The Singapore Art Week is just over, and while I was in Shanghai (sic!) 5 out of the 9 days filled with cocktails and openings, I still had the opportunity to experience part of the vibe and get my eyes on artists that are appealing to my personal taste. Here is a memo to myself on some noteworthy galleries and artists.
Zhang Wei, represented by my friends of Art+ Shanghai, is a Beijing-based artist using mineral paints and watercolor on canvas. His geometric compositions are based on the idea of folding, overlapping, and layering, creating dimensionality that lies somewhere between the planar and spatial. Few paintings are available now; a personal exhibition is expected in March 2017 (good reason for a trip to Shanghai). Price point is reasonable (around 13k SGD).
Jyungoh Kuh is a Korean sculpture using metal and plastic to represent love, couples hugging each other and becoming one. A bit pricy (the wooden-like 2m sculpture was about 83k SGD). Nice (of course, from South Korea) representatives from the gallery: Gallery Apple.
The greatest living architect (and my favorite), Tadao Ando, is really a man of talents, as he made beautiful pictures of his own creations (like the Church of the Light, the main chapel in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture). Printed on platinum, the visuals are promised to last 500 years. Unfortunately are sold altogether in a box of 30. I will keep chasing the gallery manager at Amana Salto in Shanghai, to find for me single pieces sold by box owners. And she is definitely worth a trip to Shanghai.
Qin Chong is a young Chinese artist that brought in the 21st century the art of ink on paper, with a neat minimalist style. Represented by Da Xiang Art Space, a Taiwanese gallery; pricy (20 to 36k US$).
Ibrahim El Dessouki is an Egyptian painter, with a unique and highly meticulous treatment of shades through the use of paint kneaded carefully. By Hafez Gallery.
Lan Zenghui is known for producing large-scale abstract ink paintings. With the New York-based. Around 18k USD but negotiable (especially the last day of the fair).
New York-based artist, Su-en Wong, was born in Singapore in 1973. Her work renders a very private and deeply personal paradise, a haven in which to explore the conflicting contexts of power and vulnerability, fear and desire. Colorful and joyful, The Forest can definitely fit in my place, but at 36k SGD today is a bit pricy for me. With Art Porters, a Singapore-based gallery, whose mission is to share happiness with art.
