Flavours of Life 《五味雜成》 – Recent Works of Tay Bak Chiang 鄭木彰
Venue: iPreciation (誰先覺), 50 Cuscaden Road, HPL House #01-01, Singapore 249724
Private Preview: Saturday, Jul 23, 2022 (By Invitation Only)
Exhibition Opens to Public: Jul 25 – Aug 6, 2022
Artist Statement:
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.
