10 Years On with Richard Koh Fine Art Singapore

‘In Our Own Frame’ celebrates Southeast Asian artists
By Lara Tan

As the pandemic causes disruptions across the globe, the current period presents an opportunity for art lovers to support fellow players in the Southeast Asian art community. Art & Market brings you a selection of fundraising campaigns around the region, as arts media platforms, gallery spaces, and art institutions strive to keep afloat through 2021.

Faris Nakamura, ‘The Future You Are Looking For Might Just Be In The Past’, 2020, emulsion on treated wood and PVC, 90 x 85 x 17cm. Image courtesy of RKFA Singapore.

One artist is Faris Nakamura, who was recently announced as the winner of Art Outreach’s IMPART Awards 2020 (Visual Arts Category). Here he presents the work ‘The Future You Are Looking For Might Just Be In The Past’ (2020), another one of his signature enamel and wood sculptures. The work is distinctly different from previous artworks of the same vernacular. Nakamura’s works tend to echo familiar silhouettes of Singapore’s architecture, from flights of stairs to profile views of high-rise flats, focusing on the tiny pockets of breathing space found in the compact designs of this building. However, this work cannot really be placed. It does not point to an easily recognisable silhouette, and favours wave-like curves as opposed to sharp and angular lines. Up close, the spaces in between are not easily identifiable, somewhat mimicking the structures found of a rooftop. Taking the title into consideration, it seems that the artist is referencing current architectural and heritage discourse of preservation and conservation. Overall, there is a sense that the artist is playing more with Singapore’s architectural vernacular, warping and collapsing its dimensions.

Melissa Tan, ‘Hestia’, 2020, mirror finish stainless steel, epoxy resin and pigment, 68 x 85 x 12cm. Image courtesy of RKFA Singapore.

Another artist that the gallery has worked closely with is Melissa Tan. Her mirror-finished ‘Hestia’, is an addition to the series presented a year ago at her solo exhibition ‘Under the Arched Sky’ (2019). Like other sculptures in the series presented in ‘Under the Arched Sky’, Tan’s work is named after a goddess. Hestia is known in Greek mythology as the goddess of the hearth, a symbol of the family and the domestic represented by fire or fireplaces. Tan has previously said that she “embedded an image of what represents each goddess in all the works.”. ‘Hestia’ is sharp and triangular, with black and white pigment streaked throughout the resin present in the sculpture. This image is the opposite of what one would typically imagine of its namesake, forgoing the homeliness that one would expect from the goddess of the hearth. Perhaps it is a reflection of the current age of confinement; when entrapped, the home no longer becomes warm or comforting, but cold and alienating. Within the context of the pandemic, it also speaks to women having to take on multiple roles within the home during lockdowns.

Detail: Haffendi Anuar, ‘Buaian Untuk Dua (Cradle for Two)’, 2020, kain pelikat, canvas, wood, gutter pipes, plastic tubings, brass nuts and bolts, acrylic and oil paint, 137 x 38.2 x 25cm. Image courtesy of RKFA Singapore.

Malaysian artist Haffendi Anuar also makes an appearance, an apt inclusion considering that his solo exhibition, ‘Midday Stanza’ (2019) was the first to grace the gallery in its current location at Gillman Barracks. Anuar’s body of work is diverse and wide-ranging, often playing with structure, colour and texture. ‘Buaian Untuk Dua (Cradle for Two)’ (2020) and ‘Hammock Study Two’ (2020) follow suit, deconstructing the familiar colours and patterns of kain pelikat, a checked fabric traditionally worn by Malay men.

Installation view of ‘In Our Own Frame’. Image courtesy of RKFA Singapore.

Other installation works include Joshua Kane Gomes’ ‘Mood III’ and ‘Mood IV’ (2020), and Hu Qiren’s ‘Dunman Higher’ (2019), the former evoking a sense of listlessness while the latter satirises Singapore’s education system. Ben Puah and Sarah Radzi liven up the exhibition with their colourful and irreverent paintings, such as ‘I Am Not Normal And I Must Scream’ (2019) and ‘All In My Stride’ (2020) respectively. Mengju Lin and Faizal Yunus are showing more sentimental and atmospheric works, like Lin’s ‘In the Mood For Love’ series (2020) and Yunus’ ‘I’ve Been There’ (2020) and ‘I Want It That Way’(2020). The line-up is rounded up by Izat Arif, with his bold and pointedly sarcastic ‘danger’ signs ‘The Chief Sends His Regards’(2020) and ‘Thank You For Believing In Me’(2020), a visual reference that ties Singapore and Malaysia together not just through art but also through politics and culture. 

Anne Samat, ‘Live Your Life Be Free #2’, 2020, rattan sticks, yarns, rakes, washers, plastic swords, toy soldiers, beads, metal and plastic ornaments, 267 x 122 x 18cm. Image courtesy of RKFA Singapore.

Across the border, RKFA Kuala Lumpur celebrates its 15th Anniversary with a line-up of Malaysian artists whom they have worked closely with over the years. While the Singapore edition places an emphasis on younger emerging artists, its Malaysian counterpart focuses on artists who are more mature in their artistic journeys and careers. Examples include Anne Samat, with her mesmerising and distinctly intricate sculptures from the series ‘Live Your Life Be Free’ (2020), as well as painter Hasanul Isyraf Idris and multimedia artist Minstrel Kuik. Emerging artists are also included, such as Zelin Seah, who had his solo exhibition ‘Too Much, Too Empty’, almost exactly a year ago. 

“‘In Our Own Frame’ celebrates not just the gallery’s milestones but also its artists, and affirms the vision of RKFA to create opportunities for promising practices to develop and flourish.”

Zelin Seah, ‘Still Fixing’, 2020, oil on linen, 120 x 90cm. Image courtesy of RKFA Singapore.

RKFA continues to forge ahead into the uncertain future, reinforcing the artistic dialogues across its galleries in the region. ‘In Our Own Frame’ celebrate not just the gallery’s milestones but also its artists, and affirms the vision of RKFA to create opportunities for promising practices to develop and flourish. 


‘In Our Own Frame’ runs from 3 to 19 December 2020 in RKFA Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.