Following a steady stream of support from visitors since its opening in April 2024, National Gallery Singapore is now extending the run of Cheong Soo Pieng: Layer by Layer, for two more months. Initially set to close on 29 September, the exhibition will now run until 24 November 2024 at the Ngee Ann Kongsi Concourse Gallery, National Gallery Singapore.
This is Southeast Asia’s first exhibition using material analysis, which will help visitors uncover fresh insights into Cheong’s artistic techniques and innovative use of materials.
The exhibition is the first installment of the Gallery’s SG Artist series. The series spotlights four visionary Singaporean artists who embody Singapore’s post-independence spirit and innovation, featuring exhibitions on Cheong Soo Pieng, Teo Eng Seng, Kim Lim, and Lim Tze Peng at the National Gallery Singapore in 2024.
Featuring over 30 of Cheong’s paintings from the 1950s to the 1980s, Layer by Layer utilises in-depth material analysis, through tools such as x-ray scans and infrared photography to present new ways of looking at Cheong’s art. Notable works include In a Balinese Village (1953, 1952-1964), where archival materials and technical tools like infrared photography and x-ray scans reveal that the original 1953 painting appeared as a seemingly different version when exhibited again in 1964. Visitors can also explore Indian Men with Two Cows (1949), where infrared photography shows Cheong’s confident application of paint without the use of preliminary sketches.
Such findings are presented through light boxes and interactive panels that visitors can slide to reveal. Visitors can engage with tactile stations, including microscopes, touch-panels and a digital game to match cross-sections to their corresponding paintings — offering a deeper dive, layer by layer, into how Cheong conceives, composes, and constructs his artworks.
Details of the first installment of the Gallery’s SG Artist series
Cheong Soo Pieng: Layer by Layer
A leading artist closely associated with Nanyang art, Cheong Soo Pieng expanded artistic conventions through his innovative experimentation with different mediums and techniques. His iconic work, Drying Salted Fish (1978), exemplifies this dynamism, blending various types of inks to create a unique interplay of shades. This approach showcases a bold synthesis of diverse materials to forge something truly distinctive.
Through Cheong Soo Pieng’s attention to the artistic process, he played freely with inventive textures and effects in his works. His use of unconventional and everyday materials redefined the boundaries of painting, inviting viewers to see beyond traditional forms and embrace a broader vision.
Cheong Soo Pieng: Layer by Layer honours an artist, who, much like Singapore, consistently pushed the limits of creativity and innovation.
Date: 5 April 2024 – 24 November 2024.
Place: City Hall Wing, Level B1, Ngee Ann Kongsi Concourse Gallery, National Gallery Singapore.
Tickets: Admission is free.
Teo Eng Seng: We’re Happy. Are You Happy?
Teo Eng Seng: We’re Happy. Are You Happy? is the artist’s most expansive solo exhibition yet, celebrating his profound impact on the Singapore art scene.
Teo Eng Seng (b. 1938, Singapore), is an artist whose dynamic, seven-decade career is marked by a playful and evolving approach to artmaking. Most widely acknowledged for creating “paperdyesculp” — referring to a type of material and process of sculpting dyed paper pulp — Teo transforms everyday materials into vibrant works of art, embedding humour and irony into his socially engaged practice.
His creations, full of spontaneous and vivid compositions, reflect his tongue-in-cheek takes on local and global social events. Teo’s practice undermines conventional ways of thinking about and making art while staying relevant to local and global issues. By asking We’re Happy. Are You Happy?, the exhibition invites you to explore Teo’s honest and witty negotiation between self and society.
Date: 6 September 2024 – 2 February 2025.
Place: Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery 1 and The Spine Hall, National Gallery Singapore.
Tickets: Special exhibition tickets at SGD 25 (SGD 15 for Singapore residents and permanent residents).
Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective
Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective marks the most comprehensive exhibition to date of Singapore-born British artist Kim Lim. Once overlooked, this exhibition acknowledges Lim’s profound impact by tracing the evolution of her practice, highlighting her unique approach to minimalism, influenced by material cultures across her travels.
This in-depth showcase features key sculptures and prints spanning four decades, along with maquettes, never-before-seen photographs and archival materials. The exhibition will also provide new insights into her artistic journey, philosophy, and creative relationships, and see how she relied on the power of suggestion and metaphor, to masterfully balance space, light, and rhythm to great effect.
Date: 27 September 2024 – 2 February 2025.
Place: Singtel Special Exhibition Galleries 2 & 3, National Gallery Singapore.
Tickets: Special exhibition tickets at SGD 25 (SGD 15 for Singapore residents and permanent residents).
Becoming Lim Tze Peng
Becoming Lim Tze Peng is a captivating journey through the works of Singapore’s oldest living and active centenarian artist.
Grounded in Singapore’s public art collections, this solo exhibition showcases the prolific master’s lifelong passion for painting, with works dating from 1946 to 2023.
Immerse in the nostalgic scenes and life of early Singapore through Lim’s well-loved depictions such as the Singapore River, Kampong Glam and Chinatown. Concurrent with his local adventures, Lim took his artistic exploration beyond the island state and returned with depictions of magnificent landscapes he encountered in Southeast Asia and the world.
At the turn of the 21st century, Lim’s creativity and boldness evolved into masterful blends of free expressions and modern calligraphy, creating his own distinct calligraphic style hu tu zi or muddle calligraphy, a technique that combines pictorial forms and writing.
Date: 25 October 2024 – 23 March 2025.
Place: Level 4 Gallery, National Gallery Singapore.
Tickets: General admission (free for Singapore residents and permanent residents).
