Singapore Artists @ Gillman Barracks Take On Singapore Art Week 2022 ( first posted on thebarefootfoodie.org on 19 Mar 2022 )

 

Singapore Artists @ Gillman Barracks Take On Singapore Art Week 2022

MARCH 19, 2022BAREFOOT ARTS, SINGAPORE ART WEE

For the last ten years, January is the time to indulge in a smorgasbord of visual arts during the Singapore Art Week ( SAW ) This year marks its 10th edition with over 130 events held across the country over 10 days. Since its inception, Gillman Barracks, a contemporary arts precinct, has been a key player in SAW. Here are some takeaways through the eyes of 5 local artists as they navigate the diverse landscape of art-making in their journeys from past to present.

Alvin Ong  ( b 1988 ) has a unique style which is playful and dream-like, with a slow, languorous touch. Featured here are works from his exhibition “Binge Watch”

Desktop 2021 ( Photo Courtesy of Yavuz Gallery and the Artist ) 

Studio 2021 - Photo Courtesy of Yavuz Gallery and the artist

Home to Alvin is Singapore and London. Since Covid, he has not been out of Singapore for the last 2 ½ years and his paintings reflect his mood of restlessness, longing and displacement. They portray poses we can instantly relate to and identify with living under present day conditions.

These works show the everyman or woman in the throes of a limbic state – Hooked to a screen as an extension of self, bingeing, obsessing; existing between lucid spurts of focussed activity as the days become indistinguishable.

Roads Around A Mountain by Ivan David Ng ( b 1991 ) take us on a search for rest, respite and satisfaction which still remains out of reach. Traversing the paving roads translates into  a personal pilgrimage of discovery and breakthrough.

Mountain Sickness - Photo Courtesy of Darell Loh and Chan & Hori Contemporary

The works are a melange of layered collages comprising materials picked up from Ivan’s travels over the years including soil, flowers, paper, anything that would trigger a return to the provenance of things. Some of the layers have been intentionally scratched out, revealing fresh layers underneath which look quite different from what they were before. From a philosophical perspective, there is clarify after peeling away the excess.

Sacred Theory of the Earth ( Photo courtesy of Darrell Loh and Chan & Hori Contemporary )

Somewhere Else: The Forest Imagined by Donna Ong ( b 1978 ) takes us to the timeless and lyrical re-creations of an idealized tropical forest. It represents a world that is familiar yet idyllic, as if inviting its viewers to be transported into a different realm, at least momentarily. When I asked Donna how the past two years have affected her, she said that it had little impact because her work was about escaping into her imagination, of seeing beyond what’s before us, and to be absorbed into that space which is sublime.

Donna Ong surrounded by her National Geographic reference materials. ( Photo courtesy of the artist and Fost Gallery )

Tropical Shares – Four panels of Donna’s magical touch, each featuring a different decade of the forest from the 80s to the 2010s. would there be a fifth one for our time? ( Photo courtesy of the artist and Fost Gallery )

A close up of the magical forest collage ( photo courtesy of Alka Kapoor )

Moving from one forest to another, multi-disciplinary artist  Rizman Putra ( b 1977 ) takes us into his 3-Dimensional Drawing Room called Immemorial. Visitors are invited to step into a doorway to add happy colours to the constantly changing landscape with eyes that beckon and call out to you. Coming from a theatre background, Rizman explains that the myriad of lines and patterns plays out like the dialogue between performers in an interactive show. As more colours are added over the duration of the exhibition, the installation slowly transforms into an enchanted forest coming alive with a burst of many different strokes by different participants. He also reflected with poignancy that as he approached his mid-forties, he wants to make beautiful art with positive vibes. I am looking forward to more.

Artist at work ( Photo courtesy of the artist, Colin Wan and Art Outreach Singapore )

Art Docents of GB with the artist

Grandma, this is how you do it ( Photo Courtesy of Roopa Dewan ) 

A commissioned work by Anthony Chin ( 1969 ) pays homage to the fallen heroes of the Loyal Regiment stationed in Gillman Barracks. These men fought one of the last battles before the surrender to invading forces.  Titled The Incomplete Momotaro  ( Peach Boy ) Sacred Sailors II ) ( 2022) it features 180 glass jars in total, some neatly stacked in a manner reminiscent of an enshrinement in a columbarium, and others scattered in various locations around Gillman Barracks.

Each jar contains 5 litres of black paint which translates to the level of blood in a human body and a military tag numbered from 1 to 180. The title makes reference to the first feature black and white animated film made in 1945, as propaganda aimed at children. The soundtrack from the film is replayed in the installation.

Momotaro Jars enshrined ( Photo courtesy of the artist )

It is a pity that this installation has been de-installed at the end of SAW 2022. But at the very least, it brings to remembrance that there once were heroes on foreign soil who sacrificed everything to give us our liberty and a future -art transcending life, even if for a fleeting 10 days.  Those who saw it will not forget.

They Once Were Soldiers

In the last two years, we have all lived under the shadow of the pandemic. How do you continue to find meaning and fulfilment when you can’t do the things you once did? We all gave up some degree of social life, felt left behind in a “waiting room” of imposed isolation.

These artists have shown us a silver lining.  They did what mattered to them, living fully in the moment, dwelling on what they had, instead of what was lost, and moved on. We should just do the same.

( This article was earlier published in Passage, 2022 Issue 2, with some modifications to the visuals and layout )