IMPART Collectors’ Show 2020
‘Material Agendas’ from private collections
By A&M
Kehinde Wiley, ‘Saint Gregory the Great’, 2018, oil on canvas, 243.8 x 182.9cm. Image courtesy of Art Outreach.
On 10 January, the IMPART Collectors’ Show 2020 will open at the SOTA Gallery. In 2017, Art Outreach initiated IMPART, which consists of an Award that supports emerging visual art talents in sustaining viable careers in the arts, and a Collectors’ Show that presents key works held in private collections, in keeping with the non-profit organisation’s advocacy for visual literacy and critical thinking to the public.
Curated by Tan Boon Hui, Vice President of the Global Arts & Cultural Programmes and Director of the Asia Society Museum in New York, this collectors’ show, now in its third edition, is titled ‘Material Agendas’. It zooms in on artists’ experimentation with materials to unexpected, exciting result. “The art of the present has freed itself from the limitations of material expectations,” says Tan. “The basis of art making is now more than ink, paint, carved stone or casted metal and some of the most interesting contemporary work sees the artist testing the limits of material possibilities. This bold experimentation is carried out not just with new modern industrial materials but also involves relooking at the new experiential possibilities of older materials.” While many of the works feature unusual mediums, we also see inclusions such as Kehinde Wiley’s oil-on-canvas piece ‘Saint Gregory the Great’ (2018) which provide contrast to the rest of the exhibition, as well as a rare opportunity to see the African-American artist’s work in Singapore.
The works on display come from 13 private collections in Singapore and beyond, including as far afield as New York and London. “It has been a distinct pleasure to work with 13 private collections as they present such a fascinating diversity of collecting approaches and insights,” says the Art Outreach team. “The collectors have been incredibly supportive and encouraging, and we have come to appreciate the valuable opportunity to form and strengthen ties with this important art constituency. Many of them are committed to supporting emerging artists, and it is this shared purpose that we believe will ensure more returns to the art community as we will undoubtedly find more ways to work together towards our common goals.”
Yinka Shonibare, ‘Cupid Bending a Bow’, 2018, cast fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Dutch wax Batik pattern, bespoke hand-coloured globe and gold leaf, 129.5 x 71 x 54.5cm. Image courtesy of the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.
From Southeast Asia, visitors can expect to see works from Indonesian artists Christine Ay Tjoe and Tromarama, Philippine artist Mariano Ching and Singapore artist Odelia Tang, among others. Other notable names include Yang Yongliang (China), Adeela Suleman (Pakistan), Manjit Bawa (India), Bharti Kher (UK/India) as well as Yinka Shonibare CBE (UK/Nigeria). Shonibare also has a special site-specific installation, ‘Justice for All’ at the Arts House curated by Zehra Jumabhoy. At the IMPART Collectors’ Show, we will see ‘Cupid Bending a Bow’ (2018), a cast fibreglass sculpture, hand-painted with Dutch wax Batik pattern, with a bespoke hand-colour globe for its head.
Odelia Tang, ‘Time is a Weight | Carry’, 2019, synthetic hair and tulle, 120 x 480cm. Image courtesy of Art Outreach.
Some of the collectors have given statements about their collections. Richard Nijkerk and Lauren Nijkerk-Bogen have adopted a collecting ethos that resonates with the show’s curatorial intent. “We like to collect work that is difficult to categorise. Is it a painting, a poem or a sculpture? Or is it a bit of it all? We like the usage of everyday items, be it a moving carton or a music stand, to be used in other ways then they were originally intended.” From the Nijkerk-Bogen collection, we will see Jackson Kang’s ‘Cast Me in Thy Image, For I Am Formless & Desperately Need Clothes’ (2017) and Odelia Tang’s ‘Time is a Weight I Carry’ (2019). The latter uses synthetic hair and tulle to create a visually arresting hanging soft sculpture.
Mariano Ching, ‘Heads’, 2011, pyrograph, acrylic and wood, 48.5 x 89 x 38.5cm. Image courtesy of Art Outreach.
Lourdes and Michelangelo Samson are drawn to Mariano Ching’s surprising use of materials from his environment, as represented in the show through the work ‘Heads’ (2011), to relate to issues pertinent to the wider Southeast Asian region. He “uses found objects in a surprising way to engage with religion, which is still so much a part of daily life in the Philippines,” writes Lourdes Samson. “But because spirituality is central to all countries in Southeast Asia, the meanings revealed by the work on doctrines and faith may also have resonance in other religious contexts.”
Most of the collectors note that collecting has been a journey of discovery, not only of the artworks but also about themselves, including their histories. Taimur Hassan writes that he has collected works in a range of mediums, including “paintings, sculptures, photographs, lithographs and manuscripts as another means to further [his] understanding of the people and events that had shaped and were shaping the region”.
Christine Ay Tjoe, ‘Freezing the Black 02’, oil on canvas on two panels, 200 x 180cm (each). Image courtesy of Art Outreach.
Like Hassan, Alexander Tedja’s interest in sharing his collection aligned with the aims of Art Outreach, and he has lent to the show Christine Ay Tjoe’s ‘Freezing the Black #2’. The well-known Indonesian collector also places his artworks at his properties Gandaria City Mall and in the lobby of the Sheraton Grand Gandaria Hotel, Jakarta, noting that “collecting art is a more worthwhile and fulfilling endeavour when it can be enjoyed and appreciated with others”.
All the participating collectors want to share the benefits they have gleaned from their collecting journeys with as wide an audience as possible and the Impart Collectors’ Show is a platform primed to achieve this worthy goal.
The IMPART Collectors’ Show 2020 ‘Material Agendas’ run at the School of the Arts’ (SOTA), Level 2, SOTA Gallery from 10 January to 19 January 2020. The exhibition is open from 11am to 7pm daily and admission is free for all. For more information, click here.
