Singapore Arts, Beauty and Inspirations Male Blogger

National Gallery Singapore open its doors on the 24th of November with a bang, welcoming the public whom eagerly waited for that day to arrive. Upon hearing about the interactive art carnival located at the Padang field and the spectacular lights show on the city hall building itself got me excited. It happened early this December and by the time I have completed this post, it became a 'throwback' event. Let this be my last post of year 2015 then, since it would be 2016 in a few hours time!

Lately, I got really interested into art related stuffs such as gallery tours and workshops. Please invite me along as I want to blog about these! (Check out my last few blog posts as well, as they were all art related!) 

I have also uploaded a short video of the lights show against the building below. Pardon the incompleteness of it.    

After squeezing with the crowd for the show, my friend and I headed to explore the various segments of the art carnival. I just love how the entire place was littered, I mean decorated with 'dust' or maybe sawdust?

The activities available were catered towards children and in the mean time educating them on arts based on a particular painting theme. We just browsed through the place, bought some snacks from pop-up stores and my friend wanted to experience some childhood fun by joining the kids to shoot a lotus seed coated with paint using a hand-held catapult against the black wall. 

The weather was humid and I could not wait to get into the gallery spaces itself.

The very first time I visited National Gallery Singapore, a imaginery 'Instagram Alert' sign appeared already. Such huge place with beautiful historical architectural - the pillars, flight of steps as well as the corridors and of course the art pieces to capture using one's camera. Definitely a favourable place to have your ootds taken too. 

Anyway, I really love to admire artworks, despite not knowing what was painted on some or by whom. It doesn't really matter since I have a mind of my own to interprete what I think. If I were so keen on the details, I would have gone for a docent tour or download the gallery explorer application to take me around.

After scanning through the gallery spaces, I found my favourite masterpiece! A painting located in Southeast Asia Gallery 4, probably the smallest gallery that I have encountered.

Firstly, the painting was so large that it would be quite impossible to miss. Large paintings normally packed a whole lot of fine details within which intrigued me to look closely and observe every corners of it. Being a foodie like myself, I am usually drawn towards food related subjects such as the marketplace (source). I felt that I have stepped into the street as the scent of spices and dirt filled the air.

What's so interesting about it then? I felt that this painting has many points to debate about. Which country or culture is this? I see different people such as the Vietnamese lady wearing a hat and a Chinese lady in qi pao. The next moment, my eyes would be scanning through the stocks or should I say the ingredients used by the local chefs. I couldn't help but to wonder what cuisine would it be or even how would the dish taste like.

As for the other paintings below, they were also some of my favourites which I would blabber on other time. That would be all for now and Happy New Year once again in a few hours time!!

I attended another workshop and exhibition at Gillman Barracks the other day. Unlike the previous workshop which focuses on acrylic painting, this time was on basic sketching.  

We have the privilege of having 2 instructors teaching us that day and it started off with a demo on how to breakdown (virtually) the body parts of the wooden figurine into different shapes. 

Its all about line drawing. Thick lines for the shadowy parts and thin line under the light. My friend and I were from design course in polytechnic and we easily got back the 'feel' of sketching we once had many years back. I was quite surprised that the auntie and her daughter who shared the same table as us could sketch rather well too! We definitely surprised our instructors!

The next exercise which was negative drawing was quite difficult for us since we were first timers. It was basically using white pencils on black paper. The shadows were to be represented by being shaded.

For the wooden man, we all drew the angle that was facing us resulting in such amazing series of men. Check out our combined drawings below!  

After our workshop session, we headed over to the Arachnid Orchestra Exhibit which was located at NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore. It was by Berlin based artist Tomas Saraceno. Situated at the intersection between art and science, Saraceno's artistic practice is an invitation to conceive alternative ways of knowledge, experience and interaction with others.

Plenty of research was done about these creatures and the exhibition was in a pitch black space lighted up by spotlights showcasing the art of nature itself. I would not want to go into details but feel free to admire these webs below.

Besides that, we were once again given a paper to draw these webs! It was really challenging since these webs proved to be a complicated mess of art.

We had to draw what we see and not what we knew. Concentration was a huge issue as once I looked down on my paper, I couldn't remember where I last stopped at.

I wasn't trying to draw lines this time. I was trying to draw textures. Many people just gave up or did not attempt to start at all. I tried my best at least before the time runs out.

It was a fun experience and I wouldn't mind joining more jamming sessions in future!

The sun must be desperately trying to melt me as I made my way to Gillman Barracks. It started off with a short tour conducted around the ARNDT gallery (Block 9), with the staff sharing with us about the background of Del Kathryn Barton whom was the artist of this solo exhibition.

Barton is considered one of the leading artists of her generation, who won the prestigious annual portrait competition the Archibald Portrait Prize twice. 

Her paintings were mainly female humanoid forms or portraits and she used architectural pens directly on her canvases, which meant that there were no rooms for mistakes.

Her paintings surged with vitality from the vibrant colours she used. Upon a closer look, there were many repetitive patterns which meant either you complete the work or give up on it. The latter definitely was not her option.

Last but not least, The Nightingale and the Rose, (2014) was Barton's animated short film which was a dark fairy tale of  unrequited love that premiered at the Berlin International Film festival this year.

Check out some pictures of Del Kathryn Barton's artwork I took at the gallery below.



Everyone's interest do change as we advance in age.

Mine did as I got more interested in arts. Not surprising since I studied design during my polytechnic days. I just felt that the boundaries between design and art is just separated by a thin or even an invisible line.

My friend dragged me to a Noise exhibition held at Ion Orchard quite some time back. The purpose of the exhibition was to showcase the works of aspiring artists, designers, photographers or even musicians and performing artists. A form of an outreach program where these practitioners undergo an apprenticeship programme, mentored by established professionals.   

My friend and I also went down to The Foothills (Fort Canning Park) to view the alumni show exhibition on the 30th of Oct. It was inspiring and I took pictures of some of the artworks as well.

I also got a chance to check out the preview of 'The Future of Us Exhibition' which you can purchase the free tickets on their website.

Amaze your friends with some of these really instagramable pictures that look as if you had just stepped into the future. Get to hear the lion roar, swing on swings and watch star and moon foams floating up into the air as well as write your dreams the screen and watch them appear on the large dome ceiling.  

Anyway, more arts related blog post would be up in future!

''Here and Now represents an entry point into a state of mind or being, with no single definitions or explanation as to where 'here' is.'' - Wu Qiong

Wu Qiong's distinctive cartoon style is obvious, and it resonates with the aesthetic of a generation absorbed with graphic novels, comics, digital worlds, animations and gaming.

His paintings introduce dreamscape scenarios that would provoke thought or trigger memories and experiences. I could easily experience why since my thoughts started streaming in like running water after viewing his paintings.

Despite the humanoid forms from his paintings portrayed standardisation of upturned faces, shut eyes and mouth agape, each character features underlying wealth of emotions depending on individual interpretation.

Instead of boring you with long story, here are some keywords which formulated in my mind when I view these paintings below. (My opinions may differ from yours.)

'In the Clouds of Our Dreams' - Comfort, Peace, Soothing

'Open to the Elements' - Exploration, Zen, Tranquillity     

'Heroes of Old' - Ambition, Victory, Patriotic 

It was quite to cute sight to see a couple posing exactly like the image of 'Always and Forever'. They will always be together no matter what was rather obvious in this painting. Their attire seems like they were working adults in a romantic dating process, with the vast and boundless skies as background adding focus to the couple.

Waiting for mine to appear too!

I have taken some photos of Wu Qiong sculptures, some cast in bronze while others were stainless steel. It was said that these sculptures were made after the paintings were painted. It is a milestone for Wu Qiong, who is celebrating his transition to sculpting as well.

Unlike the paintings, the sculptures were cast from the same material throughout, without additional colours and background, making it more challenging to interpret the exact circumstances the characters were in. 

'I Will Guard You Silently' depicts how the male would shower the female with his unconditional love, arms around her shoulder and keeping her close by his side. The expression this time meant that it was normal and naturally his duty to do so while the girl was comfortable under his care.

As for 'Guest from the Snowy Mountain', it would be every little kids' (or even adults') dream to cuddle with a 'stuffed animal'. In this case, he was so lucky to have found one tame creature from the snowy mountain, furry warm as well as large enough to snuggle comfortably with. How I hoped I was the one in that position snoozing off.   

 

Date: 8 Nov - 14 Nov 2015

Time: 11am - 9pm (Sun - Thur) ; 12 noon - 10pm (Fri - Sat)

Venue: Ode to Art Raffles City Gallery

Free Entry