iPreciation is delighted to present Beyond Adversity: Irene Chou’s Small Works in her Later Years. The exhibition’s theme is inspired by Chou’s unwavering vitality and resilience, putting a spotlight on her ability to confront and transcend the many personal challenges she faced throughout her life. Slowly recovering from her immense anguish through the healing practice of painting, colours finally made its return in Chou’s works in the 1980s. Unfortunately, Chou suffered a severe stroke in 1991, which temporarily halted her artistic practice. Nevertheless, rather than feeling defeated, she became a proactive patient who maintained a healthy lifestyle and was resolved to regain her mobility and eventually return to painting. Chou persevered through rehabilitation and was moved to Brisbane, Australia, where she continued to create works from 1993. These works possessed an otherworldly quality, exploring themes of the universe and celebrating the rebirth of a new self that was imbued with a profound gratitude for life. The motif of an embryo or fetus often appeared in her works, acting as universal symbols of rebirth and spiritual transformation. Suffering from cerebellar atrophy which greatly restricted her mobility, Chou still determinately tried her best to stand whilst splashing bold ink strokes to create larger artworks, she would even crawl around the large paintings and painted around the edges of the individual paintings to attend to finer details.
Irene Chou, My First Australian Landscape,1994,152x107cm, 175×130.5cm (Mounted), Ink and Colour on Paper Mounted on Canvas
Irene Chou, Universe is in My Mind IV, 1995, 152x106cm, 175x133cm (Mounted), Ink and Colour on Paper Mounted on Canvas
Irene Chou, Rotation, 1996, 98x61cm, Ink and Colour on Rice Paper
Irene Chou, Rotation, 1996, 98x61cm, Ink and Colour on Rice Paper
In the early 2000s, the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) commissioned Chou’s works for Kuala Lumpur and Brisbane projects. JTC Biopolis likewise commissioned five works of Chou under their permanent collection.
Irene Chou, works under permanent collection at GIC Brisbane, Australia
Irene Chou, works under permanent collection at GIC Brisbane, Australia
Considering the enormous uncertainties and health challenges she faced in all aspects of her life at the time, it would have been much safer for Chou to continue to paint on a familiar medium. Instead, she chose to take a great risk on her career by experimenting with new mediums, using acrylic paint, canvas, silk, satin and boards, among many others. Her exploration stemmed from her great desire to learn and this also helped restore her emotional balance. At the same time, Chou revisited and synthesised many of her signature techniques, bringing them together in her late paper works. Initially an admirer of Chou’s works, Zhu Qi, a Chinese art historian criticised: “You are now bringing out every single sign and symbol you have developed over the years into your present work. It is too much”. Yet, it is precisely this abundance that embodies Chou’s vitality and rush of emotions. Among these recurring techniques and motifs are circles, which represent the circle of love, and her queyue cun (a vortex-like pattern), rendered by colourful short strokes and layering was named as such by Chou to express the motif’s representation of a “joyful mind”. British art historian and professor Michael Sullivan, who first met Chou and encountered her works on a visit to Hong Kong in the late 1960s, likewise describes Chou as embodying a “serenely cheerful attitude to life” where her ideas and feelings become “so charged with the vitality and joy of her own character that they spring to life”.
Irene Chou, No. 116, Life is a Many Splendoured Thing, 2007, 30x30cm, Ink, Colour and Acrylic on Paper
Irene Chou, No. 123, Life is a Many Splendoured Thing, 2007, 30x30cm, Ink, Colour and Acrylic on Paper
Irene Chou, No. 124, Life is a Many Splendoured Thing, 2007, 30x30cm, Ink, Colour and Acrylic on Paper
Irene Chou, Life is a Many Splendoured Thing, 2007, 14.5×12.5cm, 35.5×35.5cm (with Border), Ink and Colour on Paper
Irene Chou, Life is a Many Splendoured Thing, 2007, 38x30cm, 58x50cm (with Border), Ink and Colour on Paper
Irene Chou, No. 71, Life is a Many Splendoured Thing, 2007, 14.5x16cm, Ink and Colour on Paper
Chou relocated to a nursing home in 2007 till her passing in 2011. During those years, she painted smaller works due to space constraints and her physical deterioration. In spite of such restrictions, these works still remarkably displayed Chou’s signature techniques and her renewed vitality, resilience, spiritual reflection, and a strong will to continue creating — the bright colours endured, the motif of circles and embryos, and the red aspects against the striking bold black strokes. Moreover, Chou persisted in her use of mixed media, creating playful works with overlapping and impasto layers. Despite all the adversity Chou faced, her groundbreaking series Life is a Many Splendoured Thing reveals a soul that remained deeply grateful and appreciative of life.
Presented by iPreciation, a Singapore art gallery specialising in contemporary Asian art.
Private Preview: 16th May 2026, 2-5pm Exhibition Opens to Public: 18th May – 5th June 2026 Venue: 50 Cuscaden Road, HPL House #01-01, Singapore 249724 Tel: +65 6339 0678
Exhibition Overview
Born in Rudong, Jiangsu Province, Wang Dongling (b. 1945, China) is widely regarded globally as one of the most significant figures in contemporary ink practice. Wang received his undergraduate training at Nanjing Normal University in 1966, before completing a Master’s degree at the Calligraphy Department of the China Academy of Art — formerly Zhejiang Academy of Fine Art — in 1981. Wang currently serves as Professor at the China Academy of Art, where he supervises doctoral candidates and directs the Contemporary Calligraphy Research Centre, playing a pivotal role in shaping both pedagogical frameworks and critical discourse surrounding experimental calligraphy in China and beyond.
Wang Dongling was invited to participate in the 61st Venice Biennale’s China Pavilion, titled Dream Stream, which runs from 9 May to 22 November 2026. The exhibition showcased Wang’s monumental chaotic script, measuring 6.5 meters by 16.5 meters.
As part of Beyond Ink: New Horizons in Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy, Wang did a live performance of chapters 1 and 25 of the Tao Te Ching in chaotic script, measuring 2 meters by 5 meters. The exhibition will be held at the Bologna Museum in Italy from 7 May to 5 July 2026.
Wang Dongling created the first and twenty-fifth chapters of Lao Tzu’s “Tao Te Ching” on-site at the Bologna Museum in Italy. May 6, 2026.
Wang Dongling’s academic lecture at the Bologna Museum in Italy. Beyond Ink: New Horizons in Contemporary Chinese Calligraphy.
iPreciation is pleased to present Ink Unbound – Wang Dongling · Chaos Script. The exhibition’s theme originates from Wang’s rich creative practice and his diverse experiences that transcend national borders, paying tribute to Wang’s reimagining of traditional calligraphy with his signature chaotic script.
Grounded in the discipline of classical Chinese calligraphy — not limited to seal script, regular script, and official script — Wang studied under influential masters including Shen Zishan and Lin Sanzhi. Their rigorous instruction instilled in him not only technical precision but also a philosophical understanding of calligraphy as an embodied practice rooted in temporality, discipline, and spontaneity. Wang extends from this lineage, eventually developing his signature chaotic script. This style he pioneered retains structural integrity while loosening formal constraints, opening calligraphy into an expanded field of gestural intensity, spatial dynamism, and improvisational freedom.
Central to Wang’s contemporary relevance is his reconfiguration of calligraphy as a visual and phenomenological system rather than a strictly linguistic one. His chaotic script resists stable legibility, unfolding instead as a field of energy in which ink disperses, accumulates, and collides across the surface. Meaning emerges through rhythm, density, and spatial tension, inviting viewers into an active process of perception. In this sense, Wang’s work aligns with broader conceptual shifts in contemporary art that privilege experience over interpretation, process over fixed meaning. The dissolution of boundaries between text and image, reading and seeing, is further intensified in his works, where calligraphy becomes a durational, immersive act that extends beyond the confines of the page into lived, embodied experiences.
Wang’s chaotic script pioneered an entirely new art form in the realm of contemporary ink art, reflecting ancient wisdom and philosophies tied to Chinese intellectual traditions. Influences from Daoist spontaneity and Zen Buddhist notions of intuition and immediacy are evident in his embrace of improvisation and the relinquishing of rigid control. Rather than viewing chaos as the absence of structure, Wang frames it as a higher form of harmony — an echo of the Daoist idea that apparent disorder can embody a deeper, natural order. In this sense, his chaotic script becomes a visual manifestation of qi (i.e. vital energy), capturing Wang’s state of mind in the moment of creation.
Wang Dongling’s chaotic script contain within them ancient Chinese wisdom and poetry. Through his unique expressive style, Wang expresses reverence for the ancients and engages in dialogue with them. His works have the potential to ignite the viewer’s curiosity, leading them to a deeper appreciation of Chinese culture, revealing that these are not merely abstract works for their own sake. Wang’s works deserve further in-depth understanding and study from our generation!
About the Exhibition:
Ink Unbound brings together a selection of 29 smaller works from recent years, tracing the evolution of Wang’s practice within a global artistic context. His works draw upon classical Chinese poetry and philosophy while engaging in dialogue with international modernist and contemporary traditions, from gestural abstraction to avant-garde calligraphy. Rather than reinforcing East–West distinctions, Wang’s practice positions ink as a fluid, transhistorical medium of exchange.
In works such as Lao Tzu – Tao Te Ching: The Principles of Naturalism (2018), Wang Dongling reinterprets the Tao Te Ching into a visual field shaped by flux and emergence, where ink gathers and disperses to evoke the formless, generative qualities of the Tao. In Li Bai – Farewell at Jingmen Ferry (2019), he reinterprets themes of departure and emotional distance from Tang Dynasty poetry through asymmetrical compositions of dense and open ink fields, where rhythm and brushwork evoke a melancholic sense of longing. In later works such as Su Shi – When It is Clear, the Ripples Gleam on This Beautiful Lake (2023), Wang incorporates photography, layering calligraphic gesture over images of West Lake to create a dialogue between text, image, and environment, foregrounding shifting perceptions of clarity and obscurity, permanence and ephemerality.
Through ink, gesture, and performance, Ink Unbound proposes Wang’s chaotic script as a living, embodied practice, one that continuously reactivates tradition through experimentation, spontaneity, and transformation.
About the Artist:
Wang Dongling (b. 1945, Jiangsu, China) is a world-renowned leading contemporary ink artist, best known for large-scale performances of “wild cursive” chaotic script, characterized by their dynamic and erratic strokes. His works are deeply rooted in ancient Buddhist and Daoist thought, as well as classical Chinese literati poetry. Wang received his Bachelors from the Nanjing Normal University (Nanjing, China) in 1966 and his Masters from the Calligraphy Department of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (Hangzhou, China) in 1981.
Wang’s works have been prominently exhibited at prestigious institutions worldwide, including Cambridge University (Cambridge, UK), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, USA), Guggenheim Museum (New York City, USA), National Art Museum of China (Beijing, China), the Palace Museum (Beijing, China) and Asia Society Museum (New York City, USA). They can also be found amongst others in the collections of the British Museum (London, UK), Hong Kong Museum of Art (Hong Kong), the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, USA), the Zhejiang Museum of Fine Art, (Hangzhou, China), the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, USA), Harvard University (Cambridge, USA), and the University of California, Berkley (Berkley, USA).
50 Cuscaden Road, HPL House #01-01, Singapore 249724
Tel: + 65 6339 0678
Exhibition Overview
iPreciation presents Distance Resonance, a solo exhibition by Willy Tay. Distance Resonance showcases a new body of work by Willy Tay, exploring themes of identity, memory, and historical consciousness within a contemporary Singaporean context.
Developed from his experiences between Singapore and China, the exhibition reflects on distance as both a physical and psychological condition. Through layered compositions, Tay brings together archival imagery, everyday scenes, and fragments of history, reconfiguring them into ambiguous visual narratives. These elements, often drawn from colonial references and collective memory, are removed from their original contexts and placed into new painterly environments, creating a tension between past and present.
While the works introduce more recognisable imagery, they remain open ended and resist fixed interpretation. Tay’s use of layering and illusion further blurs the boundary between the real and the imagined, inviting viewers to look more closely.
Rather than presenting definitive answers, Distance Resonance offers a space for reflection, encouraging viewers to consider how identity and belonging are shaped through memory, history, and lived experience.
About Willy Tay
Willy Tay received his formal training in fine art at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore, before furthering his studies at RMIT University in Melbourne, where he obtained both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Fine Art. His practice has been exhibited widely across Singapore and internationally, including presentations in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the Philippines.
His works have been shown in both solo and group exhibitions, and are held in public and private collections such as the Singapore Art Museum, DBS Bank, and the National Art Gallery in Bangkok. Tay is also the recipient of several awards, including recognition at the Philip Morris ASEAN Art Awards and the UOB Painting of the Year.
Practice and Direction
While painting remains central to his work, Tay continues to explore new possibilities beyond the canvas. His recent considerations include the potential integration of alternative materials and sculptural or textile-based approaches, suggesting an expanded direction that builds upon his longstanding interest in layering, structure, and material transformation.
Moments of Serene Contemplation – A Showcase of Ashley Yeo’s Works
Showcase opens: 2 Sept – 16 Sept, 2023
iPreciation takes pleasure in presenting the exquisite artistic expressions of Ashley Yeo, a name that resonates profoundly in the Singaporean art milieu. Renowned for her mesmerizing paper cut-out works and pastel-pigmented drawings, Ashley Yeo stands as a visionary artist whose works have captured the hearts of many. These artworks offer an in-depth exploration of Yeo’s distinctive artistic voice, particularly her mastery of the meticulous and delicate art of paper cut-outs for which she is renowned.
A highlight of the showcase is Yeo’s series of three pigments on paper drawings – a medium that marked the inception of her artistic practice. Although rarely exhibited, these drawings profoundly mirror the significance of natural elements and the symmetrical allure of flowers within her body of work. Each drawing is a labour of love, meticulously developed over months with an almost mechanical precision that defies their hand-drawn nature. This manifestation of Yeo’s unwavering dedication to her craft across diverse materials vividly underscores her artistic ethos.
These drawings are not mere artworks but an in-depth exploration of conscious deceleration. In her retreat to nature, Yeo finds her muse in vast landscapes, from the gentle hues of the Arctic Circle’s summer solstice sky, where she undertook a residency in 2014, to the intricacies of floral symmetry. This harmonious juxtaposition of simplicity and complexity, fragility and durability, resonates deeply within her creations. The form and presence of natural elements provide Yeo with a rich palette from which she sculpts her meticulous and ethereal objects. Each piece emanates from meditative pigments on paper drawings, a tribute to her devotion to her art. Patiently and diligently hand-drawn over months, this process demands extended periods of solitude and patience. Yeo invites you to embark on a journey where you, too, are encouraged to slow down, bask in life’s smaller wonders, and experience an innate sense of calm.
In perfect harmony with her gentle-hued nature drawings, Ashley Yeo’s hand-cut paper works create an immersive experience that transports her audience into a realm of delicate beauty and meticulous craftsmanship, evoking a profound sense of tranquillity. Every intricate detail within these paper works is a testament to Yeo’s unwavering commitment to her skilful technique. Executed with utmost precision, each contour and curve are the results of painstaking effort, often involving the deft manipulation of a sharp scalpel. The artist’s touch, guided by patience and dedication, brings forth these exquisite masterpieces that stand as an embodiment of her artistic vision.
This showcase provides a rare opportunity to witness the evolution of Ashley Yeo’s artistic prowess as she seamlessly intertwines nature’s grace with her own, delivering moments of serene contemplation to all who encounter her masterful creations.
Presented by iPreciation, a Singapore art gallery specialising in contemporary Asian art.
Singapore Kaleidoscope 2023: Celebrating Local Artistry
Exhibition Opens:Aug 5 – Aug 19, 2023
In celebration of Singapore’s fifty-eighth National Day, iPreciation is delighted to present Singapore Kaleidoscope 2023: Celebrating Local Artistry, a Singapore-focused art exhibition featuring uniquely Singaporean works.
Step into the vibrant world of Singapore through the eyes of six esteemed local artists: Wee Shoo Leong (b. 1958), Oh Chai Hoo (b. 1960), Lim Soo Ngee (b. 1962), Tay Bak Chiang (b. 1973), Wang Ruo Bing (b. 1975), and Lim Jia Qi (b. 1997). This captivating exhibition invites viewers to immerse themselves in the diverse and rich tapestry of Singapore’s landscapes, culture, and everyday life, depicted through a myriad of artistic expressions.
Singapore Kaleidoscope 2023: Celebrating Local Artistry presents an eclectic fusion of artistic expressions, capturing the city’s essence through diverse lenses. Through these artworks, viewers are invited to see Singapore anew, appreciating its many facets and the talent of these exceptional local artists who breathe life into their chosen mediums.
Presented by iPreciation, a Singapore art gallery specialising in contemporary Asian art.
iPreciation is proud to present Abstraction for Beginners, a solo exhibition by Milenko Prvački(b. 1951, Singapore), featuring Milenko’s ongoing series that surveys his evocative visual vocabulary.
Abstraction for Beginners is an ongoing series since 2017 that traces Milenko’s development in abstraction, the paintings and unique prints on handmade Japanese papers will showcase Milenko’s continued expansion in his visual lexicon. The artist repeatedly alludes his integration into a new domain to learning a new language, twice – first when he studied in Romania without knowing how to speak Romanian, then coming to Singapore without any knowledge of English. Having learned many entries that have their origin and meanings, Milenko discovers that the alphabetical structure of a dictionary has not allowed any narrative or story to dominate the notation. A concept he absorbs, Milenko presents multifaceted works. A myriad of elements that may not necessarily complement each other are often randomly placed together, then leaving assorted interpretations to be derived from different perceived possible combinations.
As Milenko constructs or perhaps more aptly, reconstructs his memories and life events, fragments of past return as memorandums for the future, albeit the fluid nature of remembering means this act of retrieval will constantly change and never stay the same. Collectively, the anamorphic figures, mosaics of colours, alphabets, wild strokes and blobs of paint, and geometrical as well as deformed shapes, reject any bucketing or categorisation. As small details get littered and scattered on the plane, a wealth of information gets compressed and packaged into a bizarre configuration of things that seem confusingly readable and unreadable at the same time. The dynamic interaction between these elements hence invites creative associations from different angles, backgrounds and understandings. Such a bold composition of the ambiguous and indicative, challenges the notion of abstraction and highlights Milenko’s remarkable pursuit to expand the boundaries of abstraction.
About the Artist
Milenko Prvački was born in 1951 in the former Yugoslavia. He graduated with a Master’s degree in Fine Arts (Painting) from the Institutul de Arte Plastice “Nicolae Grigorescu”. Milenko moved to Singapore in 1991 and became a Singapore Citizen in 2002. Between 1998 and 2010, Milenko was the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Singapore’s LASALLE College of the Arts. He currently holds the post of Senior Fellow at the institution since 2011. In 2005, he also founded Tropical Lab, a global programme for students from art institutions worldwide.
He has been invited to hold solo exhibitions in Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney Biennale, Beijing, Jakarta and more recently, Serbia in 2019. He was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2011, and Singapore’s Cultural Medallion for Visual Arts in 2012 by the National Arts Council for his contributions to Singapore’s visual arts scene. In early 2012, he also received the Silver Medallion for Knights in the Order of Arts and Letters from the French Embassy. In 2020 Milenko received the 22nd Sava Šumanović Fine Art Award, the Serbian national art award for Visual Arts.
Milenko’s art residencies include but are not limited to the Visiting Artist Programme at the National Institute of Education (NIE) in Singapore (2019), 1st Tao Hua Tan International Artist Retreat and Painting Residence in China (2017), 18th Street Art Centre in Santa Monica, USA (2013, 2016 and 2017) and Keppel Centre for Education at the National Gallery Singapore (2015). His works are permanently collected by museums and institutions worldwide, including the National Museum, (Belgrade, Serbia), Museum of Contemporary Art (Belgrade, Serbia), Museum of Contemporary Drawing (Nurnberg, Germany), Museum of World Portraits (Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina), Museum of Contemporary Art, (Novi Sad, Serbia), National Museum (Pancevo, Serbia), Obalne Gallery Collection (Piran, Slovenia), Singapore Art Museum (Singapore), National Gallery Singapore, Art Gallery of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia), and ICAS, LASALLE College of the Art Collection (Singapore).
iPreciation is delighted to present Be Together, a solo exhibition by Justin Lee(b. 1963, Singapore), one of Singapore’s foremost contemporary artists known for his pop-flavoured works with an essence of our local culture.
In this new body of works based on the Nanyang Children Story Books (南洋兒童), travel back in time with Justin Lee as he reunites with his childhood memories and visuals. Be Togetherwill showcase 18 paintings of playful narratives, conceptualised sometime in 2019. In this series, his paintings are re-imagined as book covers as if they are all due for publication in today’s context. Having to rework this topic allowed Lee to expand on his painting language as he incorporates his style into the covers or rather add a uniquely Justin Lee mark on them.
Lee believes that art plays an integral role to help people grow, gain self-awareness, and understand the role they play in society. He hopes that Be Together can ignite the audience’s curiosity and playfulness of people, regardless of their upbringings, and bring out the hidden child in everyone. For the audience young at heart who is just Lee’s age, here’s a pool of collective memories to dive deep into. For the younger audience, who learns the Nanyang Children Storybook for the first time, now that’s a piece of yesterday worth picking up for comparison with today.
About the Artist
Justin Lee is a Singaporean visual artist and designer. Upon graduating with a Diploma in Fine Arts, in 2019, he was one of the selected local artists handpicked to be trained at the Tyler Print Institute in New York. He has participated in numerous artist-in-residence programs in Japan, such as Fukuoka, Studio Kura, Itoshima Art Farm, and Tokyo Youkobo. Over the years, he has participated in numerous exhibitions held in Singapore and internationally (2000-2002).
As one of Singapore’s foremost contemporary artists whose design projects reflect a sense of pop flavoured with an essence of Singapore traditions, Justin’s work reflects traditional techniques such as his ongoing series based on paper-cutting and Chinese woodblock printing styles. The themes and imagery with which he interprets his commissioned design work underscore familiar Asian cultures with a delightful twist of western pop treatment that celebrates Asian values in an endearing tongue-in-cheek manner.
In his earlier career, he was handpicked in 1999 as one of the first six interns from Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI) to work with world-renowned artists such as Frank Stella and Donald Sultan in the New York Studio. He believes that art plays an important part in helping people to grow and to see the critical role play and awareness of themselves. His works also reflect on words and images from the mass media like signage, billboards and consumer products which control our thoughts and expression.
The artist’s background in graphic design has greatly inspired his concepts of consumerism. He is well known for his paper-cut inspired paintings with a fusion of eastern and western elements that highlighted how Western consumerism-culture has infiltrated the East and his ancient Eastern figurines modelling western luxury products.
Presented by iPreciation, a Singapore art gallery specialising in contemporary Asian art.
iPreciation is honoured to present 28 important ink paintings by Gao Xingjian. Among them, 17 works were created between 2020 and 2022.
This exhibition celebrates Gao’s remarkable artistic achievements. It also marks a significant honour he received in 2023.
In January 2023, Gao turned 83. Shortly after, Emmanuel Macron awarded him the prestigious Legion of Honour at the Élysée Palace. The recognition acknowledges Gao’s profound contributions to literature and the arts.
International audiences know Gao as a Nobel Prize laureate in Literature. However, his creative practice spans many disciplines. He works as a novelist, playwright, poet, theatre and film director, painter, photographer, and philosopher.
Life and Artistic Background
Gao Xingjian was born in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, China, in 1940. Later, he moved to Paris in 1987. He eventually became a French citizen in 1997.
The Milan Arts Festival 2008 once described Gao as a “modern Renaissance man.” His artistic range reflects this title.
Gao paints exclusively with ink. In traditional Chinese culture, ink carries the spirit and inner energy of the painter. Therefore, the medium plays a central role in his creative philosophy.
Although Gao moved away from Western oil painting in the 1970s, traces of those techniques remain. For example, he layers different shades of ink to create depth and atmosphere. As a result, his works combine classical tradition with contemporary experimentation.
Painting Process and Philosophy
Gao focuses on intuitive depictions of his inner mindscape. Instead of planning compositions rigidly, he allows his thoughts to guide the process.
Before and during painting, he often listens to classical music. The rhythms and harmonies influence his movements. Gradually, he transforms musical impressions into expressive brushstrokes.
However, Gao does not complete a painting in one sitting. Instead, he often pauses and leaves the work untouched for days, months, or even years. Later, he returns to it with fresh insight. Sometimes he makes adjustments. Other times he leaves it unchanged.
Once satisfied, he mounts the painting and assigns an extemporaneous title. At that moment, the artwork reaches its final form.
For viewers, the result appears as a visual stream of consciousness. The blurred imagery reflects the fleeting nature of thought. Ideas emerge, fade, and transform—just like the human mind itself.
As Gao famously said, “painting begins where language fails.” Each viewer therefore experiences the work differently. Meaning becomes personal, introspective, and deeply individual.
Awards and International Recognition
Over the years, Gao has received numerous international honours. For instance, he received the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 1992.
In 2000, the Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Academy praised his work for its universal relevance, profound insight, and linguistic creativity.
Subsequently, Gao received several international distinctions. These include the Golden Plate Award, the Lions Award from the New York Public Library, and the La Milanesiana Award.
In 2003, the city of Marseille organised “Year of Gao Xingjian.” The event featured exhibitions of his paintings, theatre productions such as August Snow, and other creative works.
Later, in 2008, Gao became the guest of honour at the La Milanesiana. In the same year, Hong Kong organised a festival celebrating his multidisciplinary achievements.
More recently, in 2019, Gao received the Premio Roma for his book Per un nuovo Rinascimento.
Exhibitions and Collections
Since 1985, Gao has held more than seventy solo exhibitions across Europe, the United States, and Asia. Museums and galleries frequently feature his work in group exhibitions and international art fairs.
In 2005, the Singapore Art Museum organised a retrospective exhibition of his work.
Later, in 2015, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and the Museum of Ixelles held a major double exhibition. The Museum of Ixelles presented a retrospective of his paintings. Meanwhile, the Royal Museums displayed six monumental works that now remain in their permanent collection.
Today, many international institutions collect Gao’s works. These include the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Musée Guimet, the Singapore Art Museum, and the National Museum of History.
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Presented by iPreciation, a Singapore art gallery specialising in contemporary Asian art.
Private Preview: Thursday, Jan 5, 2023 (By Invitation Only)
Exhibition Opens to Public: Jan 6 – Feb 4, 2023 (*Extended by 1 week!)
In Conversation with Oh Chai Hoo: Jan 28, 2023, 2pm (Conducted in English, Limited Seats Available. Online Live also available @ iPreciation FB Page)
The artist will discuss his explorations in jinhuihui with Dr Hwang Yin, Art Historian and Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chinese Studies, NUS. To RSVP, please call +65 6339 0678 or email [email protected].
iPreciation is delighted to present Singapore artist Oh Chai Hoo’s recent works in a solo exhibition titled “Timeless Present 今夕何夕” featuring 38 mixed media works dating from 2019 to 2022, comprising two assemblages, 36 paintings and collages. Bringing a contemporaneity to his paintings of jinhuidui, Oh’s explorations in fragmentation, fissuring, rubbing and collage, as well as playful experiments with colours and motifs, have resulted in a highly personal interpretation of the genre. He seeks to bring a fresh eye and a new understanding to this traditional art form. Reflecting the artist’s catholic tastes in reading material, the inscriptions largely address the transient nature of human existence and the immutability of time. For him, jinhuidui does not need to look at the past but can develop as a lens for interpreting global issues and current events.
Jinhuidui, which means ‘a pile of brocade ashes’, is an art form of Chinese scholarly montage painting that might have originated as early as the late Ming Dynasty. The montage usually includes the depiction of ancient objects, paintings, calligraphy, rubbings and fragments of letters. In Oh’s new mixed-media works, the miscellaneous things he uses are torn, burnt, stained, and worn out, giving them a renewed sense of age and elegance. Oh also adopts a realistic painting method for some of the artefacts, and it takes a double take to discern which are painted on, and which are pasted on. The deliberate use of colours and intricate painting technique captivates the eye and encourages it to wander along the different objects to discover something new each time.
Oh Chai Hoo(b. 1960) is a Singapore artist who works extensively with various mediums. Since graduating from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore in 1982, Oh has remained an active member of the local arts scene. He was the vice-president (2013 – 2021) of Singapore’s Siaw-Tao Chinese Seal-Carving Calligraphy & Painting Society had held various exhibitions locally and in South Korea and Japan.
He received a Distinction in Visual Art Creation by the NAFA Alumni Association (1992), and Highly Commended in Abstract Medium at the 18th UOB Painting of the Year competition (1999), the Siaw-Tao Achievement Award in 2009 and Siaw-Tao Best Artwork Award in 2013. His works are collected privately and also in the permanent collection of the National Museum of Singapore and The Istana, Singapore.
For more information, please call +65 6339 0678 or email [email protected].
Presented by iPreciation, a Singapore art gallery specialising in contemporary Asian art.
Private Preview: Nov 19, 2022 (By Invitation Only)
Exhibition Opens to Public: Nov 21 – Dec 10, 2022 (By Appointment Only)
Artist statement:
When one thinks of “nature”, we often visualise spaces untouched by humans. In a dense city like Singapore, most nature we see every day are intertwined with our urban spaces. Occasionally, one can observe plants emerging through hidden corners like backyards of residential areas, cracks on concrete floors or creepers using the walls of pillars as scaffolding to climb and grow. However, nature is not alone in trying to survive our urban environment. Every so often, we observe infrastructure being built in a way that preserves existing trees and designated spots allocated for the growth of flora and fauna.
Urban : Backyard 《都市: 後院》is a series of works based on documentation of everyday spaces in Singapore. It aims to highlight this unique relationship between urban spaces and nature. Through the use of paint on carved wood panels, Lim hopes to shine a light on the mini garden in every corner of our neighbourhood.
Lim Jia Qi(b. 1997, Singapore) graduated with a degree in fine arts from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore in 2019. During her time in LASALLE, she was awarded the Ngee Ann Kongsi Scholarship (AY 2017/ 2018) and the LASALLE Award for Academic Excellence in 2017. At the same time, she assisted in conducting numerous printmaking workshops during her internship at Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI).
Lim had participated in various group exhibitions since 2016. She had also exhibited in “Concrete Encounters” at the Young Talent Programme 18/19 Winner’s Solo Exhibition in 2019, and at the Affordable Art Fair under the ʻYoung Talent Programmeʼ in 2018.
Unimaginative spaces in our urban environment, most commonly associated with the Singapore “lifestyle” are a key interest in Limʼs work. Similar to how people that grew up in the countryside recognise trees and forests as signs of familiarity, the banal architecture that surrounds Singaporeʼs housing estates and its cold concrete element has become an oddly familiar material that she finds herself drawn to.
Through passive observation of everyday life, Lim endeavours to capture the poetics of these spaces and structures, reconstructing them in terms of narrative and/or the absence of such. The breaking down of forms, shifting in perspectives and hinting of narratives in the works are presented in a bid to challenge viewersʼ emotional attachment and familiarity with these spaces.
Coming from a printmaking background, Jia Qi is interested in the advancement and explorative nature of this traditional medium; adopting techniques with other material adaptions such as carving on concrete slabs. With the architecture of housing flats her main subject matter, concrete material is also explored extensively through casting.
Private Preview: Oct 15, 2022 (By Invitation Only)
Exhibition Opens to Public: Oct 17 – Nov 5, 2022
Artist Statement
‘Nine Abysses’ is a reflection of my life experiences and emotions. I encountered a series of difficulties in work and my private life in recent years and have been down in the dumps. But I managed to persist in the creation of art and the pine tree symbolizes this persistence. The dark background is intentionally set to represent the sadness I have been through.
On the other hand, the process of adding details with gongbi technique to depict the pine trees and jagged rocks to soothe my emotions. To me, it is a way of mediating and somehow I found inner peace. I hope the audience could feel the feelings in this painting.
I also hope the audience would look closer to see the details of the painting, especially the pine trees, and pine needles. The original colour of the paper is gold and silver. I used the traditional Chinese Ink (need grinding). To enhance the darkest part of the painting, I mixed the ink with charcoal powder so it would look darker and create a mysterious dark space. This is my unique technique. (The traditional method will use a very concentrated ink but when it is dried, it will look shiny.)
～Chui Pui Chee
About the Exhibition
iPreciation is delighted to debut Hong Kong artist Chui Pui Chee’s first solo exhibition titled Nine Abysses《九淵》 in Singapore.
Born in 1980 in Hong Kong, contemporary ink artist Chui graduated from Queen’s College, Hong Kong in 1999. Chui studied Calligraphy under Chinese contemporary artist Jat See-Yeu since young and graduated from the Department of Fine Arts of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 2003. The following year, he then furthered his postgraduate studies at the Department of Chinese Calligraphy at the China Academy of Art where he obtained his Master of Arts in 2007, and subsequently his PhD under the tutelage of world-renowned Chinese contemporary artist Wang Dongling in 2010.
Chui started off his artistic career in university with expressive calligraphy. However, he was not satisfied with merely engaging in formal learning of calligraphy, and desired more. During a stint at an auction house as a specialist in Chinese painting and calligraphy, Chui was exposed to many brilliant classical and modern Chinese paintings. He was thus inspired to study and explore the different techniques, skills and materials of Chinese painting, and he became especially fond of employing gongbi (literally “neat brushstroke”) as a form of artistic expression. 18 years on, Chui established himself as an experimentalist known for his thought-provoking paintings deriving from the structure of calligraphic fundamentals. The incorporation of Chui’s personal interpretation and compelling elements in his paintings such as insects, mythology and Cantonese pop songs, contribute to a refreshing and delightful twist to the traditional gongbi painting.
Nine Abysses《九淵》 showcases 13 recent works by Chui and spotlights his development in the Nine Abysses series – contemporary ink landscapes featuring pine trees rising above clouds, and out of steep rocky cliffs. Amid a global pandemic and several socio-political movements in recent years, Chui finds himself increasingly drawn to the tranquility of Northern Song-style landscape paintings. He has selected an atypical subject matter, the mythological Nine Abysses said to be a spring where a sacred dragon resides, or in Taoism, a metaphor for the nine ways of life to ultimate bliss. Leveraging such poetic imagery, Chui then employs the gongbi technique to create a magnificent landscape packed with exquisite details.
The arduous process Chui went through to contrive each painting is a parallel reflection of his uphill struggles in real life and an ongoing yearning to find inner peace. Rather than presenting the abyss as it is, Chui turned towards thriving pine trees (which are collectively a symbol of self-discipline and endurance) triumphing over the dark, a brilliant move to bring forth the tension existing within such a space. Against a dynamic background of expressively painted clouds and waterfalls on gold and silver paper, he arduously painted each delicate pine needle and fine lines, gradually actualising the monumental composition.
Upon a closer look, one would realise, unlike classical ink paintings where a high concentration of black ink would leave a sheen when it dries up, dark areas in Chui’s works are pitch black (as seen in Nine Abysses XLI 九淵之四十一, 2022). This is due to the artist’s unique method of mixing ink with charcoal powder to dampen the glow and bring more gloom that could encapsulate his sadness.
The absolute focus and precision required in the meticulous application of each brushstroke has turned the creation process into a mediative and introspective session, one that is laborious yet soothing to the soul. Condensing his emotions into superbly fine lines, Chui’s paintings exude a generous number of emotions waiting to be shared with and felt by us.
About the Artist
Hong Kong contemporary ink artist Chui Pui Chee (b. 1980) holds a degree from the Department of Fine Arts (2003), The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and a Master of Arts (2007) and Doctoral Degree (2010) from the Department of Chinese Calligraphy, China Academy of Art.
Chui served as a programme coordinator at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, CUHK (2007-2015), taught calligraphy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2011-2012), a part-time lecturer at CUHK (2018-2020) and Hong Kong Baptist University (2019-2022). He also worked in the Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy Department of China Guardian (HK) Auctions from 2015 to 2017. He was an Honorary Advisor of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, CUHK (2017-2018). Chui is currently an executive member of The Jiazi Society of Calligraphy and Friends of Shizhai (2000 to present), as well as a research fellow of the Modern Calligraphy Research Center of China Academy of Art (2000 to present).
In 2012, Chui received the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Awards – Young Artist Award, presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. He also received the Award for Young Artist (Visual Arts) at the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2015 organised by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. He was a finalist in The Sovereign Asian Art Prize in 2015, 2018 and 2020. Chui has held various solo and group exhibitions in Hong Kong, China and the rest of the world. His works are permanently collected by the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology of the University of Oxford.
To register for the artist’s talk, please contact us at +65 63390678 or [email protected]
Exhibition Opens to Public: Sep 19 – Oct 1, 2022
iPreciation is delighted to present a solo exhibition titled The Hong Lim Series: Line and Fragments by Singapore artistJon Chan. This exhibition marks a new and ongoing series that Chan has embarked on as he surveys the connection, or rather disconnection, between the physical manifestation of the site and the symbolic presence of the person the park is named after.
About the Exhibition
TheHong Lim Series: Line and Fragments brings forth a two-fold exploration as Chan manoeuvres through Hong Lim Park, a site full of storytelling and political narratives and his ancestral relations with Cheang Hong Lim. Driving from an alienated perspective, Chan also integrates notions of time as a medium, often realised through fragmented imageries.
The act of naming forms an emotional and directive bond between Hong Lim the person and Hong Lim the Park. This orchestrated form of a binding power when displaced and resurfaced in conversations and research, often draws on a singular political association. Here, Chan takes on a different stance. He deliberately segregates the usual connotations attached to the park and seeks to study the facades of Hong Lim Park as a historical and functional space that has served not just the politicians (as many would assume), but also the arts, the sportsmen and the passerby.
Drawing inspiration from Sequential Art and Film, Chan paints ‘present-day’ Hong Lim Park and weaves in slices of reality that has been taken out from their respective timelines and social-political context. The juxtapositions of these fragments of space ruffle the linear presentation of the site and create tension as the space and agents of space attempt to establish their presence. When viewers are pulled into the scale of his works, they are yet clearly detached from the spacetime, witnessing the confrontation of time and its evolving development on the canvas.
As a continuation of his previous investigative viewpoints, a naturally recurring motif of dichotomic narratives and dialectical pulls are present in the zone that Chan has carefully contrived. Overlaying individuals of people at Hong Lim Park in a reconstructed image of Hong Lim Park, Chan has presented the possibility of reconfiguring elements that reflect on time and space. He has also subtly conveyed an inclination to reconcile conflicting units of time in an entirely different plane through the act of painting.
Between the moving lines (literally or figuratively) and fragments of existence lingering in Chan’s work, we invite you to contemplate the various dimensions that exist between perception and conception.
About Hong Lim Park
Most known as Singapore’s only designated Speaker’s Corner, Hong Lim Park has rich storytelling and political history. Originally named after the first Superintendent of Police, Thomas Dunman, it was later renamed Hong Lim Green, in honour of Cheang Hong Lim, a wealthy and influential Chinese businessman who bought the land and donated it to the government. It has served as an important space for many political rallies, performances and activities.
Artist Statement
“This new body of works marks a new and ongoing series that focuses on a two-fold exploration of both the physical site, Hong Lim Park and the person which that same park is named after, Cheang Hong Lim whom I share ancestry with.
Instead of approaching the project from the perspective of a descendant of Hong Lim, the artist approaches it from an alienated one. More specifically, a perspective that projects a sense of the divided self. This sense of a divided self is rooted in the very way he paints which at certain moments may seem like doubtful gestures; however, paradoxically, these doubtful gestures are also propelled by lively ones. The overall effect is paintings that look assertive yet restrained. This way of painting works as a metaphor for approaching and choosing the subject matter. Both Hong Lim the person and Hong Lim the Park are likewise ‘divided’, estranged from one another, making it an ideal terrain for my work.”
~Jon Chan
About the Artist
Jon Chan Weiwen (b.1982, Singapore) graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) in 2007, and a Masters of Fine Arts in 2008, from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. Chan is the winner of the Winston Oh Travel Award for the years 2003 and 2007. He was also awarded the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Arts award in 2007. Chan has participated extensively in numerous group exhibitions since 2002 and has held various solo exhibitions in Singapore.
Private Preview: Saturday, Aug 20, 2022 (By Invitation Only)
Exhibition Opens to Public: Aug 22 – Sep 3, 2022
Artist Statement:
There is nothing so wondrous as engaging in a dialogue with nature. If an artist manages to capture such beauty of nature on canvas as to captivate the minds of the viewers, in turn, he or she must deem that as the greatest blessing.
I have always drawn on local sources for inspiration. It is hence never a must to travel overseas to far-flung places, for anything here could well serve as my subject matter. It might be any tree on this island that catches my fancy, a rainbow of colours that comes and go amid the greenery of the reservoir, the distant horizon that is far beyond the shoreline and waves of the sea, or some cargo ships stopping by under the deep blue sky and passing clouds; in short, whatever catches my eyes, near or far. Even a bunch of bananas in the market, a bouquet of flowers, or some old ceramic bottles or vats, could easily be welcomed into my painting. My goal is to distil seemingly disparate elements into pictures without words, that yet remind us, like calligraphic wisdom, of “being gentle and quiet but going far”.
I count myself lucky, as someone born to a loving family and a metropolis at the crossroads of east and west, ever open to cultural differences. We not only possess the romantic sensibilities of the oriental society, but also the technological know-how of the western world, which together provides me with excellent inspiration. Being based in this region dubbed Nanyang or the ‘South Seas’, noted for its rustic character, I have developed a corresponding style in painting still life and landscape. My aim is to create a classic feel through a gentle equilibrium in composition, with a grounded and meticulous approach to attention to detail. It is my principle that every dab, every stroke and every extended surface in my oil painting must have its raison d’être, contributing to a contrasting effect or sense of harmony. In a departure from realism in my still life, however, my landscape paintings are much more relaxed and impressionistic. The pictures composed in my mind are always calm and quiet, with breathing space that affords room for imagination. While the colours are decidedly harmonious, the outlines are understated despite deeper sophistication, to create a sense of being and transcendence all at once…
I must credit my living environment, my upbringing and my training for nurturing my creative spirit. It is through such a broader cultural outlook that I have developed wings of imagination, allowing my art to take flight in free rein. For 40 years now! I have strived in constant exploration and hard work, in search of a ‘Shangri-La’ as befits my own temperament. It is my own world of beauty, a field in which I toil in creative work, but also a place where I am most free in spirit, a place where I find myself most unfettered and most rewarded: a bountiful land, truly my own.
About the Artist
Wee Shoo Leong(b. 1958, Singapore) is a Singaporean artist who paints primarily in oil. Most known for his oil paintings of identifiable everyday objects (such as birdcages, vases, earthen jars, flowers and fruits) set against blank backgrounds, his still life works bring forth the simplicity in things. This sense of quietness and harmony later also stretches into his later venture into landscape paintings, which takes on a more semi-abstract approach.
Shoo Leong graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1979. In 1984, he won the prestigious UOB Painting of the Year, followed by a silver medal from Salon 85 in Paris in 1985, and the 1st Commonwealth Foundation Fellowship, London in 1986.
Shoo Leong’s works have been exhibited worldwide, including in Singapore, Brunei, Australia, Europe and the United States of America. These include solo exhibitions at Art Forum, Singapore (2021 & 1992), Robin Gibson Gallery, Sydney (1987) and National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore (1985). Selected group exhibitions include Rediscovering… Our Local Talents, Fullerton Hotel Heritage Gallery, Singapore (2015), Many in One: 25 Years of Singapore Art, Washington, DC (1991) and First Bru-Sin Art Exhibition, Brunei (1989).
Wee Shoo Leong’s works are also in the permanent collections of Agung Rai Museum of Art, Bali, Indonesia, Nordmann Rassmann GMBH & Co. Hamburg, Germany, The Istana, Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, National Art Gallery, Singapore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, and Citibank Singapore.
Presented by iPreciation, a Singapore art gallery specialising in contemporary Asian art.
Many Singaporeans enjoy their meals at hawker centres and coffee shops, where the food is affordable and diverse. I’m no exception. If I’m not having home-cooked food, I always like to eat at the hawker centre or kopitiam. It’s an integral part of my day, a routine I don’t usually think much about.
For a period during the pandemic, dining in at hawker centres and coffee shops was disallowed. I realised then that the wonton mee, char siew rice, youtiao and other local foods I’d taken for granted had always been my dependable and comforting allies.
I have used local foods as the subjects of my recent works as a natural response to those days. It’s also my way of remembering how these foods have accompanied me during the different stages of my life.
The flavours of these foods – sweet, sour, salty, bitter, spicy – are interwoven with the joys and sorrows in my life. Food needs to be chewed on and savoured slowly, as do happiness and sadness in life.
About the Artist
Tay Bak Chiang(b. 1973, Malaysia/ Singapore) is one of Singapore’s most sought-after painters for his contemporary Chinese ink works. The critically acclaimed artist graduated with a Diploma from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Singapore in 1995 and studied at the China Academy of Art (Hangzhou, China) in 1997. In 2002 he was awarded the Young Artist Award for Visual Arts by the National Arts Council and later won the first prize for UOB Painting of the Year (Traditional Chinese Medium Category) in 2000 and 2003.
Tay Bak Chiang’s works have made numerous appearances at international art fairs, including Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Stage Singapore, Art Miami, Art New York, Art Paris, Art Taipei and Edinburgh Art Fair. In addition, his works are in the collection of much prominent public and private institutions, including The Istana (Singapore); Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Singapore); Permanent Mission of Singapore to the United Nations (New York); National Gallery Singapore; Simmons & Simmons Contemporary Art Collection; Singtel; SC Global Developments; Swiss Re; OCBC Bank; United Overseas Bank; Mandarin Oriental (Singapore); Shangri-La Hotel (Singapore); and Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard, London.
Presented by iPreciation, a Singapore art gallery specialising in contemporary Asian art.
Private Preview: Saturday, Feb 26, 2022 (By Invitation Only)
Exhibition Opens to Public: Feb 28 – Mar 26, 2022 (By Appointment Only)
Due to social distancing, prior viewing arrangement is recommended. Please call 6339 0678 or email Brian at [email protected]
iPreciation celebrates the phenomenal achievements of legendary Taiwanese artist, Ju Ming(b. 1938, Miaoli, Taiwan) with his internationally acclaimed Taichi Series and Living World Series. We invite you to relish humanity as carved by Ju Ming.
This retrospective solo exhibition, titled “Art: a Human Practice”, sheds light on Ju Ming’s creations made of different mediums over half a century, and his views on the aesthetic experience in everyday life, formulated by years of practice. Though already a formidable figure in the eyes of young emerging artists, Ju Ming has never been bogged down by his sparkling accomplishments. In his eighties, the artist still pushes himself to unlearn, relearn and create. Walking a path of his own, Ju Ming continues to preserve the wide spectrum of life in our wonderful world.
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Presented by iPreciation, a Singapore art gallery specialising in contemporary Asian art.
Private Preview: Thursday, Jan 13, 2022 (By Invitation Only)
Exhibition Opens to Public: Jan 14, 2022 – Jan 29, 2022 (Due to social distancing, prior viewing arrangement is recommended. Please call 6339 0678 or email Brian at [email protected])
To welcome the start of 2022, iPreciation is delighted to bring to you 35 pieces of important recent works by 7 prominent contemporary artists from China and Singapore, namely Wang Dongling, Wang Jianan, Zhang Jian-Jun, Wang Tiande, Han Sai Por, Zhuang Shengtao and Oh Chai Hoo. All the artists have received formal academic art training with a solid foundation and later carved out a path like no other. These groundbreaking works are testaments to their tireless search for originality and creativity in their thinking process and symbols of a distinctive identity.
Arguably one of China’s greatest living contemporary artists, Wang Dongling is best known for his groundbreaking Chaos script, a signature style that has broken free from the rigidities of traditional calligraphy, yet with its roots firmly anchored in the fertile soil of the ancient art form. Wang often adopts excerpts from Buddhist scriptures and Chinese classics in his creation process, yet his expressions would turn these texts into unrecognisable, thoroughly flipped the functionality of words. Characters traditionally to be read and fed to the receivers are now abstract forms to be felt and contemplated by the receivers themselves instead. Apart from his unusual calligraphic visuals, Wang also experimented with a variety of mediums, such as using acrylic on acrylic board, acrylic on stainless steel, pigment on coloured paper and even bamboos. Over the past six decades, Wang’s modernistic approach has expanded the frontier of calligraphy and no doubt, he will continue to open up room for universal interpretations. His recent creations using ink or pigment on coloured papers have brought in a fresh look to the old art form and certainly leveraged on the untold possibilities colours offer.
Wang has been invited to demonstrate his monumental calligraphic works in prominent institutions including Stanford University (1989), Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (2009), Brooklyn Museum (2015), British Museum (2016), The Imperial Ancestral Temple, Beijing (2016), Art Institute of Chicago (2017), Asia Society New York (2017) and National Gallery of Singapore (2019). His works are in the private collections of collectors worldwide, as well as the permanent collections of museums and institutions such as The British Museum, London, UK, The Palace Museum, Beijing, China, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China, Zhejiang Art Museum, China, Yale University, USA, University of California Berkely, USA, North Dakota Museum of Art, USA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA, and Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong.
Wang Jianan who is having his first group exhibition in Singapore is a prominent artist most known for his ink paintings characterised by heavy use of pigment and majestic landscape. Born in 1955, the Heilongjiang native studied at Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and upon graduating in 1982, he later migrated to London in 1987 where his artistic career took flight. His brightly coloured works have brilliantly weaved in cultural influences and characteristics of Western paintings. Insistent on using mineral pigments to preserve the texture and translucency of traditional Chinese ink paintings, Wang’s works are rich in hues, yet placed within the most unexpected setting — tranquil landscape more likely found in Tang and Song Dynasty paintings. Bearing the influence of dunhuang art and its distinctive colour scheme, which he has a profound understanding of, Wang has constructed a wholly different visual realm that is bound to revitalise the rich traditions of Chinese paintings. Filling his lush forests and mountains with a myriad of colours, occasionally adding traces of living, Wang’s Colour Landscape Seriesgoing on display stands at the cusp of a fairyland fantasy and reality.
The winner of the 1989 British watercolour prize at the Royal Academy of Art, the first Chinese artist to receive such an honour, has had his works well collected by museums and institutions such as National Art Museum of China, Henan Art Museum, The Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China, Xi’an University, China, The British Museum, London, UK, The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK, The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK, and The Olenska Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland.
A pioneer of chinese abstract art and one of the most gifted contemporary Asian artists of our time, Zhang Jian-Jun has certainly showcased his multi-disciplinary talents through a fascinating collection of oil, watercolour, installation and photography art. The Adjunct Professor at the Fine Arts Department of New York University Shanghai consistently awes viewers with his profound understanding of and manipulation of existence, time and its realisation. Currently living and working in both Shanghai and New York, Zhang often weaves in his observations of the society, and his reflections on the ephemerality of modernity. In his Ink Rock Series, he created doppelgängers of scholar’s rocks that Chinese literati once prized in their gardens, tediously and delicately casting them in ink, giving the nature feature a modern spin.To date, his study on the fluidities present in our lives is still ongoing and his works shall continue to discuss the evolution of time and what dissipates along with it. Featuring Ink Rock this time, we invite you to question what constitutes our cultural identity in modern times though the ornamental ‘rocks’ Zhang has brilliantly engineered.
Zhang has held many solo exhibitions and over 100 group exhibitions in China, the United States and other parts of Asia and Europe. His works are collected permanently in JP Morgan (Hong Kong), International Artists Museum, Lodz (Poland), Shanghai Art Museum (China), Shenzhen Art Institute, Shenzhen (China), Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (China), the Dow Jones Company, New Jersey (U.S.A.), Djerassi Foundation Collection, California (U.S.A.), Yuz Museum, Shanghai (China), Frederick R. Weisman Foundation of Art, California (U.S.A.), Brooklyn Museum, New York (U.S.A.) and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (U.S.A.).
Born in Shanghai in 1960, Wang Tiande is widely regarded as one of the leading figures in contemporary Chinese ink of our time. His reinvention of Chinese landscape painting by substituting brushes with incense has seen him catapulted into international fame and Wang’s creative explorations continue to receive critical acclaim worldwide. His iconic works bear resemblance to the conventional landscape paintings from afar, then upon closer look, surprise viewers with his layered textures and refined visuals — as the burned landscape layered on top reveals another inked landscape underneath, both existing as individual pieces yet generate synergies as one. Wang sometimes fuses his creations with original manuscripts or rubbings of stelae and seals from his collection, in the hope that he could establish a dialogue between the past and his modern practices. Some of his recent works, after his trip to Singapore in 2020 has expanded to imbue elements of the sunny island and Southeast Asia. As the cultural gap continues to widen,these new works are part of the contemporary space Wang has created and they highlight the possibility to inherit, yet not be bounded by the traditional Chinese culture.
Wang has held solo and group exhibitions in prestigious museums, galleries and institutions across the globe. His works have been included in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Chicago Art Institute, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the British Museum, and the National Art Museum of China.
Regarded as one of Asia’s most prominent living sculptors, Han Sai Por is widely recognised as a driving force for the local sculptural art scene. Han who became an artist by chance certainly has established her presence over the past fifty years, clinching numerous prestigious awards internationally and locally. A recipient of Singapore’s Cultural Medallion Award (1995), the second female to have received such recognition after Georgette Chen, is known to create simplistic and elegant organic works that evoke the alluring charm of nature. Han embarked on her artistic journey with stones, and after all these decades, even when natural materials of such (including marble and granite) are hard to find in Singapore, she has not strayed from her path. With exquisite, smooth, flowy lines derived from the energy of the natural world, her works on display — Seed PodSeries, Flora Series and Tropical LeafSeries are honest yet graceful commentaries on the significant loss of organic forms in modern society. Though presented with a clean and neat aesthetic, Han’s remarkable oeuvre carries a lot of weight, literally and figuratively.
Han has participated in numerous international exhibitions around the world. Her works can be found in many private collections, international and local institutions, and public spaces including; National Museum of Singapore, Suzhou Centre in China, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore National Art Gallery, China National Museum in Beijing, Portland Sculpture Park in England and World United Nation, New York Singapore office building.
Singapore’s pioneer contemporary ink artist Zhuang Shengtao is a modern literati artist. Now residing in Suzhou, Zhuang indulges himself thoroughly in the serene landscape the ancient city offers. It does not take much to notice, the spirit of times present in the ‘Venice of China’ is well embraced in Zhuang’s bold and zestful strokes. Remaining vivacious in his swings and sways, his daxieyi (freehand brushwork) works have pushed the boundaries of calligraphy further to one that transcends distinguishable forms. The heavy layering and swashing of ink across jumbo size rice papers have had an effect on the visual dimension — pockets of white peeking through the varying degree of dark washes, much like the dappled shade, movements of his expressions are amplified at a scale, drawing viewers further into his poetic world. Look out for his abstract and free-spirited compositions in Emptiness Series, Zhuang’s introspective strokes are a fresh interpretation of contemporary ink and have cleverly imbued classical Chinese poetry within.
Zhuang has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Singapore, China, the USA, Australia and other parts of Asia, including Journey of Ink (Singapore National Museum Art Gallery, 1993), Power and Poetry – Monuments and Meditations in Chinese Contemporary Ink Paintings (Singapore Art Museum, 1998), 5th International Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen (Shenzhen, China, 1999), shuimo yuehui (True Colour Art Museum, (Suzhou, China, 2009) and The Ink Art of Zhuang Shengtao (iPreciation Gallery, Singapore, 2017). His works are also in the permanent collection of the National Gallery Singapore.
A well-respected Singaporean artist who wears many hats — painter, calligrapher, ceramist, Oh Chai Hoo works extensively with various mediums and is well admired for his fearless experimentation and exploration with different materials. Deeply intrigued by the work of nature, Oh is particularly fascinated with rock structures, which has led to an oeuvre of extraordinary ink works that have captured the powerful movements of natural forces on magnificent mountainous, cliff-like forms. Over the years, he has continued to expand his visual language by exploring dialogical and collaborative works, bringing in surprising elements that certainly hint at his free-spiritedness and adventurous personality. His recent paintings bring forth a juxtaposition of ink and calligraphy resulting in a collage-like effect, where works are torn and pieced up, and writings are scattered all around (see Cherries from Previous Lives and The Dream of Landscapes). The spontaneous assemblage resulted in texts and motifs interacting non-linearly on the plane, as well as torn edges and spaces leaving rooms for imagination, leading viewers into a heartfelt conversation with the narratives presented.
Since graduation from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore in 1982, Oh remains an active member of the local arts scene. The vice-president of Singapore’s Siaw-Tao Chinese Seal-Carving Calligraphy & Painting Society had held various exhibitions locally and abroad. His works are well collected privately and are also permanently collected by the National Museum of Singapore and The Istana, Singapore.
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Presented by iPreciation, a Singapore art gallery specialising in contemporary Asian art.
Private Preview: Dec 11, 2021 (By Invitation Only)
Exhibition Opens to Public: Dec 13, 2021 – Dec 30, 2021 (Due to social distancing, prior viewing arrangement is recommended. Please call 6339 0678 or email Brian at [email protected])
This December, join us at iPreciation to discover the tranquil world of Yang Zhongda(b. 1988) through 22 pieces of works he created between 2015 – 2021 in his first solo exhibition titled Quietude.
Yang was born in Singapore. He graduated in 2015 from The Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, majoring in Western Painting. Our affinity with Yang began in 2015 after his graduation. Since then, he visited and presented his artworks whenever he created new pieces, at the same time discussing his ideas. Yang’s acrylic paintings first made an appearance in When Space Dissolves into Luminosity; Where Flowers Bloom Amidst Rocks, a group show in 2017. Soon after, he forged a newfound affection for pastel and he made this medium a definite choice for his later creations. His fondness for drawing as a form of expression and the appealing nature of pastel pigment application created a special visual for his paintings. However, the virtuosity shown in his visualisations would not have been possible without his meticulousness and introspective personality.
Yang’s keen eye for detail allows him to consistently find meaning in the overlooked corners of the urban scene, often zooming into the quintessential, producing photography-like works. His rigorous approach to art has produced an exceptional visual diary of the contemporary, a fascinating take on everyday observations.
The artist’s oeuvre is a poignant revelation of the evanescence nature of our modern society. He often captures desolated spaces and commonplace subjects often occupied or routinely used by humans yet also mostly go unnoticed and unappreciated. In the absence of living objects, these neglected infrastructures and features took centre stage, imbuing a whiff of bleak emptiness in an oddly familiar setting.
By negotiating an entity’s existence in a space, Yang investigates the intimate connection he shares with his subjects, his identity in relation to society which extends to the universal theme of the human-environment relationship. Constructed with fragments of his personal memories and sympathetic observations of our surroundings, the quaint stills encapsulate small moments of actuality and invite viewers to contemplate and find opportunities to reconcile with the mundane someday, some time.
Yang plans to further create a captivating series depicting the relationship between toys and society, unfortunately, delayed by his recent health issues. Its first piece, The Cavalry, created in 2019, is a distorted version of a popular videogame character which will also be shown at this exhibition.
We have witnessed an incredible journey of Yang’s growth and development over the years. As he continues his medical treatment, we hope to share Yang’s remarkable chronicles and celebrate his achievements to date. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of Yang’s collectors for supporting the young artist and loaning these works to make this solo exhibition possible.
We wish and greet everyone with a bright and healthy year ahead.
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Presented by iPreciation, a Singapore art gallery specialising in contemporary Asian art.
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In Search of My Shangri-La 《我的桃花源》 – Recent Works of Wee Shoo Leong 黃樹良
