An exhibition on contemporary Singapore art will go on show in January 2015 at the ArtScience Museum in Marina Bay as part of the country's golden jubilee celebrations.
After the exhibition featuring an estimated 25 artists ends its run here, it will travel to London and show at the prominent Saatchi Gallery.
The show, to be called the Prudential Singapore Eye, is organised by the Prudential Eye Programme which builds partnerships between artists and galleries. The programme was established in 2008 by London-based art collectors David and Serenella Ciclitira, and is sponsored by life-insurer Prudential.
Held during the Singapore Art Week, which is anchored by the Art Stage Singapore fair, the Prudential Singapore Eye will coincide with the second Prudential Eye Awards for Asian Contemporary Art.
The by-nomination art award, which was launched here in January 2014, has a top prize of US$30,000. It seeks to recognise talent from Asia across the genres of video, installation, painting, photography and sculpture. This year's overall winner was Australian artist Ben Quilty, who also topped the category for painting.
The artists featured in the Prudential Singapore Eye show will be selected by a panel of curators comprising executive director of the ArtScience Museum, Honor Harger; gallery director and chief executive of Saatchi Gallery, Nigel Hurst; Hong Kong-based art critic Johnson Chang, and Mrs Ciclitira.
Ms Harger, 38, of the ArtScience Museum, says the panel also plans to work with other curators, critics and art institutions here to showcase the diversity and strength of artists practising in Singapore today.
A book that features 75 Singapore contemporary artists will complement the show. It will be published by the Prudential Eye Programme in partnership with Italian publisher Skira.
On the significance of the show for the visual arts here, Ms Harger says: "The exhibition is a key part of the ArtScience Museum's ongoing work to enhance the vibrancy of Singapore's visual art ecosystem, and support Singapore in its journey to create a world-class art and culture landscape."
She adds that its tour to the Saatchi Gallery also "marks a significant step forward" in raising the international profile of Singapore's visual art.
