This month’s Singapore Art Show is a creative exhibit with strengths and weaknesses, though it will ultimately be up to the viewer to decide if the collection works.
Some of the strengths of the show include works by artist Teo Eng Seng. An abstract painting by him is so thoughtful and beautiful that it appears to wave on the wall where it is displayed. Teo is well represented by the works on display in this exhibit, as he is an artist with considerable range. One of his pieces takes on the look of a battering ram and makes political commentary on the war in Iraq and the ongoing issues of terrorism and its prosecution throughout the world. Teo is best known for straying from his original medium of choice of oil paint to a technique he invented himself, which entails dyeing and sculpting paper into 2-D and 3-D forms.
Another strong point of The Singapore Art Show is a sculpture that moves the viewer to recall the impossibilities of the Mobius strip. The Mobius strip is something of an optical illusion, or a structure meant to challenge our notions of physics and just what is possible in the real world. It takes on the appearance of an infinity symbol, or a figure eight, and a continuous line can be traced on either side of the flowing surface. The sculpture, which has been rendered in bronze and features a patina, places more importance on the subject matter.
The weaknesses of The Singapore Art Show detract from what should have been a broader success for organizers, artists, and viewers of the exhibit. While there are many classic artists on display, the few younger artists included in the show have been shuffled off into a smaller gallery space within the facility. This causes the viewer to wonder if the works are a separate show in of themselves, or perhaps not given their proper due. The curation is also under scrutiny at this point, as the art on display from the younger creatives looks too similar. This is likely because of the fact that most of the artists use photography as their medium. Organizers could have instead given more visibility to different voices in the art world.
Another weakness of the exhibit is confusion. Viewers can easily wander in and out of the actual show, as other works and collections are also on display. It is difficult to discern exactly what is a part of The Singapore Art Show and what is just coincidentally on display at the same time. Organizers would have been more successful if they had included a wider range of artists in this display.
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To read more about sights at The Singapore Art Show, go to http://www.todayonline.com/entertainment/arts/good-and-bad-singapore-art-show.