A Snapshot of Artistic Expressions: Summarizing Singapore Art Week 2024
This February, the team at Fiidaa Art celebrates the local visual arts scene by reflecting on our personal experiences immersing ourselves in the diverse exhibits and installations held during Singapore Art Week (SAW), which spanned from 19th to 28th January. During the week, we had the opportunity to explore a spectrum of artworks showcased by artists from around the world and across diverse mediums, from traditional oil on canvas to interactive metal art and even artwork that incorporates augmented reality filters! Take a walk down memory lane with us as we walk you through our unique Singapore Art Week!
Singapore Art Week is Singapore's signature art event and hosts a slew of smaller art events taking place across multiple venues and neighborhoods scattered all across the country. Our journey starts at Art SG, continues through Tropical by National Gallery Singapore and Releak Cross Over, before ending at Gasho 2.0. Whether you're someone looking to dip your toes into the local art scene or an art veteran, Singapore Art Week is a great opportunity to expose yourself to the local arts, allowing you to expand your artistic knowledge and broaden your creative horizons!
With Chinese New Year coming up, we encourage you to reflect on your own experiences of Singapore Art Week as you discover your own tastes in art and what speaks to you. These reflections are sure to provide insights into what you are drawn towards when considering a new artwork for your art collection!
Art SG: A Global Showcase
Kicking off our SAW journey was ART SG, Southeast Asia's premier global art fair. Boasting 114 galleries from 33 countries around the world, ART SG unfolded over four days, offering a dynamic array of artistic expressions. As we traversed through the massive venue that spanned two levels, we encountered an impressive range of artworks put on display, from traditional oil canvases to sculptures, photography, and even artworks that incorporated interactive VR technology.
Walking into each level, we were greeted by large public installations on acted as the centerpieces of the fair, providing visitor's with the opportunity to interact with the artworks by taking photographs with them or observing them up-close.
One notable highlight was Wong Chee Meng's vibrant and captivating heritage inspired paintings depicting significant folklore and objects important to Chinese culture. The immersive experience of viewing his work through a VR filter transported us into a world where his canvases came to life, revealing more and more intricate details the longer we looked at them.
Equally impressive was Kim Kang Yong's hyperrealist depictions of bricks on a board. Using oil, sand, and grounds stone on board, Yong's art showcased a remarkable three-dimensional quality shifting according where the viewer was positioned. We were wowed by how his artwork drew parallels to the French trompe-l'œil technique, which plays optical tricks on the viewer into perceiving the objects in the painting as real.
Tropical: Stories from Southeast Asia and Latin America
Next up is our explorations into "Tropical", a special art exhibit held by National Gallery Singapore. The gallery featured distinguished artists from all over Southeast Asia and Latin America, where these politically charged artworks spoke out against colonialism and defiantly reclaimed their place within the history of art.
The exhibit's main theme was how uncovering how art can become a vehicle for resistance and transformation. We encountered a fascinating reinterpretation of the Chiaroscuro (light-dark) technique in Fernando Cueto Amorsolo's Rice Harvesting and Gathering Fruit, adding a unique twist to traditional Western Approaches.
As we observed the interplay of light and shadow in the artworks, we appreciated how Amorsolo skillfully adapted Chiaroscuro to convey realistic depth, giving his paintings a clear foreground and background.
The exhibit showcased the evolving nature of artistic techniques and the global fusion of diverse influences as traces of impressionism and cubist techniques made their appearance in these Southeast Asian and Latin American artworks.
We were also pleasantly surprised to see live macaws being featured in one of Topical's installations; to many tribes of Central and South America, these macaws served as guardians that brought healing through color and light. The inclusion of macaws into the art exhibit made an already immersive exhibition all the more experiential!
Releak Cross Over: Pushing Artistic Frontiers with Japanese Illustration
To switch things up, we dive straight into Releak Cross Over, which featured Taiki and Sevnzel, two artists at the forefront of illustrating from anime and popular video games from the Japanese Art Studio, SSS by Applibot. "Releak Cross Over" sees digital art being "leaked" into the physical world, where these artworks sit at the crossroads of traditional Japanese craft and the latest technology available!
Taiki works with UV paint on aluminum, where most of the artworks make use of UV printing on acrylic, increasing the vibrancy of his works by amplifying the highlights in his artwork. UV paint glows in the dark and shines when exposed to a UV light source! We were impressed by how bright the highlights in his artwork were!
Similarly, Sevnzel's artworks depict futuristic humanoid creatures on aluminum using UV paint, where his art is inspired by disseminating street culture, reflecting illustrations, cartoons, street styles and apparel/ Through his art, Sevnzel seeks to challenge the fiction/reality division, where art seems to be approaching the real world.
Gasho 2.0: Bridging the Gap between Art and Technology
Our Singapore Art Week journey concluded with a visit to Gasho 2.0, an art exhibition which mainly focused on pushing the boundaries of artistic expression. Centered around 2.5D metal canvas art, the exhibit transformed digital artworks into tangible, touchable forms. As we stepped into this exhibit, we were given gloves that allowed us to interact with the artworks, creating a multi-sensorial experience that blended sight and touch.
The collection at Gasho 2.0 captivated us with how majority of the artworks showcased how man interacts with his environments. Many of the artworks global issues, exploring the consequences of climate change and pollution. Each piece sparking contemplation on the impact of human actions.
Some of the artworks showcased a future shaped by our choices today while others speculated on the potential lifestyles of future generations. The exhibit served as a thought-provoking exploration the responsibility we hold in shaping the trajectory of our future.
Thank you for journeying through this Singapore Art Week focused blog post with us! We hope that our experiences have inspired you to similarly reflect on the artwork you have come across in your everyday life! Explore the beauty of the local art scene by visiting our Singapore Artists collection page!