Kim Lim, Teo Eng Seng, Lim Tze Peng
By A&M

The SG Artist series launched at National Gallery Singapore (NGS) last year, presenting “visionary Singapore artists who reflect the post-independence spirit and innovation”. It is a timely effort, with Singapore celebrating its 60th birthday this year. The first exhibition was ‘Cheong Soo Pieng: Layer by Layer’ (2024). Since then, three more have opened, and are currently on show: ‘Teo Eng Seng: We’re Happy. Are you Happy?’, ‘Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective’ and ‘Becoming Lim Tze Peng’. In this overview, read about each one of these exhibitions, their curatorial premises as well as highlight artworks.

‘Teo Eng Seng: We’re Happy. Are you Happy?’, 6 Sep 2024 - 2 Feb 2025

Teo Eng Seng (b. 1938, Singapore) is a second-generation Singapore artist who critically responds to social issues with his signature brand of irreverent humour. He taught art at United World College for 25 years, and encouraged his students to do the same. A recipient of the Cultural Medallion in 1986 for his contributions to the arts, he is probably best known for his invention of paperdyesculp as a medium, where he manipulates dyed papier-mâché and other everyday materials into his sculptural artworks. Teo’s work was previously shown at ‘Awakenings’ (2019) at NGS.

Teo Eng Seng, ‘Don’t Try to Read It, See It, Feel It’, 1986, paperdyesculp on paper, 74.4 × 104.5cm. Collection of National Gallery Singapore. P-0949.

Teo Eng Seng, ‘The Net (Most Definitely Singapore River)’, 1986, paperdyesculp on net, 350 x 350cm. Collection of National Gallery Singapore. ASB-0043.

This exhibition, curated by Dr Seng Yu Jin and Roy Ng, is organised into two sections. The first, “Don’t Try to Read it, See it, Feel it”, takes its name from a paperdyesculp-on-paper Chinese calligraphy work. The title is the call to action for viewers to extract the essence of the word through seeing and feeling rather than reading it, prompted by his unfamiliarity with Chinese characters as someone who received an English education. This introductory section reveals Teo’s free-form approach to art-making, where he takes in disparate influences and produces a uniquely experimental output of varied concepts and mediums. Another highlight in this section is ‘The Net (Most Definitely Singapore River)’ (1986). Paperdyesculp “debris” is caught in a wide fishing net, to represent the river’s pollution in the 1970s and 1980s, going against the current of his contemporaries’ romanticisation of the river.

Teo is a global citizen who is invested in socio-political events taking place in the world. The second section, “Sweet Talk, Straight Talk” documents his belief that art is a means for honest social commentary. The exhibition takes its name from an artwork in this section, ‘We’re Happy. Are You Happy?’ (1997). Made during the Asian Financial Crisis, the bird cage is a representation of Singapore. The birds, made with pulp, are the Singaporeans who are “free” within its confines. The artist ruminates on the compromises one makes in choosing between material wealth and personal freedom, and more broadly about inherent inequalities in society.

Teo Eng Seng, ‘Ah Wah and Ah Kiat: Crossing Borders’, 2001, glass-reinforced concrete, 202 parts, each approximately 34 × 50 × 31cm. Collection of National Gallery Singapore. 2022-00924.

Outside of the dedicated gallery space, traversing The Spine Hall at the basement of NGS is ‘Ah Wah and Ah Kiat: Crossing Borders’ (2021). Featuring over 200 concrete sculptures of motorcyclists, it is a sprawling snapshot of the daily commute of workers across the Johor-Singapore Causeway. The work honours their labour—and contributions—to the respective societies. Two gold figurines remind us that the masses of labourers are made up of unique individuals, deftly encapsulating the artist’s ongoing negotiation between self and society.

‘Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective’, 27 Sep 2024 - 2 Feb 2025

Curators Dr Adele Tan and Joleen Loh have worked closely with the estate of Kim Lim, in the care of the artist’s sons Alex and Johnny Turnbull, to put together the survey of her practice. Featuring sculptures, paper works, maquettes and archival materials spanning 40 years, it is the most comprehensive museum survey to date. Lim’s works have been exhibited at NGS in ‘Minimalism: Space. Light. Object’ (2018-19), as well as ‘Nothing is Forever’ (2022).

Kim Lim, ‘Centaur II’, 1963, bronze and wood, 146.3 × 51.1 × 25.4cm. Collection of M+ Museum, Hong Kong Museum purchase and gift of Turnbull Studio, 2020 © Estate of Kim Lim, All Rights Reserved, DACS 2024.

Across four chronological sections, we are introduced to Lim’s evolving focuses. The introductory section, “Early Works: Assembling, Delineating” showcases her works from the 1960s, and feature vertical and architectonic works such as ‘Samurai’ (1961), ‘Pegasus’ (1962) and ‘Centaur II’ (1963). Rather than placing them on plinths, which was de rigueur, she put them on the ground, in an assertion of her artistic independence. The rich wall texts reveal her experimentations, the exhibiting history of the works on display, as well as her philosophy not only for art-making but also for life.

Kim Lim, ‘Echo’, 1967, stainless steel, enamel paint and zinc coating, 77 × 80 × 80cm. Gift of William Turnbull Collection of National Gallery Singapore. Image courtesy of National Heritage Board, Singapore © Estate of Kim Lim. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2024.

Next, in “Keen Edges, Eccentric Colour”, we see Lim’s use of industrial materials such as stainless steel in ‘Echo’ (1967), where the painted colours emphasise the work’s form, planes and edges. The curvilinear work is a departure from the vertical, stacked works in the previous section. It is a poetic study of negative space. Other works from this period were made with engineered blockboard, aluminium and fibreglass, in a continued bid to move away from the monolithic styles of sculptors such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, alongside other sculptors of her generation.

This is followed by “Light, Space, and Rhythm”, which captures the artist’s incorporation of light and space in the making of her artworks. Significantly, pieces from the ‘Intervals’ (1973) series from the National Collection and the Tate Collection can be placed in a variety of configurations, revealing the playfulness inherent in her works. Light is also carefully shone on the rungs to cast shadows that further emphasise their rhythmic forms.

Kim Lim, ‘Irrawaddy’, 1979, pine, dimensions variable. Collection of National Gallery Singapore. Image courtesy of National Heritage Board, Singapore © Estate of Kim Lim. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2024

The juxtaposition of ‘Cut Paper Works’ (1976-1978) and ‘Irrawaddy’ (1979) shows the artist’s versatility working in varied mediums and how her imagination and precision work together to make mesmerising works. In ‘Cut Paper Works’, lines of varied thickness and in different orientations are precisely cut into Japanese paper. The shadows, cast by light shone through the lines, become integral to the completion of the artwork. Nearby, Irrawaddy’ is a cascading of pinewood planks to evoke the flowing of the waterway. These works provide a side-by-side look at how myriad natural elements are key to her artworks, from inspiration through to execution. The exhibition wraps up with “The Weight of a Line”, which examines Lim’s stone carvings, and shows the extension of her interest in organic materials – and forms– with works such as ‘Kudah’ (1989).

‘Becoming Lim Tze Peng’, 25 Oct 2024 - 23 Mar 2025

Lim Tze Peng’s first solo exhibition at NGS, curated by Jennifer K. Y. Lam, comprise works taken from Singapore’s public art collection and the artist’s personal collection. They span well over 70 years, from his early days as an artist in the 1940s to 2023. Among the works are depictions of everyday Singapore, landscapes from his travels, and his distinctive calligraphy works. They can be seen in three thematic sections: “From Dàpō to Xiǎopō”, “The World Outside” and “On My Own Grounds”.

Lim Tze Peng, ‘Hawker’, c. 2013–2014, ink and colour on paper, 96.5 × 96.5cm. Gift of the artist. Collection of Chung Cheng High School (Main).

Dàpō, or 大坡 and Xiǎopō”, or 小坡 are terms used by older Chinese-speaking Singaporeans to refer to the area from Outram Park to Kampong Glam. In this section, we see ‘Singapore River II’ (1976), the first artwork that the artist donated to Singapore’s National Collection, ‘Untitled (Blue Mosque)’ (c. late 1970s), of Sultan Mosque when it was painted blue, and ‘Hawker’ (2013-2014), a more recent ink-and-colour paper work that brings together epigraphy, calligraphy and painting to portray a vibrate market scene. The artist often organised outdoor drawing sessions with his peers as well as public exhibitions of works in the area, and there are accompanying newspaper cutouts and photographs to further contextualise these works.

Lim Tze Peng, ‘Venice’, 1996, oil on canvas. 65 × 80cm. Gift of the artist and family. Collection of Singapore Art Museum. Image courtesy of National Heritage Board, Singapore.

The next section documents Lim’s travels to Southeast Asia and farther to Europe, even while he kept busy as principal of Xin Min School, a role he held from 1950 to 1981. ‘Sumatra’ (1970) and ‘Lake Toba‘ (1970) are oil paintings inspired by travels to Indonesia with the Ten Men Group, which included other artists such as Chen Cheng Mei and Yeh Chi Wei. ‘Venice’ (1996) and ‘Ponte Vecchio, Florence’ (1996) were the result of a three-week European art tour organised by the Society of Chinese Artists for over 20 artists, the first trip to Europe for Lim. Significantly, they exhibit his ability to assimilate ink painting techniques into Western mediums and subjects. Archival materials, including photographs from the trips can be seen in the vitrines.

Lim Tze Peng, ‘Untitled (Calligraphy No. 7)’, 2008, ink on paper, 151.4 × 85.7cm. Collection of Singapore Art Museum. Image courtesy of National Heritage Board, Singapore.

In the final section, Lim breaks free of the rules he had followed throughout his prolific career. In particular, his creation of 糊涂字 (hú tú zì), or muddled calligraphy, is displayed in dynamic artworks such as ‘Untitled (Calligraphy No. 7)’ (2008). Using both wet and dry brushwork, tension is generated between the darker, heavier tones and the lighter ones, to create mesmerising visual tension. Writing his own “rules”, Lim also penned six principles for “A Good Painting”, which can be seen here.

Visit the exhibitions to learn more about these Singapore artists, their works and their practices. The accompanying catalogues are available for purchase at the Gallery Store by ABRY, and select book retailers. For more information, click here.

This article is presented in partnership with National Gallery Singapore.