skill is a juxtaposition of the soft and supple movement of her red skirt and body. “My dream is to photograph the world with a torch light,” said Lim. “All I need is my camera and laptop. Look, all I need is this bag and I can travel the world”.

Rachel Wedding

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DeadlockedText by Bharti Lalwani

Restraint, Joel Yuen 2011. 53cm x 14cm x 10cm each (wood); 57cm loop length x 1.3cm thick (rope). Tembusu wood, acrylic on hemp rope.

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Joel Yuen was born in 1983 and studied Interactive Media

Design at Temasek Polytechnic. He graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Photography and Digital imaging from the Nanyang Technological University. His insightful concepts have won him the prestigious 27th UOB Painting of the Year Award (2008) and a merit prize in the first Ngee Ann Distinguished Sculpture Awards (2010). Joel Yuen exhibited at Galerie Sogan & Art on 09.09.11 – 25.09.11. The exhibition was curated by Daniela Beltrani.

What inspired the exhibition? “After my graduation from NTU in 2010, I continued to take part in art exhibitions and competitions. I simply wanted to pursue my fine art practice on a full time basis. After getting accepted into Chelsea College of Art & Design for the MA Fine Art programme, my heart was set on doing a sculpture solo

exhibition before my departure from London. I was first intro-duced to Vera from Galerie Sogan early this year from a friend. As we got to know each other better, we both agreed to collaborate on the solo exhibition.”

How did you move into sculpture? “I won the UOB Painting Of The Year Award in 2008 with a series of photographs entitled Anatomical Fantasies of Meat, Part Two. As it was the first photography entry that took the top prize, I was never really regarded as a painter, so to speak. It was only after I started my foray into sculpture that I could cement my position as an artist, period.”

Did the movement into sculpture seem natural?“Yes, it was entirely natural. If you look at all my photography works, you will notice the highly staged

Father & Son

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GLIMPSE Deadlocked

and controlled manner in which I handle my works. In fact, I spent most of my time sculpting objects only to be recorded by the camera. So, my process has always been the same, except the omission of the camera. The sculptures now stand in real space, outside the two dimensional reality.”

Why was Tembusu wood used?“Tembusu wood is native to South East Asia, and is highly prized for its hardness and durability. This particular Tembusu tree has a sig-nificant meaning for me, because it has its history with Singapore. Planted in Kampong Java near KK Hospital where it has grown for the past 40 years, all its nutrients, the space and air which it depends upon are the same as mine. So,

when I worked on the tree, the experience is quite different. I used to work on imported Italian marble and Mahogany wood from the Amazon. But for the Tembusu tree, which has an Asian context, that being about my personal identity as a Singaporean.”

The sculptures seem to explore ideas of restraint, the suppres-sion, and even the ego.“I was born and raised a Catho-lic, educated in Catholic schools in Primary and Secondary level,

Tembusu wood is native to South East

Asia, and is highly prized for it’s hard-ness and durability.

Blind Supremacy, Joel Yuen 2011. 53cm x 22cm x 30cm (head); 5cm x 4cm x 4cm each (eyeballs); 137cm long x 0.7cm thick each (rope). Tembusu wood, acrylic on hemp rope.

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concepts of the Christian mystery and Biblical narratives are major sources which influence the way I think and act. So, if I were to omit those influences in my work, then the sculptures would appear indif-ferent to me. For all those years, every single event which took place pointed towards hope and salvation. It was all paved out for the coming of Jesus Christ. These are my thought processes, and I have used some narratives from the book of Genesis, Exodus and

Judges to be inspired. But when I engage in my work, I want the sculptures to have a universal and secular meaning. It is the message that I want to bring out to my audi-ence that is crucial.” If you look at Restraint, it is a pair of forearms being tied up and hung on the wall. The binding symbolises the modern day attrac-tions which every working adult is striving towards. It could be about money, power or pleasure. These “attractions” are not bad in themselves, but when one becomes obsessed with it, that is where the problem lies. Restraint reflects the concept of being enslaved to an obsession, thereby not being truly free as a person.”

What kind of effect would there be if the sculptures were in Fort Canning?“There is actually an irony about it. Initially, I thought that the works would suit being in the park better, because of the organic na-ture of wood, the size (Shackled & Fertility) and the contrast the red ropes can give in a natural setting. However, when I see the sculptures in a gallery, the presence they give is very different. In the park, they are consumed by the natural beauty of nature. They seem less significant. But in a gallery, it is quite the opposite. The sculptures become significant in the way it commands authority against a plain white wall. The sculptures now appear larger than life.”

Anchored, Joel Yuen 2011. 93cm x 109cm x 46cm. Tembusu wood, acrylic on hemp rope, metal.

PORTFOLIO: Market Voices

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Madame Adelaide Robert Polidori, CabinetintÇrieur de Madame AdÇlaãde, (56 C). ChÉteau de Versailles,France, 1986, archival inkjet print, 33 x 43 inches.

By Remo Notarianni

Sundaram Tagore: Tradition and Transcendence.

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Sundaram Tagore Gallery has supported Fine Art Asia since

the fair started in 2006. It has branches in Hong Kong, New York and Beverley Hills. The gallery spe-cialises in artwork that interweaves the modern, the cultural and the abstract. TPAG talked to founder Sundaram Tagore on the impor-tance of the gallery at the fair and its enduring role in the context of a changing art world. TPAG: How has Sundaram Tagore appealed in Asia?I established the first gallery in SoHo in New York in 2000. From the very beginning, Sundaram Tagore Galleries devoted itself to examin-ing the exchange of ideas between Western and non-Western cultures. The galleries focus on developing exhibitions and hosting not-for-

profit events that engage in spiritu-al, social and aesthetic dialogues. In a world where communication is in-stant and cultures are colliding and melding as never before, the goal is to provide venues for art that tran-scend boundaries of all sorts. With alliances across the globe, their interest in cross-cultural exchange extends beyond the visual arts into many other disciplines.

TPAG: What is the importance of Fine Art Asia and the significance of the work at the fair?Sundaram Tagore Galleries is ex-tremely mission-driven and hence highlights artists of cross-cultural values. As we are in Asia, it is impor-tant to recognise that there is a great tradition, and that the past is of high relevance to the present artistic pro-duction, i.e., an artist working today

Sundaram Tagore

Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong


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will incorporate and engage in the refined aesthetic training and phi-losophy of more than 6,000 years in order to make his work valid as con-temporary art. In the West, however, because of Modernism and the idea of rejection, there was a break from the past. Artistic activities hence are more post-modern in value in Asia than in the West since Asian works are overarching the worlds of both tradition and modernity. Therefore, presenting contemporary art in the context of antiquities is valid and necessary at times.

TPAG: Sundaram Tagore’s artists seem to be defined by a universal abstract style that communicates beyond the figurative. Is that part of the vision? Sundaram Tagore Galleries is de-voted to examining an exchange of ideas between Western and non-Western cultures. We focus on de-veloping exhibitions that engage in spiritual, social and aesthetic dia-logues. We only want to present art that is enduring and universal. Ini-tially, it was the universal style and language that was the reason for my growing towards Abstract arts. But in Asia, figural art is tantamount to being the basis of culture, and the human figure is the foundation of most Asian cultures and arts. It would be wrong to deny that, so we are encircling both Western and Eastern artists who bring in that dialogue between figuration and abstraction. They speak a language much more universal and still main-

tain their roots, which gives them their validity.

TPAG: What do you think is driv-ing art sales in Asia and globally at the moment?Art has been in existence for 60,000 years, since the earliest cave paint-ings, and will continue to exist as a spiritual diet. In addition to that point of view, economies in the Asian context are growing fast and Asian countries are rapidly develop-ing and changing and along with that, a new taste for acquiring con-temporary art has developed. A cer-tain segment of people are still buy-ing art for spiritual purposes. Those are the most cultivated of all and the ones we are looking for as our cli-ents. However, we cannot deny the fact that new collectors are people who have success in their business and have started collecting art, but they are more interested in collect-ing art as an investment opportuni-ty. Generally, we do not encourage that part of the story, we are not speculating with our artists.

TPAG: Do you think that it is good to buy art for investment purposes?The concept of collecting art has developed differently in Asia and the West. The West has had a head start of over 200 years of serious collecting. However, in the East, the collecting of contemporary art is more recent. When collectors in the West decide to spend millions of dollars, they are very careful about

“We are encircling both Western and Eastern artists who bring in that dialogue

between figuration and abstraction.” – Sundaram Tagore

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Sebastiao Salgado, The Global Photographer install, Sundaram Tagore Gallery Hong Kong

Sundaram Tagore Group Show Hong Kong


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the artist they choose. These collec-tors are both educated and accul-turated in the art context and they tend to buy art they like and not necessarily for investment reasons. In Asia, it feels that people are more interested in talking about art as a commodity although that is quickly changing and the aesthetic reason-ing is coming to the front in their needs for acquisition.

What are the advantages and dis-advantages of Hong Kong and Singapore as art markets? Obviously, the current advantages of Hong Kong are that it is Asia’s world city with a perfect transporta-tion network, low taxes, free trade, and a great pool of potential clients. The disadvantage may be that Hong

Kong is becoming oversaturated. It has to rise to the challenge of be-ing a chosen destination for many international and local galleries, for art collectors, and for art aficiona-dos. There is the risk of having too many galleries in a small place, and the system could implode. We need to hope that Hong Kong will develop further into an internationally re-nowned and important artistic cent-er as we were among the first ones who helped initiating this process. Hong Kong is becoming more a consumer center whereas I have the feeling that Singapore is becoming more and more of a production center. Whether this is true or not and whether both cities are able to fulfill these, their aspirations or not, only time will tell.

Hiroshi Senju Show 2008, Sundaram Tagore, New York.

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Venue: MATRADE Exhibition and Con-vention Centre (MECC), Kuala LumpurDates: October 28 to November 1, 2011Time: 10:30 am – 7:30 pm (Oct 28 – Oct 31), 10:30 am – 5 pm (Nov 1)Open to Public. Free Admission.

Art Expo Malaysia 2011 will take place on the 28 October to 1 No-

vember 2011, at MATRADE Exhibition & Convention (MECC), Kuala Lumpur. The five-day mammoth art event has come to the fifth edition this year, at-tracting 55 participating art galleries and organisation from 20 countries. Organising Chairman Vincent Sim Tiak Choo said, “On the Malaysian side, it’s an almost full house of leading galleries with a great mix of established artists, superstars and emerging young artists. The Malaysia bandwagon will have National Art Gallery Malaysia, House of Matahati, Richard Koh Fine Art, Artseni Gallery, RA Fine Arts, Pelita Hati Gallery of Art, A2 Gallery, Gallery Archana, City Art Gallery, Ya-hong Art Gallery, Art Accent, G13 Gal-lery, June Art Space, and Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers.” Project Director Sim Pojinn said, “Singapore’s galleries are not only featuring works from Singaporean masters and contemporary artists, but will also have internationally renowned grandmaster’s work on display such as Chinese artist Chen Yifei (MAD Museum of Art and Design) and Salvador Dali’s sculpture (Ode To Art).” Participating galleries include Art Trove, Impress Galleries, Dahlia Gallery, Ovas Art Gal-lery, Y2ARTS, Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery, Eight Art Gallery, Forest Rain Gallery, GJ Asian Art, Chan Hampe Gal-leries, MAD Museum of Art and Design, Goldmann Inc, Yisulang Art Gallery, and Ode To Art. Reputable Southeast Asian galleries have made their presence at the Art Expo Malaysia this year. They are Number 1 Gallery (Thailand), Puri Art Gallery (Indonesia), Art Xchange Gallery

(Indonesia), Koong Gallery (Indonesia), H Gallery Art & Painting (Indonesia), Summit Arts Collection (Myanmar), Galerie Joaquin (The Philippines), and Galerie K Moeller (Vietnam). Other participating galleries from Asia are Wil-liam Contemporary Art Space (Taiwan), Saffron Art Gallery (Taiwan), Art For All Society (Macao), Chit Fung Art (Hong Kong), Art Futures Group (Hong Kong), Ejaz Galleries (Pakistan), Lakshana Art Gallery (India), Chelian Art Gallery (India), Art & Identity (Iran), Asian Art-ists Network (Japan) and Shiraz Gallery (Iran). Spain’s Madrid-based ATR Gallery will showcase works from Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro, which is rarely seen in Malaysia, and Jesus Curia’s bronze sculpture which was a sold-out in Art Expo Malaysia last year. Ludvig Gallery Budapest from Hungary, 5-time partici-pant since the inaugural event, will have the father-and-son outfit of Zoltan and Daniel Ludvig with their polished works. Also, out of the TOP 10 Chinese contemporary artists from China, at least 5 of the TOP 10, their original museum-quality artworks will be exhibited. Their works carry a lot of weight (prices fetch-ing millions easily in auction houses), and would be the first time ever in Malaysia history for the public to admire such Chinese contemporary arts pieces. Participating artists include Yue Minjun, Feng Zhengjie, Yin Chaoyang, Fang Li-jun, Wang Guangyi, Miao Xiaochun etc. Feng Zheng Jie himself will be present at the art fair. Art Expo Malaysia 2011 is under the esteemed royal patronage of Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Perlis, DYTM Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra ibni Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Jamalull-ail, and DYTM Tuanku Hajjah Lailatul Shahreen Akashah Khalil.

For enquiries, please contact 03-7728 3677 / [email protected] or log on to www.artexpomalaysia.com

ART EXPO MALAYSIA 28OCT - 1NOV, 2011

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Yue Minjun

Zhou Jingxin

Jeritan Abad 21

PORTFOLIO: Collectors

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By Remo Notarianni

Nude Green Leaves and Bust by Picasso

New China Hands:Art market boosted by mainland Chinese buyers

Auction houses are springing new surprises in 2011. These have

been discovered at houses like So-theby’s as anonymous telephone bid-ders become known. In the spring auction at Sotheby’s, the highest bid was Picasso’s “Femme Lisant (Deux Personnages)” at US $21.3 million. Its Chinese buyer made headlines as did the Chinese buyer of Picasso’s “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” in 2010. So, what has been reported in re-cent years is a shifting demographic towards a collector once only interest-ed in traditional Chinese art. There is a new generation of buyer in China and it is not only happening in China. At Lebarbe, an auction house in France, a Chinese buyer paid the highest price ever for a traditional Chinese work of art at a record US$31 million for a scroll painting. It should come as no surprise. In a post-Olympics Beijing, a tectonic shift in knowledge and modernity has created businesspeople seeking to translate a more worldly knowledge into material assets— especially after decades of cultural conditioning by the Chinese Communist Party. The statis-tics fit hand in glove. There are now re-portedly 7,500 mainland Chinese with wealth that exceeds one billion yuan as the global market was reported to have experienced a 30 percent drop in value in 2011. The statistics are encouraging, and it remains to be seen if the main-

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land Chinese buyer offers long-term economic hope for such a fragile market. “We have seen a growth of Chi-nese clients participating in our sales, not just in Asia but also glob-ally,” said Jonathan Stone, Chair-man and International Director of Asian Art, Christie’s. “In the first half of 2011, we have seen Greater Chi-nese clients (Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan) accounting for 13 percent of new client registrations, an increase of 20 percent year-on-year. When it comes to collecting, most people will start with some-thing they are familiar with or some-thing they can easily understand in relation to their culture, and they will wish to own rare and exquisite art from their own culture.” If this worldly knowledge match-es the wealth, an art market driven by art aficionados will put master-pieces into the hands of connois-seurs. The paintings have become nestled into collections as dispos-able income moves beyond yachts, brand goods and fine wine. That’s nothing new. Art pieces have often trailed affluence as badges of pres-tige and status symbols as well as investment. The question is when this will be driven by a genuine pas-sion for art. “Chinese collectors are increas-

ingly attracted to buy masterpieces of Western Contemporary Art, like Picasso or Lichtenstein, as they consider these purchases to be liquid investments and important status symbols,” said Mila Bollan-see, gallery manager of the Beijing-based Beyond Art Space, which re-sides in the city’s 798 Art Zone in the Chaoyang district. The area, first established by the Chinese govern-ment in the 1950s to build factories in cooperation with the Soviet Un-ion, has the vibrancy of the com-mercial end of a Bohemian village— comparable to art districts in places such as New York. It may have been built on a vision that became lost in the rising tide of a boom-ing China that has become more global as it has absorbed influences from the outside world; and with a selection that is likely to be var-ied, and more discerning as a new generation of buyers become more sophisticated. “Younger, more savvy collectors, even invest in works of important younger but already established Western artists like Olafur Eliasson, Damien Hirst or Marc Quinn,” said Bollansee. “It is a sign that the art world is global here and that the Chinese intend to buy the best from all over the world.”

PORTFOLIO: Business Model

50 TPAG | Oct 2011

Text: Remo Notarianni

Robert Shum and Anna Hunter, Exhibition of a Collection of Royal Art at the British Consulate-General, Hong Kong - Jan/ 2011

Belgravia Gallery: Etching out a niche

51

As talk of a booming art scene in Asia reaches dealers in

search of new markets, a quiet cluster of galleries in Hong Kong has grown into an internationally recognised community, and brand name galleries are setting up shop as swelling crowds flock to its art fairs and venues. There was a time when it was unimaginable that ma-jor names would even consider it for business. “Hong Kong has now firmly es-tablished itself as a major art and auction hub in the world, in the same way as New York and Lon-don,” said Jonathan Stone, Chair-man and International Director of Asian Art, Christie’s. “Our auction house concluded its Spring season in Hong Kong this year with a to-tal of HK$4 billion (US$515m). This represents the highest season to-tal for Christie’s in Asia, which is a 68 percent increase over the same period a year ago and 17 per-cent over the second half of 2010 (HK$3.4bn/US$440m) and reaffirms

Hong Kong as a leading centre in the global art market.” London’s Belgravia Gallery moved to Hong Kong in January 2011 as part of a strategic move that realised a gallerist’s long-held dream. Hong Kong’s potential to add culture to its corporate ethos, sparked off an exodus of galleries attracted by the prospect of it be-coming a reality. At the moment, such galleries are riding on a wave of optimism and a chance to fulfil business expectations. “Belgravia Gallery was founded in 1986 by Anna Hunter,” said Cailin Broere of the Hong Kong branch of Belgravia Gallery. “Anna has always been fascinated by Hong Kong and its potential as a key player in the art world. I have been working with Anna and the gallery in Lon-don for over eight years and had recently relocated with my family to Hong Kong – it seemed a perfect opportunity.” The move is a tentative one though for many galleries that have

Exhibition of a Collection of Royal Art, Hong Kong at the Rotunda, Exchange Square - Jan/Feb 2011

52 TPAG | Oct 2011

fitted their businesses into mature markets with tried and tested mod-els and pre-existing demand. Bel-gravia has a large gallery in Mayfair, London, which has been there for the last eight years and it holds 12 exhibitions annually. Hunter started the business as a fine art publisher in Britain and worked closely with Royal Academicians to produce lim-ited edition lithographs. In 1989, Hunter began working with HRH Prince of Wales and pub-lished limited edition lithographs of his watercolours to raise money for his foundation. The first gallery was in Belgravia and it now is located in Mayfair, a bustling art district. Hunt-er’s daughter Laura joined the busi-ness in 2001 and they have been running it together for a decade. In that time, a diverse range of art forms from lithographs to paintings, sculptures and fine art photography have entered the collection. Belgra-via’s artists include Nelson Mandela, Trish Wylie, Jurgen Schadeberg, Charlie Mackesy, HRH The Prince of Wales, Picasso, Rembrandt etch-ings, Warhol, Paul Chizik, Greg Bar-tley, Robert Indiana and Jan Coutts. Exhibitions by Pop Artists, Rus-sian painters, post-impressionist

painters and Greek artists are held annually at the gallery. In London, it is a case of shouting above the crowd and although Belgravia is po-tentially part a niche market in Asia, it is finding a place in the market. Although it is too early to map out the direction of the industry, the optimism of an emergent mar-ket as it tries to keep pace with changing market forces, and as lo-cal collectors become familiar with artwork from overseas, will help it to reach its potential. The gallery also specialises in etchings and fine prints, a new art form in Asian mar-kets. Belgravia has made its entry into the market on the Asian collec-tors’ passion for the new, and well-known names are the safest bet to begin with. “We have found that paintings and artworks by well-known names are well received,” said Broere “Works by Western artists, not known in Asia and without Asian roots are more challenging. We have had a great deal of interest in the artwork that we have shown to date. The gallery has always been involved in publishing and selling limited edi-tion lithographs.”

PORTFOLIO Business Model

Belgravia Gallery at Fine Art Asia 2010

Ph

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53

Before the roaster, 1994. Stoneware with metallic glaze and special acid treatment around 40 cm high. (sold)

Dzzzz, in 3, 2010. Ultrachrome pigment print on archival photo paper.

SPACE

Hong Kong-based Dutch artist Simone Boon has worked with

photography, sculpture and video art and her personal engagement of space and light is inspired by the different cultures she has lived in. Her oeuvre is unified by common themes, colours and tones that em-body a world view shaped by varied experiences and philosophies. “My inspiration comes from a mix of influences and life experiences,” reveals Boon. “Living in the East as

a Westerner has given me an extra dimension— things become more relative, even time, combined with philosophical concepts encountered during research in theological study and art studies. This is the source of my inspiration.” In her work across mediums, there is a combination of intellectual exploration and an intuitive shaping of materials. This creates an embod-iment that expresses the relativity of entities in space and their relation-

Simone Boon: Shaping the FlowText: Remo Notarianni

54 TPAG | Oct 2011

PORTFOLIO Business Model

ship with time. There is a strong flow in the evolutionary images that depicts the changing positions of subjects. This is presented in sculp-tures that emerge into solid forms, but that cannot grow beyond their sense of fragility, and photographs of female figures in varied states. The images have a culturally iconic quality. While Boon’s visual proposal can be perceived as a criti-cism of the dominance of masculin-ity, it stresses the flowing essence of femininity. A symbol of fertility attuned to the changing rhythms of reality and Boon alludes to French philosopher’s Henry Bergson’s statement that “Form is only a snap-shot view of transition.” “This idea became my source for exploring other ways of pho-tographing,” said Boon. “The aim is to capture human essence that may fluctuate and an identity that is not established by opposing it-self to otherness but formed with-in relational patterns, in a flow of becoming. It is like the thought of

Danish Philosopher Soren Kierkeg-aard and makes sense for both male and female identity.” Boon, while Dutch by national-ity, was born in British Borneo and has lived in Venezuela, among other places. She is thus familiar with a sense of continuous but displaced movement. But with the same flex-ible sense of discovery, to begin with, she creatively gravitated to-wards sculpture while she was stud-ying painting and drawing. And this has navigated her artistically. Some years later, she studied sculpture at the Royal Academy for Fine Art in Dendermonde, Belgium, and went on to study at the Academy in Ant-werp. She finalised her degree at RMIT University with the Hong Kong Art School. “So, in short, I started with sculp-ture and the other art forms naturally evolved from it because of a internal urge and desire to express myself in different art forms,” said Boon, “whereby the three dimensional takes a big part in all of the ways I

Ceramic Poem, 2011

Cool Breeze, 2010. Ultra-chrome pigment print on archival photo paper. (left) Timeless / or Dance .. Dance, 2010

55

express myself.” A dialogue with space that looks at the relationship between the movements that ensue between these things and it is an important part of the direction that the artwork takes. In her 2010 series called ‘Girls Unfrozen’, Boon took studio shots of females who move into abstract blurs. They resemble entities in transition that are difficult to make out but whose identity is best defined by that movement. Yet it is interesting that the same trail of energy is found in Boon’s work with sculptures and ceramics. “My first ceramic series were objects based on the vessel form combined to the human figure,” said Boon. “I prefer monochrome tones mainly, the dark red brown colours of sawdust firing where the skin looks warm with some nuances, not asking for the main attention but en-hancing the form. So, I like to work with plain porcelain as well as it has something very tactile, and is attrac-tive to the senses. A plain porcelain body needs to be sandpapered in

different stages to get a soft skin, like marble needs to be sandpa-pered and polished - when the aim is a soft or shiny surface. Plain porcelain enhances the working of shadow and light.” Boon recently did interdisciplinary work with video, making her porcelain sculptures into a canvas with images projected onto it. The cross-medium dialogue articulated her own artistic dis-course and illustrated relative ideas about our environment. “Between the artwork and the viewer there will be a spatial space to be filled with the perception and thoughts of the viewer and with the ideas and visual expression of the artist who made the piece of art, so it is always two sided,” said Boon. “The art piece will impose an at-mosphere, an idea or mood, while the viewer cannot influence the art piece or artist who made it anymore. It was already made, but the mood of the space that exists in between both is determined as well by the art piece as well as by the viewer.”

Behind windows, 2011

Ph

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s: S

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Bo

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Solo exhibition by Lee Se Yong

20 October – 10 November 2011

Living in Ceramics runs from 20 – 30 October at

Social Creatives Museum @ Millenia Walk, 9 Raffles Boulevard #02–55,

thereafter from 1 – 10 November at 2 Mistri Road #01–02.

For more information, please call 6738 2317.

Living in Ceramics

Neil Rd

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Maxwell Rd

Cross St

Hong Lim Park

Telok Ayer Park

Tanjong Pagar

Raffles Place

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Victor ia Concert Hal l

Nat ional Museum of Singapore

School Of The Arts Singapore

Lasal le Col lege of

the Arts

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Fort Canning Park

Mount Emily Park

Singapore Art Museum SAM@

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the Arts

The Cathay

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Hong Lim Park

Telok Ayer Park

Tanjong Pagar

Raffles Place

Nankin St

Amoy

St

Duxton Hi l l

Boon Tat St

Coleman St

Coleman Ln

Coleman St

Boat Q

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Boat Quay

Marina Bay Sands

Esplanade

MIC

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the Arts

The Cathay

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Mount Emily Park


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Tanjong Pagar, Chinatown & Raffles Place

Singapore Art Museum Area

Esplanade & Marina Bay Sands

1 iPreciation, The Fullerton Hotel

2 Utterly Art

3 Galerie Sogan & Art

4 Indigo Blue Art

5 Cham Hampe Galleries @

Tanjong Pagar

6 DreamSpace Art Studio

7 Art Commune Gallery

8 Galerie Belvedere

9 Galerie Steph

10 Ikkan Art International

11 ReDot Fine Art Gallery

12 Valentine Willie Fine Art

1 The Substation

2 Art Plural Gallery

3 Art Trove

4 Yavuz Fine Art

5 The Private Museum

6 M Gallery

7 Forest Rain Gallery

8 The Gallery of Gnani Arts

9 Sculpture Square

10 Art Galleries @ NAFA

11 The Luxe Art Museum

12 Yisulang Art Gallery

1 Ode To Art

2 Opera Gallery

3 Art Science Museum

4 The Asian Civilisation

Museum

5 The Arts House

6 Gallery NaWei

7 Ode To Art

8 Chan Hampe Galleries

9 Cape Of Good Hope

Art Gallery

10 Art-2 Gallery

11 S.Bin Art Plus

12 Y2Arts

13 Gajah Gallery

14 Tembusu Art Gallery

15 ArtXchange Gallery

16 Artfolio

1

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Holland Rd

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Regent Hotel

Palais Renaissance

ION Orchard Mall

Shaw Centre

Tangs Plaza

Paragon Shopping

Centre

Mandarin Orchard

Singapore

Jalan Merah Saga

Leed

on

Dem

psey

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Tomlinson Rd

Cuscaden Rd

Cuscaden Rd

Angu

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Nutmeg Rd

Mou

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Regent Hotel

Palais Renaissance

ION Orchard Mall

Shaw Centre

Tangs Plaza

Paragon Shopping

Centre

Mandarin Orchard

Singapore

Jalan Merah Saga

Leed

on

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psey

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Tomlinson Rd

Cuscaden Rd

Cuscaden Rd

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Palais Renaissance

ION Orchard Mall

Shaw Centre

Tangs Plaza

Paragon Shopping

Centre

Mandarin Orchard

Singapore

Jalan Merah SagaLe

edon

Dem

psey

Rd

Tomlinson Rd

Cuscaden Rd

Cuscaden Rd

Angu

llia P

ark

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Mou

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Nassim Rd

Peirce Rd

Loewen Rd

Dempsey Rd

Harding Rd

Com

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Orchard Rd

Orchard Rd

Pate

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Orchard Blvd

Bide

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Cairnhill R

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xpy

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rang

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Taman WarnaCold

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Tanglin Mall

Regent Hotel

Palais Renaissance

ION Orchard Mall

Shaw Centre

Tangs Plaza

Paragon Shopping

Centre

Mandarin Orchard

Singapore

Jalan Merah SagaLe

edon

Dem

psey

Rd

Tomlinson Rd

Cuscaden Rd

Cuscaden Rd

Angu

llia P

ark

Nutmeg Rd

Mou

nt E

lizab

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Clay

mor

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Nassim Rd

Nassim Rd

Peirce Rd

Loewen Rd

Dempsey Rd

Harding Rd

Com

wall G

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Jalan Hitam Manis

Holland Village

Orchard Road

Dempsey Hill Tanglin Road

1 Sunjin Galleries

2 Taksu

1 Linda Gallery

2 Red Sea Gallery

1 The Gallery of Gnani Arts

2 GJ Asian Art

3 Bruno Gallery

4 Boon’s Pottery

5 HaKaren Art Gallery

6 ZiJuan Art Gallery

7 Mulan Gallery

8 Yang Gallery

1 Pop and Contemporary

Fine Art

2 Gallery Reis

3 Art Space @ Scotts

4 Opera Gallery

5 Heng Artland

6 Sin Hua Gallery

7 M.A.D Museum of

Art & Design

8 Vue Privée

Sunjin Galleries (S) Pte Ltd43 Jalan Merah Saga, #03-62, Work Loft @ Chip Bee, Singapore 278115

Tuesdays – Fridays: 11am – 7pm | Saturdays: 11am – 6pm | Close on Sundays and Mondays Tel: 67382317 | www.sunjingalleries.com.sg | blog: www.sunjingalleries.blogspot.com

63

art directories

Singapore Galleries in alphabetical order

Art Trove51 Waterloo Street, #02-01, Singapore 187969v +65 6336 0915Y [email protected] - Sun: 11am-6.30pm

ARTXCHANGE Gallery6 Eu Tong Sen Street, #02-65, The Central, Singapore 059817v +65 9027 3997Y [email protected] - Sat: 11am-9pm

Bruno Gallery91 Tanglin Road, #01-03 Tanglin Place, Singapore 247918v +65 6733 0283Y [email protected]: Tue - Fri: 10am-7pmWeekend: Sat & Sun 11am-8pmClosed on Monday

Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery140 Hill Street, #01-06, MICA Building, Singapore 179369v +65 6733 3822Y capeofgood [email protected]: 11am-7pm

Chan Hampe Galleries @ Raffles Hotel328 North Bridge Road, #01-04, Raffles Hotel Arcade, Singapore 188719v +65 6338 1962www.chanhampegalleries.comDaily: 11am-7pm. Closed on Public Holidays

Chan Hampe Galleries @ Tanjong Pagar21 Tanjong Pagar Road, #04-02, Singapore 088444v +65 6222 1667www.chanhampegalleries.comWeekdays: 10am-6pmWeekends: 11am-4pmClosed Wednesday and Public Holidays

Forest Rain Gallery261 Waterloo Street, #02-43/44, Singapore 180261v +65 6336 0926Y [email protected] - Fri: 11am-7pm; Sat - Sun: 11am-5pm.

The Gallery of Gnani Arts1 Cuscaden Road, #01-05, The Regent, Singapore 249715v +65 6725 3112Y [email protected] - Sun: 11am-7pm

Indigo Blue Art33 Neil Road, Singapore 088820v +65 6372 1719/38Y [email protected] - Sat: 11am-6pm

Ken Crystals6 Eu Tong Sen Street, #03-72, The Central, Singapore 059817v +65 6339 0008Y [email protected] - Sat: 11am-7pm; Sun: 1pm-5pm.

Muse The Art Gallery4 Toh Tuck Links, Unit 01 – 01 Singapore 596226v +65 6762 6617Y [email protected] - Fri: 8.30am-5.30pm

63 Singapore Galleries 64 Art Auctioneers 64 Museums / Art Services 65 Conservation/Restoration 65 Art Schools / Artist Studios 66 Hong Kong Galleries 66 Other International Galleries 66 Art Fairs 67 TPAG Art Tours HK 68 TPAG Classifieds

64 TPAG | Oct 2011

art directories

OVAS Art Gallery9 Penang Road, #02-21 Park Mall, Singapore 238459v +65 6337 3932www.ovas-home.comDaily: 11.30am-8.30pm

Pop and Contemporary Fine Art390 Orchard Road, #03-12 Palais Renaissance, Singapore 238871v +65 6735 0959Y enquiry@popand-contemporaryart.comwww.popandcontemporaryart.comTue - Sat: 11.30am-6.30pm; Sun: 12noon-5pm

Richard Koh Fine Art71 Duxton Road, Singapore 089530 v +65 6221 1209Y [email protected] - Fri: 11.30am-7pm, Sat: 12noon - 6pmMon by appointment only. Closed on Public Holidays

Galerie Sogan & Art33B Mosque Street, Singapore 059511 v +65 6225 7686Y [email protected] - Sat: 12noon-7.30pm; Sun: 2pm-5pm

ZiJuan Art Gallery19 Tanglin Road, #02–07 Tanglin Shopping Centre, Singapore 247909 v +65 6733 0289HP: +65 8160 0058Y [email protected] - Sat: 11am-6.30pm Closed on Sunday

Sunjin Galleries43 Jalan Merah Saga, #03-62, Work Loft @ Chip Bee, Singapore 278115v +65 6738 2317Y [email protected] - Fri: 11am-7pm; Sat: 11am-6pm

Established in 2000, Sunjin has built a strong reputation representing some of the leading and most sought after artist in the region. The Gal-lery has also actively identified and promoted new talents, introducing new and exciting names for the art buying public to invest in. Recently, at the 11th Beijing International Art Exhibition in 2008, the gallery was awarded by the Ministry of Culture PRC a certificate recognising the gallery as one of the “Top 10th most influential galleries of 2008”.

Utterly Art 229A South Bridge Road, Singapore 058778v +65 6226 2605Y [email protected] - Sat: 11.30am-8pm; Sun: 12noon-5.30pm

Yisulang Art Gallery6 Handy Road, #01-01, The Luxe, Singapore 229234v +65 6337 6810Y [email protected]://yisulang.comTue - Sun: 11am-7pm

Art Auctioneers

Museums

The Luxe Art Museum6 Handy Road, #02-01, The Luxe, Singapore 229234v +65 6338 2234Y [email protected] - Sun: 11am-7pm

Singapore Art Museum71 Bras Basah RoadSAM at 8Q8 Queen Street

National University of Singapore Museum (NUS)University Cultural Centre, 50 Kent Ridge Crescent, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119279

Christie’s Hong Kong Limited22/F, Alexandra House, 18 Chater Road, Central, Hong Kong

Borobudurwww.borobudurauction.com

Larasati30 Bideford Road #03-02,Thong Sia Building, Singapore 229922

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Conservation / Restoration

m’a ARTSv +65 8611 5280Y [email protected] & Installation of Art Works and other Art related services.

Ray’s Transport & Servicesv +65 9152 2511Y [email protected] Installa-tion & Delivery Services.

Santa Fe Art Solutions v +65 6398 8518 M: 9758 8294Y [email protected] services exclusive to the Arts: Art Collection Management, Affordable Art Storage, Exhibition & Project Management and Art Movement & Installation.

Art Services

Chieu Sheuy Fook StudioStudio 102, 91 Lorong J, Telok Kurau Road, Singapore 425985v +65 9669 0589Y [email protected]

Koeh Sia Yong 许锡勇10 Kampong Eunos, Singapore 417774v +65 9671 2940Y [email protected]/koehsiayongwww.koehsiayong.artfederations.com

Artist Studios

Art Schools

PIA Preserve in Aesthetics63 HillView Avenue, #02-06B, Lam Soon Industrial Building, Singapore 669569v +65 6760 2602 / +65 9118 7478Y josephine@

thepiastudio.comwww.thepiastudio.com

Specialised in Paper & Book Con-servation. Art Preservation, Conser-vation and Restoration.

LASALLE1 McNally Street

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts38/80/151 Bencoolen St

The Singapore Tyler Print Institute41 Robertson Quay

66 TPAG | Oct 2011

art directories

Hong Kong Galleries Art Fairs

Puerta RojaPrivate Latin Art SpaceShop A,. G/F Wai Yue Building,15 – 17 New Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kongv +852 2803 0332Y [email protected] appointment

Blue Lotus GalleryWah Luen Industrial Building, 15-21 Wong Chuk Yeung Street, Fotan (N.T., close to Shatin)

Belgravia Gallery12/F Silver Fortune Plaza, 1 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong

Karin Weber GalleryG/F, 20 Aberdeen Street Central, Hong Kong (Close to Hollywood Road)

Koru Contemporary ArtHing Wai Centre, 7 Tin Wan Praya Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong

Affordable Art Fair Singapore18 – 20 November 2011www.affordableartfair.sg

Art Stage Singapore12 – 15 January 2012www.artstagesingapore.com

Hong Kong International Art Fair (ART HK)17 – 20 May 2012www.hongkongartfair.com

Asia Top Gallery Hotel Art Fair (AHAF HK)24 – 26 February 2012www.hotelartfair.kr

Fine Art Asia3 – 7 October 2011www.fineartasia.com

China International Gallery Exposition (CIGE)April 2012www.cige-bj.com

Shanghai Art Fair14 – 18 September 2011www.sartfair.com

Art Revolution Taipei22 – 25 March 2012www.arts.org.tw

Art Expo Malaysia28 Oct – 1 Nov 2011www.artexpomalaysia.com

Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair24 – 27 November 2011www.contemporaryistanbul.com

Art Dubai21 – 24 March 2012www.artdubai.ae

Flo Peters GalleryChilehaus C, Pumpen 8, 20095 Hamburg, Germanyv +49 40 3037 4686Y [email protected]

GALERIE CHRISTIAN LETHERTAntwerpener Strasse 4D - 50672 Köln (Cologne) Germany

Alan Cristea Gallery31 & 34 Cork Street, London W1S 3NU

White Cube48 Hoxton Square, London N1 6PB

L & M Arts45 East 78 Street New York 10075

Get listed with TPAG. Gallery listing Package: SGD700 (per annum) inclusions of one image, address, contact details & operating hours and gallery description. Standard listing: SGD600 (per annum) inclusions of address, contact details and operating hours. Email us for sales form at [email protected]

International

will launch TPAG Art Tours.

This brings art lovers from around the world toHong

Kong’s art scenes, art exhibitions, events and activities. Participating

galleries, artists, companies and organisations have a chance to showcase their

venue and artists.

Please join us and email to remo@thepocketartsguide.

com to sign up the Hong Kong Art Tours.

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TPAG Art Tours: HK 香港艺游

1 Simone Boon’s Studio Unit17, 9/F, block B,

Wah Luen Industrial Centre,15-21 Wong Chuk Yeung Street, Fotan, NT.新界火炭黄竹洋街15-21 号华联工业中心B座9楼17室www.simoneboon.comY [email protected] 852-60120363

2 Belgravia Gallery, Hong Kong

19th Floor, Silver Fortune Plaza1 Wellington Street, Central中环威灵顿街1号荊威广场19楼 www.belgraviagallery.comY [email protected] v 852 -9222 7315Viewings by appointment only.請預約參觀

3 Hong Kong Heritage Museum香港文化博物館

1 Man Lam Road, Shatin, NT新界沙田文林路1号www.heritagemuseum.gov.hkv 852-21808188

4 Hong Kong Museum of Art香港艺术馆10 Salisbury

Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, KLN 九龙尖沙咀梳士巴利道10号 www.hk.art.museum v 852-27210116

5 Hong Kong Cultural Centre香港艺术中心

10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, KLN 九龙尖沙咀梳士巴利道10号 www.icsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/HKCCv 852-27342009

6 Hong Kong Arts Centre香港藝術中心2 Harbour

Road, Wan Chai, HK 香港湾仔港湾道2号www.hkac.org.hkv 852-25820200

7 Fringe Club 艺穗会2 Lower Albert Road, central,

HK 香港中环下亚厘毕道2号www.hkfringeclub.comv 852-25217251

8 Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware 茶具文物馆

10 Cotton Tree Drive, Central, HK香港中区红棉路10号www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/v 852-28690690

9 Swire Island East太古港岛东艺游

18 Westlands Road, Island East, Hong Kong 香港港岛东华兰路18号港岛东www.swireproperties.comv 852- 28445095

10 Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre 赛马会创意艺术

中心 30 Pak Tin Street, Shek Kip Mei, KLN, HK 九龙石硤尾白田街30号 www.hku.edu.hk/jccacv 852-23531311

11 Puerta Roja Shop A, G/F Wai Yue

Building, 15-17 New Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong 上環新街15-17號偉裕樓地下A號鋪email : [email protected] Telephone: (852) 9729 1773

12 Gaffer Ltd6-8 17th floor Hing Wai

Centre, 7 Tin Wan Praya Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong香港仔田灣海旁道7號興偉中心17樓6-8號 www.gaffer.com.hk • [email protected]: (852) 2521 1770

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Blue City by A. Eugene Kohn, 30.5 x 23 cm

68 TPAG | Oct 2011

TPAG classifiedsA r t w o r k • E x h i b i t i o n s p a c e • A r t l e s s o n s • A r t m a t e r i a l s

Living in Ceramics. Solo exhibition by Lee Se Yong.20 Oct – 10 Nov 2011 Title: Blue Painting Size: 72 x 53 cm Contact: Sunjin Galleries at 6738 2317

Space for hire

Space for hire

Space for hire

The Paintings of Pan Zheng Pei (1934 - 2004) Date: 24/09/2011 – 8/10/2011Place: ZiJuan Art Gallery, 19 Tanglin Road, #02-07 Tanglin Shopping Centre, Singapore 247909Contact: (65) 6733 0289 HP: (65) 8160 0058Mon - Sun: 11am - 6.30pm.

Our ad space offers an affordable way for artists to showcase their work. It is also a marketplace for anything that can facilitate the art world. For more information, email: [email protected].

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The Pocket Arts Guide (Oct 2011)

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Transcript of The Pocket Arts Guide (Oct 2011)