January Round-Up

Gillman Barracks, The Upside Space, T:>Works, SAC Gallery, Valentino, Semarang Gallery, The Outpost Art Organisation, Tai Kwun, Museum MACAN, Mori Museum
By Vivyan Yeo

Chong Yan Chuah, ‘TOWKAY'S HORIZON’, 2022, game art/interactive digital installation. Image courtesy of the artist and The Upside Space.

Rimbawan Gerilya, ‘Solitary Grave I’, 2021-2023, MP4 video with sound. Image courtesy of the artist and The Upside Space.

Generating / Iterating

Curated by Clara Che Wei Peh, ‘Generating / Iterating’ is an inquiry into the authenticity of artworks incorporating artificial intelligence (AI). It follows the launch of new text-to-image machine learning models, which generate images matching a written description, and new language models that produce human-like phrases and paragraphs. Using these models, the exhibiting artists present works that foreground their artistic agency and contribute to the discourse about what AI can offer in the art world. They include Southeast Asian artists Chong Yan Chuah, Rimbawan Gerilya, Jo Ho and Billie Sng, and South Asian artist Ninaad Kothawade. Audiences can visit the exhibition online or physically at Gillman Barracks.

‘Generating / Iterating’ runs from 9 to 15 January 2023 at 7 Lock Road, Gillman Barracks #01-13, and online on The Upside Space website.

Brian Gothong Tan, still from ‘#Metazomia’ 2022. Image courtesy of T:>Works.

#Metazomia

T:>Works presents ‘#Metazomia’, a 360-degree cinematic and interactive experience by interdisciplinary artist Brian Gothong Tan. An integration of artificial intelligence and motion graphics, the work is inspired by narratives such as the creation of Bitcoin and Dorothy’s journey in The Wizard of Oz. Its name borrows from the Zomia highlands of Southeast Asia. According to political scientist and anthropologist James C. Scott, Zomia includes societies that have avoided phenomena like slavery, epidemics and warfare encountered by surrounding nation-state societies. Inspired by alternative modes of living, ‘#Metazomia’ suggest possibilities for better futures. 

‘#Metazomia’ runs from 2 to 20 January 2023 at 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore. Click here for more information.

Prateep Suthathongthai, ‘Anna and the King of Siam’, 2022, oil on linen, 39.5 x 32cm. Image courtesy of SAC Gallery.

Old Wound

Curated by Chol Janepraphaphan and Patticha Thitithammaporn, ‘Old Wound’ is a solo exhibition by Prateep Suthathongthai that highlights memories through the labour of art-making. The artist faithfully paints old documents with physical signs of wear and tear.  Representing the common interests of Thai society, they include covers of novels, newspapers and magazines. By translating these historical objects into the language system of painting, he anchors them in the present time and promotes reflection on the country’s long-held perspectives on beauty, taboo and history. 

’Old Wound’ runs from 8 October 2022 to 21 January 2023 at SAC Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand. Click here for more information.

Pinaree Sanpitak, ‘Breast Stupas Valentino’, 2023. Image courtesy of Valentino.

Breast Stupas Valentino

Thai artist Pinaree Sanpitak’s work ‘Breast Stupas Valentino’, 2023, is a commission by Maison Valentino as part of ART SG. Continuing her investigation of spirituality and the female experience, she presents a pair of soft sculptures wrapped in Valentino fabrics. The artist was inspired by a photograph of the Valentino Toile Iconographe pattern painted on a model’s skin, motivating a commemoration of the body as a sensual and sacred space. Within a larger immersive experience curated by Chomwan Weeraworawit, visitors can engage with ‘Breast Stupa Cookery Valentino’, 2023, Sanpitak’s participatory and ephemeral work created in collaboration with Chefs Joe Napol Jantraget and Saki Hoshino. They can also view her well-known steel sculptures titled ‘Breast Stupa Topiaries’, 2013.

‘Breast Stupas Valentino’ is on display from 10 to 25 January 2023 at The Warehouse Hotel, Singapore.

Kanoko Takaya, ‘Tetap Dekat’, 2022, acrylic, paper, gypsum, polystyrene foam and epoxy, putty on wood, 113 x 113 x 15cm. Image courtesy of Semarang Gallery.

Kune Kune

Kanoko Takaya’s solo exhibition at Semarang Gallery is a tribute to bodies experiencing social, physical and ecological changes. Its title, ‘Kune Kune’, refers to the Japanese urban legend of a humanoid creature that constantly twists and turns. As a Japanese artist living in Indonesia for the last eight years, Takaya showcases paintings, sculptures and installations that show her deep assimilation into Indonesian culture. While her earlier Indonesian Series features illustrations of local architecture and events, her recent Inner Series and Movement Series present the transitioning body in dynamic curves and textures.

‘Kune Kune’ runs from 3 December 2022 to 5 February 2023 at Semarang Gallery, Semarang, Indonesia. Click here for more information.

Hà Ninh, ‘One, Two, Many no. 3’, 2022, 3D-printed PLA plastic in plaster enclosure, 1.8 x 1.4 x 8m. Image courtesy of The Outpost Art Organisation.

Fractured Times

Presented by The Outpost Art Organisation, ‘Fractured Times’ looks at how rapid modernisation has caused simultaneous nostalgia and detachment for the past and wary excitement about the future. It features works by six Vietnamese artists: Hoàng Thanh Vĩnh Phong, Lý Trần Quỳnh Giang, Nguyễn Phương Linh, Phạm Hà Ninh and Phạm Minh Hiếu and Phan Thảo Nguyên. Displaying traditional mediums such as lacquer and silk and contemporary materials like LED lights and 3D-printed plastic, the exhibition expresses fractured yet connected perspectives on today’s landscape. 

‘Fractured Times’ runs from 29 November 2022 to 28 February 2023 at The Outpost Art Organisation. Click here for more information.

‘Myth Makers—Spectrosynthesis III’. Image courtesy of Tai Kwun.

Myth Makers—Spectrosynthesis III

After exhibitions in Taipei and Bangkok, the third iteration of ‘Spectrosynthesis’ by Sunpride Foundation opens at Tai Kwun. Amongst the first significant shows featuring LGBTQ+ perspectives in Hong Kong, ‘Myth Makers’ revolves around the concept of “queer mythologies”, and features approximately 100 artworks by over 50 Asian artists. They include Amy Lien and Enzo Camacho from the Philippines, Khairullah Rahim and Josef Ng from Singapore, Apichatpong Weerasethakul from Thailand, Vietnamese artist Danh Vō and Taiwanese-American artist Shu Lea Cheang. Showing artworks created between the 1950s and today, the exhibition brings together conversations and practices through time. 

‘Myth Makers—Spectrosynthesis III’ runs from 24 December 2022 to 10 April 2023 at Tai Kwun, Hong Kong. Click here for more information.

Chiharu Shiota, installation view of ‘Uncertain Journey’, 2016-2022. Image courtesy of Museum MACAN.

Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles

As part of a travelling show by Mori Art Museum, Museum MACAN presents Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota’s first solo exhibition in Indonesia. Curated by Mami Kataoka, Director of Mori Art Museum, the comprehensive exhibition features Shiota’s investigation of themes such as identity, ethnicity, religion, borders, existence and absence. It is the largest showcase by Museum MACAN sincethe pandemic, showcasing over 100 large-scale installations, video performances, sculptures, photographs and set designs created from the 1990s onwards. Audiences can also engage in an online programme of talks and activities on Museum MACAN’s website. 

‘Chiharu Shiota: The Soul Trembles’ runs from 26 November 2022 to 30 April 2023 at Museum MACAN, Jakarta, Indonesia. Click here for more information.

Masriadi, 'Samuro's Judgment #3', 2022, monoprint on Iford 310gsm gold fibre gloss cotton rag paper, 75 x 60 cm (image size), 105 x 83 cm (paper size). Image courtesy of the artist and EquatorNFT.

Masriadi x Get It Studio (designed and produced by Absolute Artisans), 'Samuro Mantap', 2023, prototype Air Force 1 High sneakers. Image courtesy of Get It Studio.

Art Agenda: Wake Up! Get it?

Art Agenda presents ‘Wake Up! Get It?’ in collaboration with Indonesian artist Nyoman Masriadi and exhibition partners EquatorNFT and Get It Studio. The multi-faceted exhibition features the artist’s sold-out ‘Samuro’s Judgment’ NFT collection, which was launche and sold out at Art Jakarta 2022, as well as signed monoprints, limited-edition sneakers and sculptures, based on the artist’s Old Master Samuro character. ‘Samuro Mantap’, a pair of sneakers mimicking the bandaged battle-scarred feet of Old Master Samuro, will be on display, together with a showcase of sneakers by Get It Studio illustrating significant points in the history of sneaker collaborations.

‘Wake Up! Get It?’ runs from 6 January to 5 February 2023 at Art Agenda, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore. For more information, follow @artagendasea on Instagram.