SINGAPORE - Pioneering Singapore performance artist Lee Wen - who stood firmly by his chosen mode of expression even as performance art came under a decade-long no-funding policy here - has won the 2016 Joseph Balestier Award for the Freedom of Art.
He made the shortlist for the inaugural award last year, but was pipped by Indonesian artist FX Harsono, whose work explored issues in Indonesia including pro-democracy dissent and the experiences of minorities.
This year, Lee, 58, beat two other finalists - performance artist Aye Ko from Myanmar, who was also nominated last year; and film-maker Nguyen Trinh Thi from Vietnam - to walk away with a cash prize of US$15,000.
He received his award at a ceremony at the residence of US Ambassador Kirk Wagar on Tuesday night). The award, presented by contemporary art fair Art Stage Singapore and the Embassy of the United States in Singapore, honours a South-east Asian artist or curator whose work is actively committed to advocating freedom
Lee, who studied at Lasalle College of the Arts, made his name with the Yellow Man series, in which his entire body is painted yellow in an exaggeration of ethnic stereotypes.
In 1994, following an outcry over a controversial performance, the Government started a 10-year, no-funding policy on performance art events.
But Lee continued practising despite the lack of sponsorships and grants. He received the Cultural Medallion in 2005 for his contributions to Singapore art.
Lee told The Straits Times that he plans to split the cash prize with the other two finalists.
"They are very great artists. I want to help artists who are working within constraints."
The three finalists were shortlisted from 22 nominated artists and curators by a jury comprising Professor Ute Meta Bauer, founding director of the Nanyang Technological University Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore; Ms Luckana Kunavichayanont, director of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre; and Mr Enin Supriyanto, an independent art curator and writer from Indonesia.
Mr Wagar and Art Stage Singapore founder and president Lorenzo Rudolf jointly selected the winner.
The award is named after Joseph Balestier, the first American diplomat here, who was appointed US Consul to Singapore in 1836.
Correction note: An earlier version of this story stated Professor Ute Meta Bauer's title as director of Singapore's Centre for Contemporary Art. She is actually founding director of the Nanyang Technological University Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore.
