July Round-Up

Art Agenda, ART:DIS, Comma Space, ARTJOG, Gajah Gallery Yogyakarta, and Mizuma Gallery, Tumurun Private Museum
By Alana Malika

Crossings: Series of Activations in the Philippines

Arturo Luz, ‘Musicos’, 1952, oil on board, 61 x 122cm. Image courtesy of Art Agenda.

Two exhibitions in Art Agenda’s series, ‘Crossings: Series of Activations in the Philippines,’ open this July. ‘Encounters: Post-War & Modern Philippine & Indonesian Art’ is a group exhibition featuring over two dozen works by prominent artists from the 20th century including Affandi and Arturo Luz. Last in the series is ‘Athena,’ opening at the Monarch in Manila. Inspired by Athena, the works of Lydia Velasco, Helena Alegre, Coeli Manese, and more embody the valiant spirit of the Greek Goddess.

‘Encounters: Post-War & Modern Philippine & Indonesian Art’ is on view from 3 to 6 July 2024 at Quisumbing Torres, Taguig City, Philippines. More information here.

‘Athena’ is on view from 5 July to 3 August 2024, at the Monarch, Manila, Philippines. More information here.

A Journey Through Time

Chng Seok Tin, ‘Tribute to Samsui Women 向红头巾致敬,’ 2001, silkscreen, cement, wood, metal plates, 17 x 58 x 58cm. Image courtesy of ART:DIS.

Raymond Lau Poo Seng, ‘Tiong Poh Road’, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 61 x 91cm. Image courtesy of ART:DIS.

‘A Journey Through Time’ is a duo exhibition featuring two Singaporean artists Chng Seok Tin and Raymond Lau Poo Seng. In a comprehensive survey of their storied careers, ART:DIS presents a collection of 40 prints and sculptures by Chng and 30 abstract streetscapes by Lau that highlight their oeuvres. Inspired by the late Chng’s legacy in arts education for people with disabilities, the exhibition and its accompanying programmes are fundraising for the CST Education Fund.

‘A Journey Through Time’ is on view from 6 to 15 July 2024, at ION Art Gallery, Singapore. More information here.

In Broad Day Light, I Do

Installation view of ‘In Broad Day Light, I Do.’ Image courtesy of Comma Space.

‘In Broad Day Light, I Do’ is a solo exhibition featuring Singapore artist Tang Da Wu at Comma Space, Singapore. Continuing his experimentations with mud, Da Wu explores the natural material as a metaphor for his personal growth as an artist. Sculpted into trousers, the collection serves as a reminder of people’s malleability and perseverance throughout life’s rainy and sunny seasons.

‘In Broad Day Light, I Do’ is on view from 6 to 14 July 2024, at Comma Space, Singapore. More information here.

ARTJOG 2024 - Motif: Ramalan

Tromarama, ‘Banting Tulang’. Image courtesy of ARTJOG.

Maryanto, ‘Allegory of Nature’. Image courtesy of ARTJOG.

Agus Suwage & Titarubi, ‘Suara Keheningan’. Image courtesy of ARTJOG.

Back for its 16th iteration, ARTJOG 2024 - Motif: Ramalan returns to Jogja National Museum featuring 84 artists and artist groups hailing from Yogyakarta and beyond. Curated by Hendro Wiyanto and the ARTJOG team, this year’s theme meditates on the word “ramalan” or prophecy. The festival invites both emerging and established artists, including commissioned artists Agus Suwage and Titarubi, Tromarama, Maryanto, and more.

‘ARTJOG 2024 - Motif: Ramalan’ will run from 28 June to 1 September 2024, at Jogja National Museum, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. More information here. Read our previews of ARTJOG MMXXI in 2021 and ARTJOG: Resilience in 2020.

Noughties by Nature: Contemporary Indonesian Art from Generation 2000 Plus

Uji Hahan, ‘Did You See and Did You Get?’, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 250 x 200cm. Image courtesy of Gajah Gallery Yogyakarta.

‘Noughties by Nature: Contemporary Indonesian Art from Generation 2000 Plus’ at Gajah Gallery Yogyakarta investigates the artistic practices of post-reformation youths in Indonesia while acknowledging its roots in Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru, or New Art Movement, from the 1980s. The group exhibition peers into a generation that is grappling with unprecedented interconnectedness as they amalgamate pop culture, Western influences, and Indonesian heritage to create contemporary art that aligns with themselves. One featured artist is Uji “Hahan” Handoko Eko Saputro, a Javanese painter known for superimposing pop-art figures over realist landscapes reminiscent of Mooi Indië paintings.

‘Noughties by Nature: Contemporary Indonesian Art from Generation 2000 Plus’ will run from 29 June to 29 July 2024, at Gajah Gallery Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. More information here. 

Consonance & Dissonance

Zulkifli Lee, ‘Sejoli’, chengal wood and mild steel, 211× 18 × 18 cm, 2024. Photo by Zulkifli Lee. Image courtesy of the artist and Mizuma Gallery.

Malaysian artist Zulkifli Lee’s first solo exhibition at Mizuma Gallery unveils a collection of abstract paintings and sculptures created in confrontation with paradoxes that manifests between human and natural systems. Zul’s paintings contrast artificially neat geometric lines with a naturally sourced organic palette gathered from soil and limestone that are native across his home country. Similarly, he sources materials for his sculptures from construction sites, recycling steel and wood.

‘Consonance & Dissonance’ is on view from 13 July to 18 August 2024, at Mizuma Gallery, Singapore. More information here.

Transitory Nature of Earthly Joy

Installation view of ‘Transitory Nature of Earthly Joy’ at Tumurun Museum, Surakarta Indonesia. Image courtesy of the artist and Tumurun Museum.

‘Transitory Nature of Earthly Joy’ is a solo exhibition by Albert Yonathan Setyawan at Tumurun Private Museum, Surakarta, Indonesia. It explores themes of transition and impermanence through clay. The exhibition features 12 new works, including nine individual pieces and three ceramic installations, made from raw clay, compost soil, seeds, plants, and other organic materials. These installations evolve over time, symbolizing the ephemeral nature of existence. 

‘Transitory Nature of Earthly Joy’ is on view from 8 June 2024 to 12 January 2025 at Tumurun Private Museum, Surakarta, Indonesia. More information here.

‘Let It Linger’ by Supper House

Foreground: Veronyka Lau, ‘Miss Tow Foo Fah’, 2024, garments stitched from discarded fabrics, dimensions variable. Background: Natalia Tan, ‘ananke/ghosts’, 2024, thread, Metal, and salvaged plastics, dimensions variable. Image courtesy of Supper House.

The group show features the multi-media work of six local artists Agatha Lee, Crystal Lee, Liz Zhu, Kansh, Natalia Tan and Veronyka Lau. They have each created an artwork in response to 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace, or 195PHT, where the exhibition is held, as well as the poem For M by Mikko Harvey, and taking from the Cranberries song by the same name. First-time curator Kelly Janine ruminates on the end of tenant’s lease of the space in March 2026, taking the time with the exhibiting artists to reflect on the space’s past, and its future.

‘Let It Linger’ is presented by Supper House at Lucky Hall at 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace in Singapore. It is open for two weekends, from 18 to 21 July, and from 26 to 28 July, from 2pm to 7pm.