SINGAPORE, Sept 3 — Satirical cartoons of anonymous people, traditional woodcut prints partially inspired by hawker life and photographic portraits that reflect the mood of a new generation of Myanmar artists.
Before Affordable Art Fair (AAF) Singapore comes back in November, you can whet your appetite at its ongoing annual exhibition of the works of the recent batch of winners of the Young Talent Programme (YTP) at ION Art Gallery.
The three artists — Singaporeans Ezekiel Wong Kel Win and Zhang Fuming, as well as Khin Thethtar Latt from Myanmar — were chosen from seven shortlisted names that had been presented at the fair late last year.
The YTP-winning-artists had been chosen based on the quality of their works, “maturity of thought” and their potential to develop their works through a solo exhibition, said programme curator Seah Tzi-Yan.
There is much in common in the works of the two Singaporean artists, from their social observations and influences (the LASALLE College of the Arts alumni cite the likes of Jimmy Ong and William Kentridge) to the monochromatic nature of their works and the use of traditional media.
But there are also distinctions. Tongue-in-cheek humour, for instance, is found in Wong’s “At Source,” which comprises GIF videos and charcoal paintings inhabited by men uniformly dressed in white shirts and black pants. The main centrepiece is the quirky sculpture “Steer,” which features 10 lower torsos under the cover of a white Chinese lion dance costume. A nudge-wink statement on the aimless state of things, the legs peeking out from underneath seem to go in different directions as if, literally, headless.
In the two-dimensional works, Wong said he wanted to eschew specific reference images, and went instead for simple, anonymous-looking figures to portray the foibles of society. His three paintings, for instance, take off from the phrase “beating around the bush” and portray seemingly directionless people, as in “Steer.” His GIF videos, meanwhile, approximate old political cartoons with their social commentary: Two people covering each other’s ears and mouths, for instance, or a group of people nodding their heads like mindless sheep.
Meanwhile, Zhang’s works are more straightforwardly serious. Huge charcoal drawings and hand-printed woodcuts comprise “The Quest: The Exquisite Rice Bowl.” Here, the image of the rice bowl is a subtle allusion to his parents’ previously owning a hawker stall, as well as to its significance as a metaphor for livelihood, said Zhang. And it is elaborated upon in different ways, from images of young people studying to a man seemingly arranging empty bowls in a pile to the ubiquitous act of exchanging namecards. It is also somewhat of a rarity to see a young artist take on printmaking, but for Zhang, it was a natural medium to explore, as its direct and very physical method proved appealing to him.
Finally, Khin presents Hunger, a series of photographs that tackles generational issues: A famous activist-poet named Ma Ei, Khin herself and a kewpie doll represent three generations in a country that is in the midst of transition after Myanmar’s milestone election in 2010. The series’ title refers to both political and educational hunger, said Khin. This is underscored not just by the act of wearing school uniforms (which is coloured white to symbolise prison) in the series, but in two other photographs of Khin holding up a grammar book in lieu of the Myanmar Constitution.
She wraps up her show with a video performance featuring Ma Ei reading a poem and her slowly stuffing her mouth with tissue paper.
Khin’s presence as the first Myanmar artist in the YTP exhibition runs parallel to Myanmar’s first presence in an edition of AAF Singapore, with two galleries taking part in November.
Now held twice annually, with the earlier one held in May, the coming edition will feature 85 galleries and the fair’s popular Under S$1,000 Wall, among other highlights, as well as a new feature — a “live visual mapping” project by art collective Band of Doodlers. — TODAY
* The Young Talent Programme 2014/15 Winners’ Solo Exhibition runs until September 22 at ION Art Gallery, while AAF Singapore will be back on November 12 to 15 at the F1 Pit Building. For more information, visit http://affordableartfair.com/singapore
