To commemorate its founding in 1938 and Singapore's golden jubilee, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa) is displaying more than 170 works from alumni artists across the generations, from both part-time and full-time programmes, in its show Celebrating Nafa's Fine Art.
Bus Journey (2015)
By Tan Jia Xuan, mixed media on paper, 40x57.5cm
This vividly crafted work captures a quintessentially Singaporean scene aboard a bus. Its creator, a 15-year-old who studied at Nafa's School of Young Talents - Junior Art, counts the country's public transport among the "many examples of efficiency we take for granted today".
Old Machinery 4/15 (2003)
By Tan Seah Boey, lithograph, 56x78.5cm
The 88-year-old artist, best known as a landscape painter, depicts hardware and tools in an abstract form in this work, with daubs of overlapping colour.
Bukit Timah Hindhede Quarry Lake (2010)
By Teo Kim Liong, oil on canvas, 72x99cm
An impressionistic piece that portrays a quarry in Bukit Timah. When humans extract granite, they change the place, but nature reasserts itself by filling the gap again with water to form a quarry lake, says Teo, 77.
Deep Into Life #10 (2015)
By Yu Danya, oil on canvas, 121x121cm
The scene in a back alley in Tanjong Pagar, where housewives and maids mingle, while blue- and white-collar workers alike take their smoke breaks, inspired this painting. "Back alleys are a cultural legacy of Singapore. The scene is a metaphor of a fragment of local history and culture," says Yu, 32.
Lucky Lion (2015)
By Lim Poh Teck, acrylic on canvas, 100x100cm
Lim, 53, who is a lecturer at Nafa's School of Art and Design, created this work of a lion, complete with fireworks bursting in a scarlet background, to celebrate SG50. He says: "Lions in Asia are generally symbols of good luck, but they are symbolic to Singapore as a nation."
Wetland #0315 (2015)
By Terence Tan Chee Wah, Chinese ink on rice paper, 69x69cm
This noir-ish painting was inspired by the artist's trip to Pulau Ubin's Chek Jawa area six years ago. "I'm particularly concerned with human intervention in nature. My works are presented in monochromatic grey to represent carbon emissions and pollution," the 46-year-old says.
It was sunny yesterday and today (2015)
By Chng Chin Kang, oil on canvas, 120x80cm
This painting was inspired by the artist's runs from the north to the south of Singapore. "It's a simple sport that allows me to observe the scenic day and the shade of the night," Chng, 53, says.
Happiness (2014)
By Chieu Shuey Fook, acrylic on metal board, 122x91.4cm
The 80-year-old artist, who graduated from Nafa in 1950, frequently experiments with industrial elements in his work, such as metal, glass and copper enamel. In this work, he made the metal board out of aluminium and silver before using acrylic to fill in colour.
WHERE: Nafa Galleries 1 and 2, Lim Tak Hai Gallery and On-Air Gallery, 80 Bencoolen Street MRT: Bras Basah WHEN: Till Sunday; 11am to 7pm daily. Closed today. ADMISSION: Free INFO: Go to www.nafa.edu.sg
Lee Jian Xuan
