December 2024 Round-Up

Singapore Art Museum, Wei-Ling Gallery, Silverlens Manila, 43rd UOB Painting of the Year Regional Winners’ Showcase, and Gajah Gallery
By Alana Malika

Pratchaya Phinthong: No Patents on Ideas

Pratchaya Phinthong, 'Untitled (Singapore)', 2014, photograph. Image courtesy of the artist.

‘No Patents on Ideas’ is Pratchaya Phinthong’s first solo exhibition in Singapore which will offer a survey of the Bangkok-based artist’s multidisciplinary practice. The showcase delves into Phinthong's critical perspective on the operating systems of modernity that people seem unchangeable. The artist also presents “Undrift,” a commissioned video installation that ruminates on the impact of shared language on our daily physical reality.

‘Pratchaya Phinthong: No Patents on Ideas’ is on view from 4 December 2024 to 23 March 2025 at Singapore Art Museum. More information here.

Yee I-Lann: Mansau-Ansau

Installation view of Yee I-Lann’s ‘Flatten The Box’ (2024). Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum.

Yee I-Lann’s ‘Mansau-Ansau’ is titled after the phrase for “aimless strolls” in the language of the Dusun and Kadazan of Sabah. As the title suggests, the solo exhibition underlines Yee’s open spirit in her artistic journey that has spanned more than 20 years. Simultaneously, ‘Mansau-Ansau’ refers to a new bamboo pus weaving technique Yee serendipitously invented during her immersion with sea- and land-based communities in Sabah, Malaysia. The showcase invites viewers to engage with the artist’s multimedia experimentation to embrace traversing through less travelled paths.

‘Yee I-Lann: Mansau-Ansau’ is on view from 4 December 2024 to 23 March 2025 at Singapore Art Museum. More information here.

18@8: PLAY

Anwar and Masafumi Matsumoto, ‘Daughters II’, 2024, colored pencil on paper, 59 x 72cm. Image courtesy of Wei-Ling Gallery.

‘18@8: PLAY’ is a group exhibition celebrating a return to childhood playfulness in adulthood. Curated by Zhen Feng Ang, the showcase joins together 16 artists based in Malaysia in the newest edition of the 18@8 series which originated at Wei-Ling Gallery in 2005. This edition posits that recreational fun complements the responsibilities of adulthood by allowing people to face modern pressures to maintain productivity with renewed clarity.

‘18@8: PLAY’ will be held on 4 December 2024 at Wei-Ling Gallery, Kuala Lumpur. RSVP to the event by contacting Wei-Ling Gallery at +60322601106 or email siewboon@weiling-gallery.com.

To See A Landscape As It Is

Soler Santos and Mona Santos, ‘Untitled 2’, 2024, mixed media on canvas, 121.9 x 180.3cm. Image courtesy of Silverlens Gallery.

Carina Santos, ‘Mythologies’, 2024, oil and pigment on canvas, 119.38 x 137.8cm. Image courtesy of Silverlens Gallery.

‘To See A Landscape As It Is’ at Silverlens Manila is an exhibition featuring the Santos family from the Philippines. A decade ago, husband and wife, Soler and Mona, and their three children, Luis Antonio, Carina, and Isabel, were featured in their first exhibition at Silverlens Manila. This exhibition, titled ‘Gathered Narratives,’ becomes the departure point to examine each artists’ personal trajectories. At the same time, viewers can decipher the family resemblance among the artworks, piecing together their common inspirations from growing up together.

‘To See A Landscape As It Is’ is on view from 21 November to 21 December 2024 at Silverlens Manila. More information here.

Perpetual Shift

Mahalakshmi Kannappan, ‘Returning Shadows 4.36PM’, 2024, 123 x 97 x 6cm. Image courtesy of Gajah Gallery.

Shadows are the focal point of Mahalakshmi Kannappan’s solo exhibition at Gajah Gallery, ‘Perpetual Shift.’ Working with black lime plaster, charcoal, and wood, Kannappan creates a series of tangible sculptures as fixtures to reflect on these transient forms. In addition, Kannapan debuts ‘Luminous Intervals,’ an interactive installation that invites viewers to intentionally create fluidly shifting shadows thus transforming the shadows from a byproduct of life into a conscious activity.

‘Perpetual Shift’ is on view from 21 November to 15 December 2024 at Gajah Gallery in Singapore. More information here.

43rd UOB Painting of the Year Regional Winners’ Showcase

43rd UOB Painting of the Year Regional Winners’ Showcase. Image courtesy of UOB Group.

This past November, Yong Wee Loon won the 2024 UOB Painting of the Year (Singapore) award in the Established Artist category and the UOB Southeast Asian Painting of the Year award. His submission, ‘A Sip Through Time,’ is a still life diptych of a traditional coffee shop that strikes a sentimental chord across the Southeast Asian audience. The painting depicts a shopfront filled with tubs of childhood sweets and posters with retro typography while simultaneously hinting at the “presentness” of the scene with the presence of a QR code and security cameras. ‘A Sip Through Time’ will be on view in the 43rd UOB Painting of the Year Regional Winners’ Showcase along with other winning artworks including paintings by Sukit Choosri (Thailand), Muhammad Yakin (Indonesia), Hasanul Isyraf Idris (Malaysia), and Nguyen Viet Cuong (Vietnam).

‘43rd UOB Painting of the Year Regional Winners’ Showcase’ is on view from 16 November 2024 to 26 January 2025 at UOB Discovery Space in National Gallery Singapore. More information here.