February Round Up

Kota-K Art Gallery, The Backroom KL, The Arts House Singapore, 16albermarle Project Space, ShanghArt Gallery
By Vivyan Yeo

Harold Egn Eswar, ‘Dari Kali Ke Durian Tunjung’, 2021, AutoCAD drawing. Image courtesy of Kota-K Studio.

Dengan Chinta

Kota-K Studio opens its community-run space, Kota-K Art Gallery, with a solo exhibition by Malaysian artist Harold Egn Eswar. Titled ‘Dengan Chinta’, meaning “with love”, the show features “spatial biography documentations” of Egn’s personal history. A highlight work is ‘Dari Kali Ke Durian Tunjung’ (2021), which was one of the finalist entries in the inaugural Julius Baer Next Generation Art Prize and has been acquired by the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art. Through a combination of architectural floor plans and journal entry-like captions, it illustrates the artist’s experience growing up in Keningau and Labuan.

‘Dengan Chinta’ runs from 17 January to 15 February 2023 at Kota-K Art Gallery, Sabah, Malaysia. Click here for more information.

Marcos Kueh, ‘Woven Postcard #07: Exotic Hospitality’, 2022, industrial weaving with polyester (8 colours), 110 × 75cm. Image courtesy of The Backroom KL.

Kenyalang Circus

The Back Room KL presents Sarawakian artist Marcos Kueh’s first solo exhibition in Malaysia. Based in The Netherlands, Kueh has exhibited works in the Voorlinden Museum in Wassenaar, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and more. His latest exhibition grapples with the exotification and mythical authenticity of cultural icons from his home country. Its title references the national bird of Malaysia, the Rhinoceros Hornbill, which has been used in promotional material for the state of Sarawak. With vibrant textile works utilising text, symbols and graphic design elements, the exhibition comments on the commercialisation of home.

‘Kenyalang Circus’ runs from 4 to 19 February 2023 at The Back Room KL, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Click here for more information.

Umberto Boccioni, ‘Forme uniche della continuità nello spazio’, 2013, bronze cast, 118 × 89 × 39cm. Photo by Damiano Fianco. Image courtesy of Roberto Bilotti Ruggi d’Aragona.

The Grand Italian Vision: The Farnesina Collection

The Arts House Singapore, in partnership with the Embassy of Italy in Singapore, presents the international debut of Italian art from the Collezione Farnesine, housed in the Palazzo della Farnesina in Rome. Curated by art critic and historian Achille Bonito Oliva, it features over 70 sculptures, paintings, photographs, mosaics and installations. Highlights include works by Arnaldo Pomodoro, Arturo Martini, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Sandro Chia and Umberto Boccioni. Resisting chronological curation, the exhibition is structured thematically through sections such as ‘Futurism’, ‘Metaphysical Art’, ‘Informal’ and ‘Kinetic Art’, amongst others.

‘The Grand Italian Vision: The Farnesina Collection’ runs from 7 to 25 February 2023 at The Arts House Singapore. Click here for more information.

Emily Phyo, '#Response365 #365', 2022, inkjet print on Ilford Galerie Smooth photo paper, 43x43cm. Image courtesy of 16albermarle Project Space.

Fighting Fear II: It Goes Without Saying

Curated by Myanm/art founder Nathalie Johnston and co-curated by director Sid Kaung Sett Lin, the second iteration of ‘Fighting Fear’ coincides with the second anniversary of the Myanmar coup on 1 February 2021. It presents the perspectives of Myanmar-based artists who directly and indirectly engage with the country’s political situation, and those who choose to live outside the country as refugees and immigrants. Featuring artists Emily Phyo, Soe Yu Nwe, Richie Nath, Bart Was Not Here, 882021, Kaung Su, Maung Day and Min Ma Naing, the exhibition investigates life in post-coup Myanmar.

‘Fighting Fear II: It Goes Without Saying’ runs from 8 February to 11 March 2023 at 16albermarle Project Space, New South Wales, Australia. Click here for more information.

Melati Suryodarmo, ‘Visible Undone Behaviour’, 2005, performed at haus der Kulturen der Welt. Photo by Patrick Vox. Image courtesy of the artist and ShanghART Gallery.

Melati Suryodarmo: Unpacked

‘Unpacked’ manifests in a gallery space that evolves throughout two performance lectures by Indonesian artist Melati Suryodarmo. The first is a tribute to love, which links to works such as ‘Visible Undone Behaviour’ (2005), where she watches the audience through binoculars, and early collaborations with Oliver Blomeier. Revisiting past performances across the globe, the second lecture explores her disillusionment towards cultural and social politics. These lectures commenced in January, and their fragments remain as an installation of objects, clothes and instruments from her oeuvre as a performance artist through time.

‘Melati Suryodarmo: Unpacked’ runs from 7 January to 12 March 2023 at ShanghART Gallery, Singapore. Click here for more information.