Developed in collaboration between MFA Boston and NGS, Into the Modern presents a selection of over 100 Impressionist works from MFA Boston’s (clearly impressive) permanent collection. In NGS’ ten-year history, this is the second time we have the privilege to view French Impressionist works on such a large scale in Singapore. This blog Wording Art has also turned 10 (!!!), and I have loved sharing about Impressionism throughout the years, and so it’s super timely to end the year with nineteenth-century French Impressionism.

Nature and the Impressionists

Into the Modern begins — perhaps a little surprisingly — with the Barbizon School of painters, before Impressionism was fully formed. Located about 60km outside Paris, artists gathered in the village of Barbizon and painted in the nearby Forest of Fontainebleau. Artists like Théodore Rousseau embraced these scenic landscapes untouched by modern developments. I have a soft spot for Rousseau’s paintings of nature, so it was wonderful to see Pool in the Forest. The Barbizon artists painted nature in a Realist style, and influenced the next generation of painters to radically approach nature through Impressionism.

1874: The First Impressionist Exhibition

The reproductions of two prints and a photograph (most right) on this gallery wall offer a look into the annual Salons held in the Palais de l’Industrie from 1855 onwards (where it was previously held in the Louvre). Artists could submit whatever artworks they wanted to the prestigious Salon, but only those that met the academic criteria of the time would be accepted.

It’s probably not surprising that the Impressionist style of loose, rapid painting especially en plein air (in the outdoors) did not fit what the Salon wanted. A group of Impressionist painters gathered together to form the Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, etc (Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, etc.). They staged their first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, independent of the Salon, which later came to be a landmark moment for the Impressionists.

Very interestingly, Renoir and Monet painted the same ‘models’ in the portraits above: Monet’s first wife Camille, and their son Jean. Monet made many paintings with Camille and Jean set within lush gardens or fields. In Renoir’s take, Camille looks directly to the viewer (although I find her face not well-portrayed), while the toddler happily wanders off.

I just realised that a reproduced version of Meadow with Poplars was shown at Impressions of Monet at Gardens by the Bay last year! Now we get to see the real thing!

I particularly loved this stretch of four paintings by Renoir, Monet and Cézanne, showing how they depicted people within landscapes.

Waterscapes and Landscapes

This landscape painting looks very much like a Renoir, but reminded me of Cézanne somehow… Turns out Renoir visited Cézanne in the village of L’Estaque in 1882, which Cézanne regularly visited and painted since the 1860s. Together, the two artists painted the same view of the mountainous terrain.

I really like Renoir’s painting of The Seine at Chatou, which was known as a boating spot in the Parisian suburbs. Particularly, I love the details of the girl’s red hat and flowers, and the small boats in the distance.

A Little Post-Impressionism

It’s also a treat to see more of Cézanne’s works. While he shared the Impressionists’ penchant for painting nature, his compositions look quite different as Cézanne began exploring his own painterly style (flatter and with a kind of slanted perspective). Retrospectively then, he’s better known as a Post-Impressionist.

Camille Pissarro’s career was probably the most varied among the Impressionists. His early influences came from the Barbizon School of painters, later becoming the ‘father of Impressionism’. He helped to establish the Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, etc, and acted as a mentor and father figure to key Impressionist figures.

The two paintings pictured here marks Pissarro’s late period when he explored Pointillism. After meeting the Neo-Impressionist artists Georges Seurat (not included in this exhibition) and Paul Signac (included in this exhibition but not pictured in this post), Pissarro experimented with the technique of placing dots of complementary colours next to each other. Seurat is best known for the Pointillist technique, which is actually so painstaking! Pissarro brought his own take on Pointillism in these scenes of ideal rural life and labour.

City Life and Paris

At this point, we reach the final Gallery 3 of Into the Modern at National Gallery Singapore. Out of the countryside and into the city! This is my favourite section of the exhibition, as we shall see…

Perhaps the ultimate ‘painter of modern life’, to borrow Charles Baudelaire’s words, was Édouard Manet. Although he did not exhibit in the Impressionist Exhibitions, he did his fair share of challenging the artistic status quo. In 1865, he exhibited his scandalous painting Olympia (which somehow managed to get accepted!) at the Salon. The stark image of a nude figure who confronts the viewer in Olympia was modelled by Manet’s favourite model, Victorine Meurent. The exhibition includes a print etching of Olympia. Meurent also appears in Street Singer below.

It’s so interesting to compare a self-portrait with a portrait of the same person… Manet’s portrait of Victorine Meurent and Meurent’s Self-Portrait were painted over a decade apart, and they certainly present different views of the model and artist. In Meurent’s Self-Portrait I find it intriguing how she is almost fully turned to the side, and she appears quite fierce or confrontational here.

Renoir’s Highlight Piece

A highlight of Into the Modern is definitely Renoir’s Dance at Bougival! I can’t believe we get the chance to see this in Singapore, as it supposedly rarely leaves Boston on loan. This is probably the best work by Renoir in my opinion. A couple dances in a café in Bougival, a popular recreation town along the Seine outside Paris. Dancing outdoors in a public setting — isn’t that so modern?

Degas and Cassatt

I was drawn to Degas’ painting because it depicts the ‘simple’ experience of a Visit to a Museum. It’s also the perfect sisterly activity to do, as Degas paints fellow Impressionist artist Mary Cassatt and her sister, Lydia, in the Louvre. Degas and Cassatt were close colleagues and friends, and it’s nice to see artists painting each other in this manner.

Hailing from America, it is a shame though that Cassatt’s works in the MFA Boston collection don’t feature in this exhibition. Mary Cassatt played a huge part not only in contributing to the Impressionists’ output, but she also advised American patrons to buy Impressionist works, especially the Havemeyer family. The original Havemeyer art collection now largely resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as in the Shelburne Museum, which you can read more about here.

In the lecture hosted in conjunction with this exhibition, the eminent art historian Griselda Pollock spoke about Mary Cassatt and how she was a key player among the Impressionists. As Pollock puts it, the Impressionists were the first egalitarian artist group where women could play equal roles as men. I also got to ask Prof. Pollock a question about Degas and Cassatt in relation to Visit to a Museum — which will remain as one of the best moments of my life! As anyone who works on women artists would know, Pollock’s work is highly influential in the field, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask her a question about Cassatt and her appearance in Degas’ painting. :)

Still Life

I really liked seeing this section of the gallery focusing on the Impressionists’ work on still life (paintings of still, inanimate objects). I feel that the individuality and uniqueness of each of the Impressionists’ painting styles come through really well in these still lifes. Also, can you spot Renoir’s signature in the lower right of Mixed Flowers in an Earthenware Pot?

Cézanne’s paintings of fruit in his still life paintings would be the most well-known among them all. Even now, he still astonishes us with an apple…

Immersed in Monet

The exhibition ends with a roomful of Monet’s paintings. How amazing is that! I also love the look of the curved walls in this room (as you can see in the cover picture), as it reminds me of the display of Monet’s Water Lilies at Musée de l’Orangerie (my dream to visit one day!)…

Poppy Field in a Hollow near Giverny is one of my favourites in this selection. Many of these works were created after Monet settled in Giverny in 1883 for the rest of his life.

Of course, don’t miss The Water Lily Pond! This is one in a series where Monet painted a view of the water lily pond in his Giverny gardens, featuring his Japanese-style green bridge — perhaps coloured a little differently in the sunlight in this painting.

I love the delicate pinks and blues that Monet captures in his paintings of Antibes. Antibes Seen from the Plateau Notre-Dame is displayed earlier in the exhibition, as you can see above in this post. I also especially love the detail of the tiny sailboats in Cap d’Antibes, Mistral. I need to see it again — it’s another of my favourites.

When travelling in Antibes, Monet wrote to Alice Hoschedé (who later became Monet’s second wife) in January 1888: ‘I am painting the town of Antibes, a little fortified town all golden in the sun that stands out against beautiful blue and pink mountains and the eternally snow-capped range of the Alps.’ I think Monet perfectly captured the pastel beauty of Antibes as he described.

Be sure to visit Into the Modern at National Gallery Singapore to see all of these beautiful Impressionist works and more! The exhibition is ongoing until 1 March 2026.

A special promotion is also ongoing, where you can get 25% off the exhibition ticket until 1 February 2026. Additionally, present your exhibition tickets to get 10% off Pierre Hermé macarons at the pop-up at Padang Atrium, Level 1, until 31 December 2025. My sister bought those Pierre Hermé macarons, and they’re sooo good!

Overall, I thought Into the Modern was an excellent exhibition. It’s wonderful to see so many people queuing (!) to see it. If you have seen the show, let me know what you think by rating it below!

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The exhibition of Impressions of Monet is such a treat, transporting us to Monet’s Giverny right within the grounds of Gardens by the Bay! When I first learnt about Claude Monet (only in uni), I instantly loved his impressionistic artworks. He remains one of my favourite artists, and I count myself very lucky to have viewed his works across Hong Kong, Singapore and London! Visiting Giverny one day remains on my travel list, but it’s so cool that I get to see a replica of Monet’s house and gardens in Giverny right here in Singapore! I also think this might be my favourite exhibition in Singapore in 2024 so far.

Impressions of Monet: The Garden (Part I)

Around the age of 43, Monet and his family moved to Giverny, settling in a house and accompanying gardens from 1883 till his death in 1926. Over the years, Monet transformed his property into what we know and love today. The paint colours of his home (a gorgeous baby pink and dark green combination) were meant to emulate houses on the French Riviera, and his gardens became known for the water lily ponds which inspired his painting series of the subject made in his later years.

Gardens by the Bay in Singapore has rotating flower displays every year (sakura or cherry blossoms, tulips, and roses are the key highlights). I loved that they did something new this time around by centring the floral display on Monet’s gardens in Giverny.

The exhibition Impressions of Monet consists of two parts: Impressions of Monet: The Garden and Impressions of Monet: The Experience. There is much to see here!

I loved seeing the flowers in this show, which are different from the usual lineup at Gardens by the Bay. Closely aligned to the theme, the flowers included here were also the ones that Monet planted in his original gardens.

Painting En Plein Air

Monet was one of the French painters who made up the art movement of Impressionism. Monet was especially known for his obsession in chasing after light effects in nature. This involved taking his easel, canvas, paintbrushes, palette, and painting toolbox out and about to paint outdoors. Or in French, to paint en plein air. This also meant to paint quickly, resulting in the kind of short, rapid brushstrokes that define Impressionist paintings.

Here, a bronze sculpture of Monet shows him painting within the gardens! I also loved that he’s seen in the act of painting Monet’s Garden at Giverny (1895). Fitting choice!

Inside Monet’s House

There are other interactive elements among the garden, like stepping inside Monet’s house and seeing the interiors!

Monet took inspiration from Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the Edo period, and some reproductions are included within the house too. To see more, check out my post on Life in Edo!

A spectacular setup of Monet’s Giverny maison et jardins is the highlight of Impressions of Monet: The Garden!

Flowers and Paintings

You may have noticed that most of the ‘artworks’ included within Impressions of Monet: The Garden were actually repainted copies. (Possibly due to copyright restrictions?) Monet has such a wide oeurve, and I loved having the chance to learn about some of his works that I didn’t know of before! The exhibition didn’t provide any ‘captions’, so I had to find out what these artworks are for myself!

Woman with a Parasol is one of my absolute favourites by Monet, and it’s nicely included here!

I especially loved seeing these sunflower-looking flowers — they remind me of my convocation earlier in July! Plus, they look a lot like the flowers in The Artist’s Garden at Vétheuil above! The last ‘artwork’ nestled among these yellow flowers is a repainted copy of Meadow with Poplars, about 1875, in the collection of MFA Boston. A repainted copy of a very similar composition, Poppy Fields near Argenteuil (1875) at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, also appears among an earlier section of these yellow flowers (see photo at the beginning of this post).

Water Lilies in Monet’s Giverny

It took me time to understand my water lilies. I had planted them for the pleasure of it; I grew them without ever thinking of painting them. – Claude Monet

It was wonderful to see a few water lily ponds (bassin aux nymphéas) throughout the exhibition. It was also the water lilies’ debut at Gardens by the Bay, appearing in a floral display for the first time! We also got to see Monet’s Japanese-inspired green bridges (usually painted in red in Japanese culture), like the ones that he built in Giverny.

Impressions of Monet: The Experience (Part II)

I thought Impressions of Monet: The Garden was wonderful on its own, but there’s even more to see with Impressions of Monet: The Experience! The second part is like what you might expect from an immersive experience: it begins with various information panels on the artists of the Impressionist movement, includes a few reproductions of Monet’s paintings, and has many photo spots and digital elements!

I thought this rather abstract version of Monet’s Nymphéas was fascinating! I’ve never seen anything like it before — it’s in a private collection.

Monet: The Immersive Experience

The major highlight is the immersive experience itself! Produced by Grande Experiences (Australia), the digital experience shows the progression of the Impressionist movement, set to a classical music soundtrack. There was also a fragrance element, with a specially developed scent diffused through the gallery — but to be honest, I didn’t catch it!

My favourite part might be the opening section where the dramatic music shows some of the artistic styles and artworks that preceded the Impressionism movement. For example, I spy Jacques-Louis David (neoclassicism), Eugène Delacroix (romanticism), and Gustave Courbet (realism). Then bam! The music rises to indicate the Impressionists arriving on the scene.

One of my other absolute favourites of Monet’s is his Houses of Parliament series (1899–1904) made in London. I was so happy to see a 1904 version in Hong Kong back in 2016! Monet’s Houses of Parliament painting series is also going to be a subject of the exhibition Monet and London. Views of the Thames at The Courtauld Gallery in London opening soon this month — really wished I could be there!

I liked that the immersive experience also included artworks by the other Impressionist artists! I just wished that the artwork titles were included within the immersive experience too. Above is an expanded view of Paul Cézanne’s The Montagne Sainte-Victoire with a Large Pine (around 1887) at The Courtauld.

An expanded view of Monet’s La Pie (The Magpie) (1868-69) which was last in Singapore at National Gallery Singapore in 2017!

Gift Shop

The final touch of Impressions of Monet: The Experience is, of course, the gift shop! I ended up going home with a high-quality mug with a design of Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son (1875) and Woman with a Parasol, Facing Left (1886) photoshopped together.

Overall, I thought Impressions of Monet was excellently done, and I had the best time exploring Monet’s iconic house in Giverny — but in Gardens by the Bay in Singapore! I really think Gardens by the Bay has outdone themselves. Impressions of Monet: The Garden at Gardens by the Bay, with a touch of Giverny, is showing until 17th September 2024. Impressions of Monet: The Experience is showing until 18th February 2025.

Next up in Singapore, I’m looking forward to the immersive experience of Monet Inside (from Seoul, Korea) opening in October. Would the immersive experience be even more epic? Well, I’ll take any reason to see more Monet — whether physically or digitally!

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The Singapore edition of Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience had its run from March to October 2023, while the London edition has been running for over a year! I loved the location in Singapore at The Forum in Resorts World Sentosa, it was big and spacious. The London edition was at an industrial-style building in Spitalfields, and so I took the time to explore the area a bit too!

Get to Know Van Gogh

I love that the experience starts off with a collection of Van Gogh’s self-portraits, enlarged in equal size on these black banners. Van Gogh’s famous self-portraits in public museums were featured alongside some in private collections, which I thought were a nice inclusion!

The next section is all about getting to know more about Van Gogh. There’s a good mix of digital elements, replicas of Van Gogh’s paintings (no real works on site!), and wall panels sharing more information about his life and work. An exhibit of a life-size white vase is part of a digital projection that features the different flower paintings that Van Gogh made, which was pretty fun!

This was a fun real-life set-up of Van Gogh’s painting Bedroom in Arles. As the wall panel explains, Van Gogh made three versions of his bedroom in the famed ‘Yellow House’. Van Gogh had painted the first / original Bedroom in Arles in October 1888, now in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. The two latter versions were made the following year in 1889, and are now in the Art Institute of Chicago and the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Looking at the set-up in the London immersive experience (pictured above), I think they were imitating the second version of Bedroom in Arles in the Art Institute of Chicago, with the similar colours and portraits on the wall! But this area was barred off, so unfortunately I couldn’t take a photo inside. The Singapore edition made the Bedroom a photo spot though!

The Immersive Experience

The star of the show is really the immersive experience itself, with so many of Van Gogh’s paintings brought to life and animated across the entire room. I liked how each painting was accompanied by its title and year of its making, if you care for the details like I do! There are also some quotes from Van Gogh’s letters, set along to a somewhat dramatic soundtrack.

I loved that the immersive experience included images of Tree Roots, which was the last painting that Van Gogh made. I remember following the art news (during the circuit breaker in May 2020!) that the location of these Tree Roots was newly discovered in Auvers-sur-Oise, France through a postcard photograph! As it was, Van Gogh lived in Auvers-sur-Oise back in 1890, and brought his colourful vision to the tree roots, which still look largely the same even today.

The immersive experience is about twenty minutes long, which is so worth the value! I beelined straight for the deck chairs because I loved lying back and staring up at the art on the screens, and it’s such a novel way of looking at art!! Although on second thought, I should have also tried parking myself on the sofas in the Singapore experience, as all of the furniture was sponsored by Castlery!

Because the immersive experience room in Singapore was so spacious and comfortable, I must say that I enjoyed it much more than the London edition, which had a smaller room. The room was very packed and so it was also difficult to get clear pictures!

Japonisme Room in Singapore

It felt extra special that the Singapore edition also included a japonisme room! This was not available in London, and I wonder if the other stops in Asia also have this. Van Gogh famously drew inspiration from Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, like those by Hiroshige in particular. This japonisme room highlighted works from Chinese and Japanese art, as well as works by Van Gogh’s contemporaries, such as Gustav Klimt. The tea brand Matchaya also provided free samples of green tea, which I thought was such a nice touch!

Paint with Vincent

At the end, you can colour your own version of Van Gogh’s masterpieces, display it on the wall, and even project it digitally!

Sunflower Room

One more photo spot in the Sunflower Room in the Singapore edition before leaving!

Cafe and Merchandise Shop

I loved how the cafe and shop (in Singapore) was so well decked out and on-theme!

Some final thoughts: I really enjoyed seeing Van Gogh’s art in this new, immersive experience! I’ve heard some critique that this might not be a ‘purist’ way of looking at art, and at times the animated artworks in the immersive experience also took on ‘creative license’. But I’m of the view that it’s fun, engaging, and brings awareness to more of Van Gogh’s artworks — whether for old favourites or other less familiar ones.

Another note is the surprising difference in price: In Singapore an adult ticket cost SGD$24, while in London an adult ticket cost £19.90 (not inclusive of booking fees via the Fever app), which is quite a steep difference!

In any case, Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience was fun enough to go twice! It’s exciting to see the experience continue its world tour, check out their website to see if it’s coming to your city!

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National Gallery Singapore

The art of 2021 began with National Gallery Singapore’s Light to Night festival, which is always pretty fun with their art installations! Just went to see some at 2022’s edition too.

Something New Must Turn Up: Six Singaporean Artists After 1965

I’ve seen Eng Tow’s Grains of Thought twice at Asian Civilisations Museum and now at its spot at Jewel Changi, and I found it fun to see these maquettes / models for the actual artwork in the exhibition Eng Tow – the sixth sense (part of Something New Must Turn Up), which were a lot smaller!

My favourite exhibition in Something New Must Turn Up was Jaafar Latiff: In the Time of Textile — really liked seeing these colourful, Futurist-looking, abstract pieces.

Antony Gormley – on view 6 August 2021 – 30 October 2022

My first encounter with Antony Gormley’s human figures was back in 2016, when ‘Event Horizon’ Hong Kong placed several of these standing men at the top of buildings and in the middle of the streets in Central — and I had fun posing with one of them! And this one has now fallen face-flat on the Gallery’s beautiful floors…

Kind of weird / funny to see this steel mass in the middle of such colonial architecture! A bit out of place or an interesting contrast?

Horizon Field Singapore on the rooftop of National Gallery Singapore looks fantastic (and different from so many angles), and it’s great to take photos with!

Nam June Paik: The Future is Now – 10 December 2021 – 27 March 2022

Nam June Paik is such a big name and an important artist, so I definitely had to check out this exhibition! It’s a travelling exhibition, and it’s making its last stop at National Gallery Singapore. I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of his work, but it’s a good exhibition to see nonetheless.

Also be sure not to miss these three works located in the basement of the Gallery — Sistine Chapel is probably the most seminal work of Paik’s.

Siapa Nama Kamu? Art in Singapore since the 19th Century

I’ve wandered through Siapa Nama Kamu? [What’s Your Name?] quite a number of times, and it’s always nice to see some refreshed works in this permanent exhibition. I just saw Wu Peng Seng’s photographs, and I really liked the ones with the ballerina: The Long Shadow and First Step.

Between Declarations and Dreams: Art of Southeast Asia since the 19th Century

Siapa Nama Kamu? is much smaller than Between Declarations and Dreams (3 galleries in the former and 14 galleries in the latter), and I only realised last year that I haven’t actually seen the whole of Between Declarations and Dreams properly before. So I took the afternoon to track down all the galleries and had a look at everything.

My favourites are still the works of Raden Saleh — Boschbrand is stunning, but I wish there was more explanation of the work. While we see these animals driven to the edge of the cliff due to a forest fire, I’m inclined to think that there is a deeper, or symbolic meaning to this image. In any case, here’s to a roaring Year of the Tiger…!

Gorgeous pieces giving me Turner-esque vibes.

National Museum of Singapore

Modern Colony: 1925–1935

I’m not sure how or why, but I can’t believe I’ve not seen these galleries in National Museum of Singapore on the second floor?! They trace the modern history of Singapore, and I really liked this one on the ‘Modern Colony’. It’s the Twenties vibes for me!

PSM50: Celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Singapore’s Preservation Journey

I stumbled across this exhibition presented by the Preservation of Sites and Monuments division of the National Heritage Board (to mark 50 years of preservation in Singapore), and there were these small artefacts and models of the 73 National Monuments of Singapore!

This cube was exhibited on a turning display, and the top has an image of a war memorial. Unfortunately, I forgot to record what this piece is about and what monument it’s displaying, but I took these photos of it as I was taken by what it says of the ‘Folly of War’.

Singapore History Gallery

This amazing portrait by John Singer Sargent is in the basement gallery of the National Museum of Singapore — the Singapore History Gallery — and I’m sure I’d seen it before years ago but didn’t know of Sargent at the time. I was part of a British Art class in the last semester, and my professor mentioned that there was a Sargent in the National Museum, so I had to track it down!! It’s huge, lush and the paintwork is gorgeous.

The Sargent painting is situated between two other portraits painted by John Edgar Williams (left) and William Orpen (right), but those are just not as impressive.

Kranji War Cemetery

As part of that aforementioned British Art class, we did a field trip to the Kranji War Cemetery, also known as the Kranji War Memorial. It’s part of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) that maintains cemeteries across the world, remembering the “men and women of the Commonwealth Forces who died in the First and Second World Wars”.

It was my first time at the Kranji War Cemetery, and it might seem a bit surprising that it is so beautifully maintained. I posted about this on my IG earlier, and my mixed feelings still remain the same. Seeing these individuals’ names and their families’ messages for them is both sad and humbling in a way.

Out and About

A cute display at Funan Mall of Lego displays of Singaporean / hawker food that I spotted back in May!

Another random, gorgeous Lego display of the Fullerton Hotel located at One Fullerton opposite that I saw in November!

I always like to glimpse at the window displays of fashion houses as sometimes, there are some really well-done and interesting displays! Hermès at Liat Towers frequently has these fun, quirky or just aesthetic window displays.

Burberry’s Olympia bag installation

This was just fun and random! The Burberry’s Olympia bag installation made its third appearance in Singapore’s Ion Orchard after floating down London’s River Thames (stunning!) and appearing in Dubai too.

KAWS:HOLIDAY

KAWS is just so popular now, and no matter what you think of the art or of the character, I think it’s good time to embrace it! Was quite surprised to see the crowds lining up to see KAWS:HOLIDAY at the Floating Platform, and I still like to keep my social distancing, so I zoomed in on the KAWS balloon (?) installation from afar on the Helix Bridge!

A good reminder to look up — some of Singapore’s architecture have these stunning ceilings that you might not notice on the daily, but it’s nice to take a moment to look up every once in a while.

Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Speaking of ceilings, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel has this absolutely stunning Gormley installation scattered across the ceiling right at the front entrance of Tower 1. The picture does not do it justice! Fun fact: the work is suspended across levels 5 and 12 of the atrium of Hotel Tower 1.

Seeing Dale Chihuly‘s The Setting Sun and The Moon in the Gardens by the Bay from high up on Marina Bay Sands Hotel’s rooftop!

Panoramic view from the window of the MBS Hotel room we were staying in — so, so incredible.

Breakfast in style — this staycation at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel was The Highlight of 2021, and I felt very lucky and blessed to be a plus one to my sister of City Girl, City Stories who was invited to view the exhibition Orchestral Manoeuvres at ArtScience Museum, which was also amazing!

Basically the Marina Bay Sands Hotel is a work of art, and they also have a lot of artworks displayed across its premises, which I’ll love to post about at a later time! Till then, best wishes for 2022 / the Year of the Tiger and let’s go forth and embrace where life takes us!

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The opening space shows a preclude of what’s to come, with a display of cheongsams and Shanghai-nese advertisements and posters.

The above two exhibits are examples of women’s dress from the late Qing dynasty, featuring traditional floral motifs. I also found the “boys-at-play” motif and the embroidered scene of literati gatherings in each of the respective pieces quite unexpected and very interesting!

We now come to the Republican period in China (1912–1949). After the 1911 Revolution, Chinese women’s dress changed to embrace a new “liberalisation” of fashion. According to the exhibition didactic, women wore more fitted and tailored styles that were influenced by Western dressing.

The print of this blue blouse is apparently influenced by the Art Deco movement of the 1920s! I’m a huge fan of Art Deco, by the way!

The term “civilised new outfits” references the changes in China post-1911 Revolution, when women wore a simple outfit of a blouse and skirt. These outfits were less “fussy”, didn’t have the elaborate patterns and motifs of yore, and offered more mobility. Women in Singapore also picked up on the style as a fashion trend, embodying the image of “modern women” in this period.

I was so amazed to see the woman riding a horse in the studio photograph on the right! On closer look now, I realise it’s a fake horse prop, but it’s still so cool to see how fun and relaxed these women looked, unlike in typical stiff studio photographs.

That’s the old National Gallery (former Supreme Court)! I love the woman’s outfit and the fact that she’s driving!

These studio photographs were my favourite part of the exhibition. The fashions show a nice mix of Chinese and Western styles popular in the 1920s era, but what struck me the most was the way these women were just having fun! Look at those relaxed poses and hand gestures — it feels so modern somehow.

The ren-front refers to the Chinese character 人 (ren), meaning people, person, etc., as it resembles the two strokes of the character by extending diagonally across both sides of the cheongsam.

These cheongsams from the 1950s and 1960s were supposedly worn to work — how fashion-forward!

The term samfoo is Cantonese, literally to mean shirt and pants, and were usually worn as casual wear or as simple work wear. This sleeveless samfoo puts a modern spin on it — and honestly, I love the print of this!

I found one more exhibit on the second storey of the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, where their permanent galleries are located. This example of a two-piece qi pao ma jia with a robe and vest was apparently one of the earliest forms of cheongsam.

There was one more cheongsam right at the entrance of the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, and it’s yet another beautiful piece.

To end off here, I wanted to say that this exhibition also finally cleared up my confusion about the history / etymology of the qipao / cheongsam! One of the exhibition panels describes “the awakening of women’s gender consciousness”, when some women in the early 20th century protested via dress (!) by wearing men’s clothes like the changpao (long robe).

And that’s how the qipao (manchu robe) came about, when fitted versions of the changpao, made for women instead, became popular among Chinese women in the 1930s. In Singapore, the Cantonese term cheongsam (long shirt or dress) is more commonly used to refer to this form of dress. And there we have it!

The post The Modern Woman | 20th Century Singapore and China appeared first on Wording Art.

Very interestingly, Georgette Chen: At Home In The World is bookended with the two self-portraits by Georgette Chen from the museum’s collection! Apart from that, the exhibition roughly follows a chronological order featuring Chen’s works from the various places she lived in: New York, Paris, Shanghai, Penang, and finally Singapore. The exhibition features a very helpful timeline of Chen’s life in the middling section between the exhibition galleries, and it’s also available to view online here.

Self-Portrait: Post-War

It does sound like Chen lived a very exciting life in these different cities, although I think it’s also important to note that she lived through four wars (two Chinese revolutions and the two World Wars), and it makes me wonder what state of mind she was in.

The opening self-portrait then seems to me to reflect Chen’s own thoughts on the matter. Based on the timeline, this was painted after the Second World War, and in the few years when Chen travelled across China (before the next Chinese revolution of 1949). The way I see it, it marks the point when Chen (finally) faces the viewer or the lens directly, since her gaze is always averted in the many other photographs of her that I saw in the exhibition. A turning point showing her matured, steely resolve — and a definitive image of the artist for sure.

Singapore

The first half of the exhibition features works from Chen’s time in Malaya and Singapore. Most of the highlights that I captured below are from Chen’s time in Singapore, when she moved here permanently in 1953.

I really love seeing Chen’s painted snapshots of an old Singapore. It feels almost familiar, like what we know of Boat Quay and the scenic landscape along the Singapore River — but just from a few decades before.

I really liked this portrait of the Malay Maiden because of the layering of the patterned veil over the sitter’s hair and shirt, which I thought was very nicely done.

I remember seeing Family Portrait in NGS’s previous exhibition ‘(Re)collect’ from 2018! I’ll admit that I’d initially thought that it was a self-portrait, but it’s actually a portrait of a close friend and her family.

I feel like Chen seems to be most well-known for her still life paintings featuring fruits. Funnily enough, I learned that Chen was known as a “rambutan specialist” and was even referred to as “basket Chen” thanks to her attention to detail of rambutans and fruit baskets!

These two paintings of lotuses appear to hark back to the traditional motif of lotuses in Chinese paintings. But Chen brings a different take to it by painting them en plein air (meaning outdoors), thanks to her artistic training in Paris. It’s nice to see the image of Lotus Symphony next to the photograph of Chen painting it in her friend’s garden!

The second half of the exhibition goes further back in time, starting with Chen’s years in Paris when she moved there for her artistic training. (Chen’s family had earlier moved to Paris and New York where she attended primary school and high school there.)

Paris

I’m not sure if it’s the Parisian connection, but the two landscape paintings above give me French Impressionism vibes! While Still Life with Cut Apple and Orange has a strong Cézanne feel to it… I also love the bamboo frame of this still life, which is so unique and adds another layer of looking!

Shanghai

We then go forward a bit to Chen’s years in Shanghai. The archival materials pictured here show Chen featured on the cover of the Shanghai magazine 良友 The Young Companion (left) and in the newspaper 上海畫報 Shanghai Pictorial (right), both from 1931. I was particularly drawn to the 良友 image because I learned about this magazine in a China Studies class before, and I found it interesting that Chen was on the cover of this magazine popular among young Chinese women in the 1920-1930s, especially in that heyday of Shanghai’s modern era.

While in Shanghai, Chen and her first husband Eugene Chen were kept under surveillance by the Japanese during the Second World War. The exhibition features a few of Chen’s portraits of her husband while they were confined during this period.

Travels Across China

We move forward in time again to the post-war years when Chen travelled around China, first with some water-scapes painted in Suzhou.

An interlude here with scenes from old Hong Kong and snapshots of New Territories before its redevelopment! These Hong Kong paintings were completed in the years before the fall of Hong Kong to the Japanese in 1941, and the Chens’ forced move to Shanghai after.

I really liked this section showing Chen’s cityscapes, landscapes and waterscapes of old Chinese cities. Cityscape of Beijing stood out to me with her depiction of the grand palace buildings of the Forbidden City, although they are not well-preserved at the moment of Chen’s painting.

Self-Portrait: When In Paris

The final work of the exhibition is Chen’s self-portrait from her Paris period — making one last jump back in time to the 1930s. I have to say, this self-portrait looks quite stern, or perhaps she was not fully comfortable capturing her own likeness as I find her sideways glance very subtly slides past the viewer.

It’s interesting to compare this self-portrait with the full-length photograph from the 1930s below, where Chen looks much more at ease posing with a bunch of paintbrushes next to her.

After writing this post, I definitely feel like taking another turn at the exhibition to re-look at the works again! It’s one of the better exhibitions at NGS that I’ve seen in a while, and it offers a good introduction to the artist and her various homes around the world. Naturally, more emphasis is placed on her years in Penang and Singapore, although I preferred the second part of the exhibition that looked at Chen’s earlier years in Paris and Shanghai.

I’m liking the focus given to Georgette Chen, a clear example of a significant woman artist who spent the latter half of her life in Singapore (and later became a Singaporean too!). And while I appreciate the exhibition’s approach of centring her work around time and place, I find it interesting that the exhibition didn’t focus as much on the woman question — as in, Chen’s perspectives working as an artist and as a woman.

I mention this because there is a tendency in museum exhibitions of works by female artists to emphasise their achievements despite gender restrictions, or images of female solidarity or feminism, etc. In Chen’s case, it would be quite a different context when considering her status as a woman artist in Singapore, though it would nevertheless be very interesting.

I shall end off here by rating this exhibition 4.5 stars! Definitely worth a visit, and Georgette Chen: At Home In The World runs until 26 September 2021. Have your turn at rating this exhibition below too!

The post Georgette Chen | Singapore’s Pioneer Woman Artist appeared first on Wording Art.

In the snippet of the art scene (at the 2:12 mark) featured in the first WW84 trailer, Diana Prince (played by Gal Gadot) shows Steve Trevor around a 1984 Washington D.C. As Diana currently works at The Smithsonian as an anthropologist, it’s very fitting that she brings Steve to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, which is the modern and contemporary art museum ‘arm’ of the Smithsonian. (I had to research all this!)

I went to look up the actual artwork that was featured in the scene, and it turns out to be a Lichtenstein Brushstroke sculpture that in fact belongs to the Hirshhorn! See my Sculptures on the Street post for more of the Brushstroke sculptures as seen in Singapore’s Suntec City! Some art critics have critically pointed out the fact that Brushstroke was made some time past 1984… but why pass up the chance to feature art in pop culture!

Steve didn’t have much to say about the massive public sculpture, and Diana had to explain to him that ‘it’s all art’. That makes sense to me, since Steve died back in 1918 when the First World War ended, so he wouldn’t have seen art like this before… But what really cracks me up is how he was considering a trash can! A guy living in the 1910s surely wouldn’t have the sensibilities to think a trash can as an artwork — or even anyone living in the 1980s, I think. This feels like a 21st century or 2010s joke, more like!

Let me present some examples of trash bags as art: see Gavin Turk’s Refuse (go here) and American Bag (go here) in Art Basel Hong Kong, and more recently, there was a gold-coated dustbin as seen at S.E.A. Focus (go here).

Art or jokes aside, I really loved how Steve gestured with a hand above the trash can in relief like, let it stay a trash can!

The post Wonder Woman 1984 & Trash Cans as Art appeared first on Wording Art.

As mentioned in my Art of 2018 post, I have so many opinions to share, so do read on as I go on at length, lol! My review of Minimalism at ArtScience Museum will be coming up soon in a separate post.

| Cover picture: Peter Kennedy, Neon Light Installations, 1970-2002, neon, composition board and synthetic polymer paint |

When the news of this new ‘blockbuster’ exhibition was released, I was quite curious and excited to see what National Gallery Singapore would come up with. Minimalism / Minimalist Art honestly isn’t the kind of art that I like that much, so I was expecting to learn more about Minimalism in the context of 1960s New York where it originated.

To start off with the exhibition opener, a little context is needed: At National Gallery Singapore, you go through a set of doors where there’s a small space, before going through another set of doors to enter the exhibition proper; same goes when you’re exiting each exhibition gallery.

So, I was a little rattled when I went through the first set of doors to be unexpectedly greeted by… Minimalist music? That was before I discovered that this was a sound exhibit and these musical exhibits are also played in other spaces between the exhibition galleries. In all fairness, I’m not that open-minded about music as I am towards art, so I find it difficult to get attuned to these kinds of ‘experimental’ music, if you will.

And then, the first exhibits you see is a section of black paintings by different artists, including Frank Stella, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, and Barnett Newman. I know that the argument goes that you should slow down and ponder on these paintings… but I just don’t see how opening an exhibition with a selection of purely black paintings is a good idea.

The beginning of the Minimalism exhibition follows a textbook example with artworks by notable Minimalist artists like Donald Judd, Robert Morris, Sol LeWitt, Dan Flavin, and Carl Andre. Take a look at the Tate’s explanation of Minimalism here to find out more, I also find Tate’s series of Art Terms very helpful!

I find this Sol LeWitt drawing very interesting because it’s drawn by an artist from Sol LeWitt’s studio along with the help of four former LaSalle students – a nice touch! – based on the artist’s instructions. I’m still not too sure how I feel about this concept of works created from an artist’s instructions that is commonly seen in Minimalist and conceptual art from the 1960s and 70s.

On this matter, I also want to share this recent article from The Art Newspaper about the Guggenheim decommissioning works made from instructions that were deemed not authentic enough.

The main issue I had with this exhibition comes up really quickly in the first gallery alone – the space was overly crowded with artworks. Minimalist art demands the viewer to be conscious of the space that the artwork is engaging with (ref: Tate). At this exhibition, I really did feel that I needed more space to consider the works, but there were so many artworks placed quite close to each other. From just a picture of/with Ian Burn’s work, you can see three other works reflected in it!

Ian Burn’s No object implies the existence of any other is “based on a quote from the 18th century Scottish philosopher David Hume on the nature of perception, knowledge and understanding.” I don’t fully grasp the meaning, but it’s funny how this object sure does reflect the existence of a few other objects in this setting.

I visited the exhibition on two occasions in December and later in February this year, but Dan Flavin, monument for V. Tatlin #43 was still not working…

I have a new fascination with Mona Hatoum’s works after seeing Impenetrable and + and – (at ArtScience Museum) in person. As I’ve always said, it really makes such a difference seeing art for yourself compared to seeing it on a screen!

At this point, the exhibition starts to break away into examples of how Minimalist tendencies have continued in contemporary art, such as Minimalism in London (e.g. Hatoum) and Minimalist work in Asia, although ArtScience Museum’s minimalism exhibition counterpart solely focuses on Minimalism in Asia.

I was quite interested in Lee’s work – godret stones “are traditionally used in Korea as weights to hold rope in place while tying knots or weaving mats”. I really like this idea of re-exploring traditional domestic objects in art.

Robert Irwin’s Untitled looks quite different / better in real life, because it’s made of one central disc that forms overlapping lights / shadows when lit. It has a very nice three-dimensional effect compared to how it appears as a flat surface when captured in a photograph.

This particular room with three very distinctive artworks is yet another example of the overcrowded feeling I got in this exhibition. You don’t get enough space to view these large works from different distances and angles – same goes for Peter Kennedy’s Neon Light Installations (cover picture above) which you could only capture in its entirety from the side of the room.

I so enjoyed being in Olafur Eliasson’s Room for one colour! It’s kind of weird at first, because you see the room in yellow – and then suddenly see the people around you in only grey tones! Photos don’t do it justice, it’s really something to experience for yourself. My eyes felt a little uncomfortable after being inside for a short while, but it’s definitely a very novel experience!

I have to say, Liu Jianhua’s Blank Paper really did look like paper with its slightly crinkled look to it, so it’s amazing to find out it’s actually made of porcelain!

Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s works always feel so deliberately intentional or full of meaning despite his use of seemingly unassuming objects, but I also find it very interesting how his works are able to capture so much attention from the viewer too.

I love how in-your-face Ai Weiwei’s Ton of tea is about, well, Pu’er tea or about Chinese tea in general. It’s a big block of dried tea leaves, and you can smell a faint waft of the tea leaves when you step closer to it.

Haegue Yang’s Sol LeWitt Upside Down series, two out of three sets captured here, hangs at the background of this picture. It’s essentially venetian blinds placed against an ultramarine blue wall, with reference to Yves Klein’s blue trademark. I’m not into it though… It looks too close to a room setting more than an installation. But I looked up other versions of Haegue Yang’s Sol LeWitt Upside Down and her large-scale installations look very cool in comparison, so perhaps it’s just these renditions that don’t work for me.

I’ve seen Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds so many times in pictures, and it felt kind of familiar when viewing it in person. It’s my favourite artwork in this exhibition (which might sound so typical, but whatever!). Each of the seeds are made in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China, which is renowned for its production of porcelain and ceramics.

To see more porcelain works in Singapore, Asian Civilisations Museum has a Ceramics Gallery featuring largely Chinese ceramics, that I also really like!

Tatsuo Miyajima’s work always make use of ticking numbers, as an allusion to the cycle of life and rebirth. The numbers on Mega Death (captured as bright dots in this photo) continuously count down from nine to one. When it gets to zero, the blue lights go off and the installation becomes completely dark, before it turns back on and begins its cycle again.

I actually found it all – the blue colour and the countdown – quite eerie, which I suppose makes its point as it’s a statement about the mass destruction and violence of the 20th century.

Playing around with Anish Kapoor’s Non-Object (Door)! Its concave surface causes that warped effect as seen here.

I felt that the good side to this Minimalism exhibition was being able to view many works by great contemporary artists, but problems came up in its overcrowded space and in the theme itself. Most of the exhibition was dedicated to showing how Minimalism is still seen in art today, or in the closer contemporary era, but I don’t think this idea came across convincingly.

I find the works by living artists in the latter part of the exhibition too distinctive to be compiled under this broad idea of Minimalism. While the wall texts link each artwork to a certain concept found in original Minimalist works, I felt that the overall curation lost an established idea of what Minimalism is, or in showing why these works could be considered Minimalist in some way(s). I enjoyed viewing these works individually, but their relation to a curated theme of Minimalism just didn’t come across well to me.

I was finding it so difficult to express my thoughts on this exhibition clearly in this post, and then I got the idea to include a rating system! I think it’ll be so fun to include it in all my other exhibition reviews too!

For this exhibition, I’m going to give it 3 out of 5 stars – good artworks overall, but a lack of a curatorial direction makes the exhibition experience not very enjoyable. Share your opinions on this exhibition – leave your rating below!

3 / 5 stars for Minimalism: Space. Light. Object. at National Gallery Singapore

The post Minimalism at NGS | Maxed Out Galleries appeared first on Wording Art.

I remember thinking before, that I noticed the lack of paintings that featured people reading, specifically women and girls reading. Books and reading are my first love – how I like to say it! – and I wanted to see how books and art go together in artworks. I’m so glad to chance on this fantastic book by Stefan Bollmann (translated from German by Christine Shuttleworth) that led me to discover all of these paintings!

I have not seen most of the artworks in the book before, in fact, most of the artists featured in the book are also unfamiliar to me. Maybe the (more famous) artists that I know of didn’t choose to depict this sort of everyday, mundane act so much, but I’m happy to discover all of these artists too.

While we might associate reading as something ordinary and commonplace now, the title of the book refers to the long period of time when women did not have free access to books and readings. The foreword by Karen Joy Fowler and introduction go into more detail of how the public (or men) were afraid to give women the power to read.

For me, books have been great sources of entertainment, sites of fantasy and imagination, and bearers of knowledge. They make up a very important aspect of my life and I try to maintain my reading as much as I can!

It’s really nice to see then how these artists showed the women in their lives reading all kinds of books and letters – leisurely, seriously, emotionally, attentively, and more. I have to point out though, that most of the paintings are by male artists, and all of my favourite paintings featured in this post are by male artists too. But I suppose, I would touch on women artists at another point.

After reading this book, I now want to buy a copy to keep all of these paintings within easy reach! For this International Women’s Day, I want to reiterate how happy I am that we women can easily go to libraries and bookstores and start reading all kinds of books.

With that, I would also like to read and review more art books! Go here to see my last review of the exhibition catalogue for China: Through the Looking Glass at the Met Museum.

The post Women Who Read Are Dangerous | Book Review appeared first on Wording Art.

I currently find myself in a spot of free time that inadvertently came along unplanned, which leaves me feeling a little unsettled since I always want to know what direction I’m moving in. But, for now, I am enjoying this break, and I’m trying to make time to pursue my interests, and it feels nice to have this pause to think back on the past year.

But to go back to what ‘Prospect and Refuge’ is in the first place, it is a theory coined by the geographer and academic Jay Appleton in 1975 relating to architecture and how we perceive our spaces by looking to fulfil two desires of prospect (opportunity) and refuge (safety). A simple idea is like how I like to hang out in cosy cafe corners yet have a view of the outdoors while I blog, right about now!

Under the giant awning at South Beach.

Thinking further on it, I just thought it was a perfect way to sum up the feeling of having big dreams and wanting to keep moving forward but also wanting to stay comfortable. Last June, it felt really difficult to move away from Hong Kong because it was letting go of an amazing experience that I didn’t feel ready to move on from, though it is necessary for practicalities to come first (sometimes).

Though, of course, moving back to Singapore isn’t a bad thing at all! I spent a lot of time at first wandering around this sparkling, beautiful city.

Made my first stop of my exploring at the Apple Store which opened last May in Knightsbridge Mall (what a fancy name). I’m so grateful for it now because I sent my very precious Macbook there for repair when it broke down last month and the service was so good!! Just sharing my appreciation. :D

I also caught art exhibitions – like the massive Yayoi Kusama exhibition at National Gallery Singapore that I completely forgot to share on any platform whatsoever – that I plan to share here later as a way of catching up with everything over the last year. Art museums here are mostly housed in old, grand, colonial buildings with a touch of contemporary glass and chrome elements which Singapore is so good at at adding to old buildings.

When the polka dot phenomenon took over Singapore last summer.

A good mix of old and new in the National Museum of Singapore.

But geez, that transition between graduation and full-on ‘adulting’ is a tricky one! Despite all the well-meaning ‘advice’ you hear, you don’t really know what to expect until you start the job application grind, and thankfully, land your first interview and then the job (!!) after months of seemingly unending waiting time. But that’s if you decide to enter the workforce – making the decision to continue in postgraduate studies or to go out to work was even tricker to me.

Oh, the dilemma.

Revisited this gem The Thinker by Rodin at OUE Bayfront except it’s now politely barricaded. And I’ve got a much better-working phone camera with me now compared to the last time I captured this in Sculptures on the Street which I worked on 3 years ago now and I’m still so proud of!

Also saw this crazy hyperrealistic figure of a security guard by Marc Sijan at OUE Bayfront. Almost thought ‘he’ was real but it’s on a podium so it’s a piece of art, see!

I always took my (tertiary) education seriously, so I wouldn’t want to pursue postgraduate studies only for the purpose of ‘escaping reality’, but really to expand my knowledge and pursue my academic interest in a specific field (art history, of course!). That’s all and well, but then also comes the deciding factors of where I wanted to enter, funding matters, and the unavoidable point of your age matched to your amount of work experience (hi, real job, what internship?).

Another new photo of an old favourite: Sky Mirror by Anish Kapoor outside Artscience Museum.

In my final year of undergraduate studies, I asked a few professors about choosing between work and studies and I realised that there wasn’t one answer that could solve it all for me. After choosing to work first, when talking to colleagues about postgraduate studies, everyone also has varying ideas about how many years you should work first before studying further.

So, to anyone who happens to be stuck in this dilemma, weighing the pros and cons, considering the weight of what you might be losing out on or gaining in return, all I can say is: funnily enough, the quite unpleasant application process would help clear up whether or not you are ready for it, so plan ahead and give it a shot if you really want to do it!

Open call-out to SMU: please add a didactic next to this! It’s Bright Idea by Sir Michael Craig-Martin, isn’t it? I think it fits this university campus setting much better than the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong, doesn’t it?

With that said, going out to work was great in propelling me out of my ‘refuge’ zone and in seeing what my prospects are. Identifying those prospects also gave me goals to look toward, one such as the ideal yet probably not very reachable ‘work-life balance’ (hahaha, in Singapore/Hong Kong, the ultimate dream).

Stopped for a photo break while cycling from East Coast Park to the Marina Bay area on a sweltering hot day last June.

Half-joking aside, work gave me a literal case of expectations vs. reality. For many of us art history students, the career goal is always to become a curator. Same goes for me! We might get student curating projects, and some people might remind students that to become an curator at the point of actually curating exhibitions takes a long time.

Side note: it’s funny and ridiculous how everything is ‘curated’ these days. Let me give an example: Reader, you are currently on Wording Art, a blog of curated art posts! Okay, but enough of that – curating is way far more than putting objects together in an exhibition and writing about it. It was only after beginning work in the field that I realised how wide the job of being a curator really is, which I think is great for managing my expectations of the job and seeing how I would like to keep moving forward in work.

Loving these boards for a store that is coming soon at Wisma Atria… What is it?? A fantastically themed cafe or retail concept? I’m just dying to know!

I suppose I’m writing this to ground myself somehow in my current stage of in-between-ness. The very wise words by Lewis Carroll couldn’t be more fitting for what I’m thinking about right now. And right now, I’m also really glad to have this little digital space of my own here that in one way, I see as a record of all the art things I’d seen and where I was at, and in the same way, this post serves the same purpose too.

Looking down from the 8th floor of the Central Public Library, where I discovered their fantastic reference section of art history books!

With all that said, here’s to new opportunities and good things ahead! And to more posts overcrowded with pretty pictures, as per usual, hahaha!

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