The Cultural Medallion Visual Arts 1979-2015 exhibition in the Ngee Ann Kongsi Galleries at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa) brings together the works of 38 Cultural Medallion recipients throughout the decades. Their works explore themes such as urbanisation and heritage as well as nostalgia and longing in a rapidly changing Singapore.
BOAT QUAY, SINGAPORE RIVER (2014)
By Ong Kim Seng
Watercolour
53x73cm
Inspired by his frequent walks along the banks of the Singapore River, the 1990 Cultural Medallion recipient seeks to capture the light in the morning and the sense of excitement that comes with the start of a new day.
EVENING PATTERN (1950)
By Chua Soo Bin
35mm black-and-white film
on inkjet print
100x71cm
The fine art photographer and 1988 Cultural Medallion recipient shot this at East Coast Park during the evening low tide.
LITTLE INDIA FRUIT STALL (1986)
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Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh
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WHERE: The Ngee Ann Kongsi Galleries 1 and 2, Nafa Campus 1, 80 Bencoolen Street
MRT: Bras Basah
WHEN: Till Feb 14, 11am to 7pm (Tuesday to Sunday), closed on Monday and public holiday
ADMISSION: Free
By Tan Choh Tee
Oil on canvas
53x65cm
The 2006 Cultural Medallion recipient, known for his Impressionist-style oil paintings immortalising old Singapore landscapes long gone, showcases with this painting his spontaneity and love of vibrant colours, with his quick brush strokes and vivid palette.
OLD STREET SCENE SERIES: OLD SHOP HOUSE (2001)
By Chua Ek Kay
Ink and pigment on paper
98x81.5cm
The artist, who was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 1999, imagines the urban street scene as a Chinese shan shui hua (mountain and water landscape), using rich ink and smudged strokes to depict old buildings in a poetic rendering of his surroundings.
PORTRAIT WITH TABLE (2014)
By Milenko Prvacki
Acrylic on linen
200x200cm
Playing deftly with shapes, textures and colour, the 2012 Cultural Medallion recipient pieces together a complex universe associated with the table, not only as a frame, but also as a metaphoric universe.
PU6 ON 6P WAVES (1989)
By Anthony Poon
Acrylic on canvas
87x87x13cm
This textured, engaging 3D piece is characterised by the artist's distinctive use of geometry. One of Singapore's pioneer abstract artists, who was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 1990, he used a mathematical approach to achieve the shapes and colours in the piece.
FLORA OF RAINFOREST SERIES: 8 (2015)
By Han Sai Por
Marble
28x35x27cm
The artist, known for her stone sculptures depicting organic forms and elements of nature such as flora and fauna, was conferred the Cultural Medallion in 1995. With this work representing the tropical rainforest, she expresses a sense of loss and longing for a more spiritual form of interaction with the radically changing landscape of Singapore.
CBD 2020 (2013)
By Thomas Yeo
Acrylic on canvas
140x100cm
The artist, who received the Cultural Medallion in 1984, illustrates blocks of "monsters" against an orange sky, representing sunrise and a new day of change in an environment where buildings are constantly being torn down or built up.
