Southeast Asian award-winning art on display at newly launched UOB gallery
The newly launched UOB Art Gallery in Shanghai.
A selected collection of artworks by Southeast Asian artists are on display at the recently opened Art Gallery of United Overseas Bank (China) in Shanghai. Sitting in Pudong Lujiazui CBD, the newly unveiled UOB art gallery displays a collection of works in distinctive graphic expressions, such as acrylic and oil on canvas, inkwash and watercolor paintings and mixed media art, showing the vitality of Southeast Asian contemporary art.
The inaugural exhibition at the UOB Art Gallery Shanghai features artworks from well-known artists in Singapore and across the region, including winners of the prestigious Singapore Cultural Medallion winners – Chua Mia Tee, Chua Ek Kay and Goh Beng Kwan.
The whole exhibition is divided into two parts, with the first nine pieces presenting the diversified expression of Singapore's landscape. They vividly depict how the Southeast Asian island country grows into a strong economy in the region from the shores of the Singapore River.
"Illumi-nations" by Yoko Choi, who was the 2016 UOB Most Promising Artist of the Year (Singapore). Through permanent ink marker on rice paper, "Illumi-nations" portrays the distinctive cityscapes in ASEAN.
"Singapore River" by Tay Bak Koi (1939-2005), a Singaporean artist renowned for his portrayals of fishing villages, village scenes and urban landscapes.
The rest are award-winning paintings from the previous UOB Painting of the Year competition.
Inaugurated in 1982, the annual competition is now the longest-running art competition in Singapore. Today, with an expansion to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, it grows into a widely-recognized campaign on Southeast Asian art.
All the exhibited POY pieces were featured in UOB’s previous annual reports. The mixed-media piece entitled “I Thought, We Can Stay Strong Like Stones” by Malaysian artist Chok Yue Zan was honored the 2017 UOB POY award in Malaysia, and featured in last year's annual report.
Featuring rocks carved into the shapes of people close to Chok amid swaying foliage and rolling waters, the artwork tries to interpret the importance of nurturing trust and deep relationships that can last.
“I Thought, We Can Stay Strong Like Stones” by Malaysian artist Chok Yue Zan
Since the 1970s, UOB has been long devoted to supporting art in the local region and community. It has so far collected more than 2,300 pieces of artworks from Southeast Asia, and continues to nurture young artistic talent. The exhibition runs through early March, 2019.
"Gazing Mountain" by Tan Rui Rong. Tan was moved by the philosophy of Buddhism Master Qing Yuan Wei Xin who said "a mountain is a mountain, a mountain is not a mountain, a mountain is still a mountain." The saying’s deeper meaning reflects the changing perspectives people have as they progress through different stages in their lives.
