Robert Zhao Renhui, a Singaporean photographer, is the only finalist to represent the Southeast Asia region in the prestigious Hugo Boss Asia Art Award for this year.
Zhao is known as an extremely artistic and conceptual photographer, making his pieces seem more like paintings than actual photographs. A quick search of his recent work shows a series of beautifully rendered portraits of different animals. In one, a bulbous orange and gold fist rests limply in the center of the frame, the mauve background somehow normalizing the otherwise strange sense of a fish out of water. In another photo with an off-white background, a bird’s legs are curled up just below it, posed as if it were on the move, but without the wings extended. Another photo with a goldenrod yellow background shows a minuscule ladybug in flight, the red shell of its body highly visible even if it is so small in the piece. Another photo with the same shade of yellow in the background features a larger-than-life grasshopper, antennae laid back as if blown by the wind, just on the cusp of skittering forward. In another ethereal portrait, a polar bear swims away from the viewer in murky, blue water. The swimming action makes the bear — a large and imposing animal — seem nearly weightless, suspended in the middle of the frame. Many of Zhao’s photographs of this nature work from him taking the animal or insect out of context from where it might usually be viewed — such as in a tree or among plants — and presents it in a sterile environment so you are forced to study the subject in a new way. It isn’t difficult to see why he has been nominated for the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award.
There are four finalists named for the award including Zhao. The other creatives nominated are all from China. The award itself was established in 2013 and is given out every two years. Since its inception, the award is now considered the top prize for contemporary artists in Asia. No one from Singapore has won the honor yet. The previous two winners were from Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Zhao will find out whether he netted the award near the end of this year, in November. The top prize includes S$61,000, as well as an exhibition of work for all of the finalists. Zhao has enjoyed a number of recent shows at galleries around Singapore, as well as one that will be a part of this year’s Singapore International Festival of Arts.
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To read more about the award, as well as more on Robert Zhao Renhui’s art, go to http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/lifestyle/singapore-artist-robert-zhao-finalist-hugo-boss-asia-art-award-8991994.