No photos, please: National Gallery Singapore stages first R18 show on South-east Asian erotic art

SINGAPORE – Step into any Western gallery, and one is immediately buffeted by nudes, mostly of women. In Singapore, different rules apply. Where they are displayed, they tend to be clustered on one or two walls that come with the requisite warning advisory.

This is despite the cornerstone movement of Singapore art being the Nanyang artist quartet of Cheong Soo Pieng, Chen Wen Hsi, Chen Chong Swee and Liu Kang, whose penchant for Balinese nudes was until recently accepted as canon – and without acknowledgement of the elephant in the room.