Arts Picks: Two exhibitions in Orchard and a 200-strong classical music extravaganza

 Ambiguous Yesterday, Fated Tomorrow

Take the lift up to the sixth floor of Delfi Orchard and you will find Tang Contemporary Art Singapore, a new 7,500 sq ft gallery which started welcoming visitors on June 28.

It is the eighth space by the Asian gallery, which was established in Bangkok in 1997 and later expanded into Beijing, Seoul and Hong Kong.

Its first exhibition, titled Ambiguous Yesterday, Fated Tomorrow, is on till Aug 5 and features art by both established and emerging names.

Works by 17 artists range from gilded zodiac sculptures by Ai Weiwei to the packed, whimsical paintings of Atreyu Moniaga, who was immensely popular at Art SG in January.

There is also Chinese artist Yue Minjun and his parodic laughing figures, and a large canvas by Japanese artist Etsu Egami, with pencil marks left in.

A surprise discovery is South Korean artist Woo Kukwon, whose three-dimensional building up of paint and textures fused with a penchant for pop, childish characters make for entertaining viewing.

Tang Contemporary Art founder Zheng Lin said he considered Gillman Barracks and Tanjong Pagar Distripark while scouting for locations in the past three years, but eventually decided that being in Orchard was still the best guarantee of footfall.

Ten years of participation in art fairs during Singapore Art Week convinced him of the potential of the Republic’s art market.

Lin says: “In South-east Asia, Bangkok and Singapore are the two most important pieces of the puzzle, one in the north and one in the south.

“Apart from being a financial hub, Singapore is also close to Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, where there are many exciting artists. We have faith in Singapore’s long-term support for the arts. Many rich and influential Chinese have also made their home in Singapore in recent years.”

Where: Level 6 Delfi Orchard, 402 Orchard Road
When: Till Aug 5, 11am to 7pm, closed on Mondays
Admission: Free
Info: 

tangcontemporary.com

Chng Seok Tin And Raymond Lau

A short walk away at Ion Orchard is an expansive show, presented by Art:Dis. The exhibition dives into the careers of two Singapore artists better known for their artistic practices than their disabilities.

The pivotal sculptor and printmaker Chng Seok Tin (1946-2019), who was visually impaired, has more than 40 works exhibited that bear out her critique of cut-throat competition in the modern world and her interest in the I-Ching, the foundational text for Taoist and Confucian philosophical traditions.

Particularly pertinent now, after

the kerfuffle over the smoking samsui woman mural

on the exterior of 297 South Bridge Road, are her works that advocate for the rights of these female immigrants who worked in construction and industrial jobs.

Her monument, Tribute To Samsui Woman, cast the handprints and a footprint of 13 surviving samsui women in cement, and includes close-ups of samsui women shot by artist Koh Nguang How arranged on a reflective metal plate.

Chng’s works are paired with more than 30 abstract streetscapes by Raymond Lau, 56, who counts Chng as his godmother. Their relationship began when Chng frequented the canteen stall his father operated at Lasalle College Of the Arts when it was still at Goodman Arts Centre.

Lau has lived with Tourette syndrome since he was seven. His paintings capture Singapore’s evolving landscape since the 1970s and a sense of nostalgia for places that used to be a playground for him and his friends.

He recalls: “I remember laughing with (Chng) about how she used humour in her art to critique people, relationships, society, et cetera.

“We are aware about how challenging a career as an artist is and yet, we never give up. She was more than a friend and colleague to me, and I miss her very much.”

Where: Ion Art Gallery, Level 4 Ion Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn
When: July 5 to 15, 10am to 10pm daily
Admission: Free
Info: 

artdis.org.sg/journey-through-time

Chichester Psalms Concert

Premiering in 1965 in New York, this choral arrangement by American composer Leonard Bernstein may take its text from the Bible’s Book of Psalms in the original Hebrew, yet it is no ordinary church hymn.

Bernstein, who wrote the music for the beloved musical West Side Story (1957), melds jazz and Broadway influences with choral textures and dissonant harmonies that are snazzy yet serene.

More than 90 singers from choral group Voices Of Singapore and 120 musicians from the Orchestra of the Music Makers will perform this work under the baton of Taiwanese maestro Lu Shao-Chia, the former music director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan.

The orchestra will also present Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 In A Minor, a sweeping depiction of joy, love, fate and death.

Where: Esplanade Concert Hall, 1 Esplanade Drive
When: July 13, 7.30pm
Admission: From $18
Info: 

str.sg/hqXn