Reviewing the SG Artist series at NGS
By Ian Tee and Nadya Wang

What makes a compelling institutional solo exhibition? This was top of our minds as we visited each exhibition in the SG Artist series at National Gallery Singapore, which has so far featured the artists Cheong Soo Pieng, Teo Eng Seng, Kim Lim and Lim Tze Peng. In this dialogue-style review, we chat about our experience of the exhibitions, the key takeaways, and what we hope to see more of from the SG Artist series.

Ian Tee (IT): A major museum solo or survey exhibition is a recognition of achievements. My intention with the title of the review is to use the series as an opportunity to think about what audiences expect from such exhibitions.

Nadya Wang (NW): I would say I expect to learn about the artist’s work–and life– in broad strokes. At the same time, I look for attention to detail, especially previously unknown information that can deepen my understanding of why they make the art they do. I particularly appreciate timelines and accompanying archival materials, and for the curator, or curators, to point out significant events and shifts in the artist’s practice.

Cheong Soo Pieng: Layer by Layer

IT: Each presentation in this series has a distinct character, in terms of the artist’s aesthetic and the language of display.

NW: Yes I like that the series is not templated, and so each exhibition has a unique identity from the curatorial approach to the exhibition design. To start, it was refreshing to see conservation research as a curatorial premise in ‘Cheong Soo Pieng: Layer by Layer’. It helped me to see the artist’s work in a new light, literally!

IT: Yes, it is a novel approach that deviates from a typical retrospective exhibition of the artist’s “greatest hits”. The interactive stations did a good job of unpacking Cheong’s process, and also highlighted the intersection of art and material science. In this regard, the word “experimentation”, as used in the arts and the sciences, holds layered meanings.

NW: The spotlighting of conservation work helped us to get into, figuratively and literally, the artworks of Cheong. If I were to answer the question of how compelling the exhibition of Cheong’s works ‘Layer by Layer’ was, I would say that it worked well because it presented familiar works from an unfamiliar perspective.

IT: I did wish for a better distribution of Cheong’s works executed across different media, with more examples of Cheong’s mixed media assemblages and rarely seen oil-on-rattan paintings. Rather than grouping artworks by materials, a comparative approach presenting the same subject executed on different substrates might be an interesting exercise. This would allow for direct visual analysis of how each material or technique transformed the motif. The exhibition could have a timeline of when particular materials were incorporated into Cheong’s practice, and track his mastery over time.

NW: Bringing conservation work from behind the scenes to become the central focus of an exhibition busts open the door for future curatorial possibilities, and I am sure these suggestions to bring it further into the limelight can be taken up.

Teo Eng Seng: We Are Happy, Are You Happy?

Installation view, ‘Teo Eng Seng: We're Happy. Are You Happy?’, National Gallery Singapore, 2024. Image courtesy of National Gallery Singapore.

IT: In terms of learning about the artist, I thought ‘Teo Eng Seng: We Are Happy, Are You Happy?’ was a revelation, in more ways than one. The bold exhibition design is quite divisive, though I felt it reflected Teo’s idiosyncratic sensibility.

NW: The red jolted the senses! I began to see it as a tongue-in-cheek “red carpet” laid out for visitors.

IT: This is my first exposure to the breadth of Teo’s oeuvre. There are many discoveries, beyond the medium of paperdyesculp which he is best known for. His sense of humour, cultural references and sociopolitical commentary comes through in his choice of titles and symbols.

NW: It is a thorough introduction that leaves me wanting to know more about Teo’s experimentations. I enjoyed encountering each work, and reading the wall texts to find out about the artist’s motivations and messages.

IT: On that note, I feel that the show opens up more possibilities for contextualising Teo’s work through different themes. The pieces in ‘We’re Happy, Are You Happy?’ come primarily from public collections or the artist’s. As such, I think another story can be told through key works in private collections, which could potentially speak to his relationship with his patrons or different organisations. The excitement and curiosity lingers, and I wonder if a younger generation of artists and scholars see this exhibition as an invitation to make similarly evocative statements.

Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective

NW: There is a sense of calm that pervades ‘Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective’, which is a homecoming exhibition of sorts for the artist.

IT: Indeed, the elegant display is aligned with Lim’s aesthetic and the gallery space suits the scale of her works. The overall message is consistent with her recent survey exhibitions at Tate Britain and Hepworth Wakefield.

NW: The range of artworks is impressive. My favourite work was ‘Cut Paper Works’ (1976-1978) for the simultaneously intricate and straightforward play between light and shadow. The clean lines demonstrate the precision of her work on a small scale, and are beautifully contrasted with the larger three-dimensional sculptural works on display. I particularly enjoy the maquettes, which are an intimate addition to the exhibition, and give a good sense of proportion and scale vis-a-vis the final works.

IT: This exhibition also shows the importance of having a strong estate that advocates for the artist and caring for their artworks. Most of the best works are from Lim’s estate and they are displayed together in a manner that shows her thought process and how she iterated on an idea. Such comprehensive presentations would not be possible without the due diligence and care of keeping a body of work intact.

NW: I agree. Alex and Johnny Turnbull, Lim’s sons, advocate lovingly for her work. The documentary, Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective, directed by Alex Turnbull, which premiered yesterday, complement the survey exhibition of Lim’s body of work, which is excellent in breadth and depth.

Becoming Lim Tze Peng

NW: By the time this exhibition opened, given the previous three, I had fairly high expectations, and was anticipating what I might learn from it.

IT: The show reinforces my perception of him as an archetypal “second-generation” Singapore artist. The landscape paintings, of which there were many, hold a strong sense of nostalgia, and memories of a Singapore which no longer exists.

NW: There is a comfort in the familiarity, which came through not only in the artworks on display, but also the archival materials that tell the story of his journey. For me, it was the exhibition design, with the amorphous swaths of bold colour on the wall that I found jarring, even distracting, in accompaniment with the refined aesthetics of his works.

IT: I think the exhibition could have been more adventurous, especially because the Singapore audience is familiar with Lim’s story. Hence, I was hoping for new narratives about Lim’s work or a tighter edit that showcases the artist’s handling of different scales and formats. For instance, an exhibition focusing on only large-scale paintings across different periods might make for an interesting presentation that demonstrates Lim’s technical prowess. His monumental ink paintings were the most compelling pieces on view.

NW: There were two video recordings of the artist at work in 2013 filmed for NGS shown for the first time which were interesting to watch. I would have liked to find out more unconventional or less known details about the artist’s journey. I was looking for something that would grab my attention and surprise me, but given that a lot has already been written about Lim, this is a harder task.

IT: To borrow from Teo’s exhibition title, I would like to end this conversation by asking: Are we happy with the SG Artist series?

NW: It is a valiant effort to contribute to both art history and to national history. These exhibitions, together with the accompanying catalogues, are important for us to learn about the artists’ motivations, processes and artworks. It is also interesting–and pertinent– for us to find out more about how generations of Singapore artists may have worked in similar and differing ways, given their shared circumstances of place and time.

IT: Circling back to the question we posed at the beginning, a compelling museum solo exhibition comes out of meaningful engagement with the artist’s work. It should add value to the existing body of knowledge, by proposing a new premise to understand the work or revealing a different side of the artist. This is especially relevant for established artists whose works are widely exhibited. I also hope audiences reward exhibition makers for curatorial risk-taking, the same way we celebrate artistic innovation.

NW: There is so much more to know about Singapore artists. I am glad that the curators at NGS are committed to telling their stories in unique ways through the SG Artist series, to exhibit the diversity of their interests and resultant oeuvres. It allows us to celebrate their achievements, and to build more intentionally upon their legacy.

Read more about the SG Artist series here.

This article is presented in partnership with National Gallery Singapore.