And here it goes, the information of this year’s open call for the France + Singapore Photographic Arts Award.

Alliance Française de Singapour is organising the France + Singapore Photographic Arts Award for the first time this year. This award aims to feature visual artists utilising the base medium of photography from France and Singapore and to provide a platform to showcase the art of the creative talents from both countries to its international audience, hence creating awareness of the experimental and emerging styles of photographic art. It is also organised to promote exchange of artistic knowledge, experiences and ideas between the artists from France and Singapore.

A selection will be conducted to pick the group of Finalists from all proposals submitted in this open call. A group exhibition for the finalist will be held in July from this Call for Proposals. A judging session will be conducted during the Finalist exhibition to determine the WINNER of this programme. He or she will win a solo exhibition in Alliance Française de Singapour in 2013*. The selection for the WINNER will be resulting from 3 judges from the creative industry. Applicants are required to propose for a series of art works based on a photographic medium and are allowed any form of presentation of the final art works (e.g. photographic prints, photographic video work, mixed media, etc)

CRITERIA

1. French or Singaporeans (including PRs) to apply.
2. Art works can be created using conventional or contemporary media, preferably not bigger than 2m (width) x 2m (height) x 1m (depth).
3. Art works will be selected by potential in creating new styles of art or possessing an experimentation perspective of art creation.
4. Artists will be selected by Alliance Française de Singapour to exhibit in the group show.

DATES
Open Call CLOSES                          21 May 2012*
Finalist to be determined by             31 May 2012*

Deadline for submission of proposals is 21 May 2012*.     
Results for the group show will be informed by end of 31 May 2012*.

FINALIST EXHIBITION DETAILS

                                   
The WINNER of this programme will be notified at the opening ceremony of the group show in July 2012*.
The WINNER will be offered a solo exhibition in Alliance Française de Singapour in July 2013*.

*Dates subjected to changes and extension.

For more enquiries you may contact:
Benedict Tan
Gallery Manager, Alliance Française de Singapour
+65 6833 9314 | benedict@alliancefrancaise.org.sg

That hypothesis alone brought me swinging from libraries to the residences of artists, to galleries and magazine malls. What was I doing? The point is, after findings, running through publications and detecting publicities of local artists versus overseas, I could at least make a point that the locals ain’t making enough visibility in print media than the international counterparts.

Vincent Leow was one art practitioner that I chosen as an indicator of a local artist whom have had exhibited internationally which I could then make findings to justify the final answer to my thesis.

There was a history in Vincent’s practice that would be interesting to raise in case it was finally deemed that Singapore art failed for lack of the freedom of expression. In the December of 1993, in a 12-hour Artists’ General Assembly (AGA – a week-long arts festival) New Year’s Eve show which is part of a series of New Year events that began with The Artists Village 24-hour “Time Show”, The Substation’s “Round the Clock” for New Year’s, and 5th Passage organised a 12-hour New Year’s show, “Body Fields”. A minor controversy ensued over Vincent Leow’s performance at “Body Fields” he drank his urine during the performance. The police probe into that matter on the grounds of public display without permit and the media raised the act into a public reference. Until now, institutes use this reference in freedom of speech although the police and government took no action against either artist or organisers finally.

Taking a look at “Southeast Asian Art Today”, an informative book dealing with the contemporary art of this region, edited by Joyce Fenema, a designer who is of Dutch origin, she covered in the introduction a number of issues that recur regularly in analyses of contemporary art from Asia. ‘The lack of good art education facilities in Southeast Asia – partly to be blamed on a lack of funding – is a constant theme in discussions about art in Asia and it is also why many artists go to America or Europe to study. On their return, these artists are confronted with their own culture, tending to view it with mixed feelings. Some of them then choose a synthesis between the two cultures, while others aim to give visual form to the national identity of their country of origin.’

On the same study, art historian Els van der Plas, Artistic Director of the Gate Foundation, written ‘Vincent Leow (1961) immediately catches one’s attention, being described as an ‘enfant terrible’. He studied at the Singapore Art Academy and the Mount Royal Graduate School of Art in Baltimore, in the USA. His work is distinguished by critical analyses of the society around him combined with a highly personal imagery. He not only makes installations but also produces paintings that ‘reflect his identity’ and that express “my feelings about living here (in Singapore – evdp), my concern as a human being”, and “the importance of being a Singaporean”…. “I’m in a muddle of western clothes, western education, Asian traditions and the resultant difficulty of communicating with my parents”.’

On a similar article Plas also mentioned his Indonesian counterpart, ‘The Indonesian selection offers a cross-section of the art scene in that country; the wooden sculptures of Anusapati, rooted in the tradition; the paintings and performances of Heri Dono that are inspired by wayang plays; and Sudarisman’s surrealist work. The experimental work of Dadang Christianto to which Astri Wright recently devoted a long article in the magazine ”Art Asia Pacific”, Vol.III no.1, 1996 is unfortunately not covered here.’

http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/iiasn9/ascul/arttoday.html

I then learnt from Heri Dono while we were having coffee, at that time when I picked him up at the airport in Singapore for an exhibition, that he met Vincent for various times during joint exhibitions. One of them I found was ‘The First Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’ – The Asia-Pacific Triennial is a landmark exhibition and the first of its kind of this scale in the world to focus on the contemporary art of Asia and the Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand.

Heri Dono is being described as ‘an internationally successful representative of a new generation of Indonesian artists respecting and representing the local, while fusing it with the contemporary. This seen in contrast to Indonesian artists who in the 70s and 80s, under the banner of New Art Movement, chose to set local influences aside in favour of a Western modern mode of expression’ in Verdens World Artister, ‘in contrast with artists in the 70 – 80s under the banner of New Art Movement, who chose to set local influences aside in favour of a Western modern mode of expression.’

Heri Dono started as a painter, of a generation recognisable for bringing traditional elements clearly associated to wayang figurative elements together with elements of the Western modernism of post-expressionism and cubism. Dono brought with him a playful dedication to cartoon animation, of which he had some practical background.

But indeed holding on the tradition and bringing it to an expression of the modern has a level of challenge. He expressed in a talk at LASALLE College of the Arts that I attended that he was often probed by authorities about his shows and have to regularly find ways to ensure that his art making would preserve how they were originally being conceptualised. Artists of the traditional were also qestioning of his mode of modern expression with traditional medium such as Indonesian Dalang (hand puppet performance).

We made an in promptu appointment and met up altogether. We had a discussion of what were some requirements of art exhibition practices in Singapore. The artist is Qi Hong with his latest series of ink on paper. This series comprises of mainly horses which style derived from Chinese calligraphy.

During our discussion, I learned that he was already exhibiting his first show which was nearby from where we were. We decided to visit that place on that afternoon. It came to a surprise to me that the place was always where I travelled but never did I realised there was some venue like this there. It was located on a one way street off a circular junction near a shopping district in town. There, many expensive apartments towered in rows. And an ancient chinese gate stood in the middle of all.

It was a club I later know was built more than a hundred years back by Teochew businessmen who migrated to Singapore. Singapore itself was less than 70 years of independence. Behind the Chinese temple style gate was a modern building which was recently reconstructed. There was a restaurant and a cafe on the first level of the building. It also has a gym, cultural hall, meeting rooms, gallery and a roof top swimming facility. That itself was somewhat amusing. It feels like another Alliance Française where I was working, but a Chinese one. Only people of Teochew Chinese were able to join as a member of the club. Yes, I am. But, in this multi cultural and religious country, it was strange that a club of such stature and scale would limit its audience to a specific Chinese dialect group in Singapore. At least, its restaurant and cafe were open to public.

We proceeded up to the gallery. It was a curve space with windows opened letting in natural light. The panels we placed perpendicular to the windows. It was impressed at first sight of the actual works. The scale of the and the horses he drew. There were also some of his other works like intricately painted landscapes.

Qi Hong was an artist from young. He has practice for few decades. That leaves no wonder that the ink work he paints has strong control over how the abstract strokes turn out. He must have practice strictly on Chinese calligraphy for years before deriving to this artistic standard.

Few weeks later I scheduled him on an exhibition at my gallery which will happen in three months time.

This was one of my favourite pieces which I acquired. His style was proportionally distictive to a large body and small abstract legs, horses galloping in great force. Other works of his would have a bigger body and sometimes bolder ink stokes. There were horses in pairs and group of three as well.

There were two things that I learnt from this too. The painting would probably be more of the artists favourite if he places more seals on them. And secondly, a lady would probably need to get a pair of horse in an art work than a lone one.

I would first have this dishes that just had, and lesser words about them. Later there would be more foods that I could tell more stories behind them, not (or not so much) of history or traditions, but what why they are significant in society and me, or basically what makes them really aesthetically pleasing!

This is one session at a coffee place call Old Town Cafe. It has several branches in Singapore, arriving from Malaysia. This particular branch is cleverly located near Youth Centre, an activity hub of National Youth Council. The coffee shop is much patronised by youth from teenagers to young adults. I go there often, it is one scene that is really alive after midnight along the Orchard shopping belt. Tonight I had its signature curry noodles and seafood dumplings. As usual, the hazelnut ice coffee is quite a must.

On the second round of judging session, following the practice of the competiton organised for first edition, three external judges were called in just before the Finalists show opens to select the Winner of the competition, I contacted Rosihan Dahim to invite him as one judge, one artist whom I knew through Chen Yunxiao. Rosihan and I just made several good contact when we met on some occasions. On one occasion, Chen Yunxiao and I met up at a his office where he was an art director of a interior design showhouse. He brought us up to the third level to view a very nice unutilised space intended to be converted to an unconventional art gallery. We had a discussion if I was able to take on the responsibility to setup and run that space. Apparently for some reasons, that discussion in 2008 did not continue.

During the second judging session where the judges view the installations of all finalists and to determine the Winner of the second FSNGA, Michael’s work initially did not appeal to Rosihan by the first impression of using wax hands which was widely commercialised during est 2003 till 2009 in Singapore and Malaysia. During that time a company would offer a kiosk for anyone to make a wax hand for 10 bucks, more for colours and solid pieces. It took some discussions with the other judges who agreed with the potential of the installation of Michael, a mountain of wax hand on a square iron based half filled with water having two televisions below to signify a message of communication, to come to a point that Michael would take on the title as the Winner.

Michael Gabriel Goo is a hearing impaired artist. I often told many that many has long focused too much about that disability. It was great pleasure working with him, for he is far more an inspiring and a confident person than many paired persons around him.

During the announcement ceremony and opening of the Finalist exhibition, Rosihan and Michael met. Coincidentally Rosihan met one old friend, who was the principal of a school for deaf as he was once an art teacher there, at the event. Stephanie, the principal then, acted as their interpreter. As a Winner of the competition, Michael was entitled to be fully sponsored for an exhibition at my gallery. I immediately thought of a good candidate as the curator of his exhibition. Rosihan was an old time artist with a wide range of experience in the art scene and he would be able to guide Michael through the process of expanding his unconventional media concept to a full scale show. Adding to the benefit, Rosihan has experience communicating artistic ideas with the hearing impaired. Art is irreplacable to words to start with.

Michael, I and Rosihan whom was appoint the curator of the show had a first discussion few months later on a Sunday afternoon when the building was closed, since at that time Michael has found a full time job right after his graduation from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. I later realised he was from the same secondary school that I came from. We communicate mainly through drafting and sketching our ideas on paper, and got into rapport instantly. We got expressions and ideas to each other rather easily. Most arrangements were made through writing on emails besides our meeting session.

Rosihan identified seven installations that were expected to be completed for the show based on hos sketch, those include a giant wax hand, installations extending down from the ceiling and those which were grounded. He suggested we need to darken the walls in order for the white wax to stand out. Finally the walls were wallpapered with trash bags in order to facilitate fast demounting for the next show. It would be a trouble to paint black and repaint white. All pedestals were painted black.

Weeks to the opening of the solo exhibition, Michael made a finding to create a wax hand harder and easier to sculpt. The only problem was purchasing a special wax heater locally to facilitate the amount of wax hand that was needed for the seven installations. He proceeded to use a electric stove and pot for melting the wax. Something that was slowing him down. But he was working through the night until he quit his job at last. It shocked us by the news of him deciding to quit due to the reasons that the employer not supportive of his exhibition project. He could not even take leave nearer to date to completely focus on the making. It was such a scacrifice that we applaude.

The opening of the show and the exhibition was a success. This exhibition appeared in several magazines and art guide. Many who came for the show provided exellent feedback.

There was a funny situation when setting up the show to say. Michael was whistling away at the last day of setup while Rosihan got really anxious. He could actually whistle and we thought how would music seem to him.

We had a post event lunch. It was filled with laughter. There are many things that brought us together to work on a show. One good collaboration that worth noting it down.

When I was thinking of the exhibition design that was tasked to me, I was reflecting of a ancient Chinese showcase I went some months or a year back. The place was dark and at the entrance were a long roll of metal items that produced jingling sounds when you spin them, to welcome viewers. I remembered wanting to recreate this moment, or the feeling of welcoming guests to the show in a walkin entrance. At the same time I was considering some distortion in the middle of the hall to accomodate the larger horses and camels that measures 50 – 100 cm in length. Maybe I had a poster design in the back of my mind that my Vietnamese friend ViVi Vu did for the first event I organised back in 2004 that brought me to sktech a raised platforms in triangles and rectangles formed together by several distortion of different angles. Follow that, I divided that gallery space into four sections, allowing the first section at the entrance to be a long narrow walk-in path. This plan was discussed with my director just before the collector came, in which he was fully interested to do have the distorted platform.

The collector gave a brief on his collection and specific pieces that are important as well as some history about Tang dynasty. The most crutial was a timeline that he requested since this project has been on the table talk for many months before I was put in charge of it. And a timetime of our commitment to put up the show would give him alot more confidence in this delayed show.

A timeline was drafted a week after stating exactly when the curator needs to finish a first draft of the essay, press release to be sent out to our contacts, collateral design to be completed and printed, installation of the exhibition and transportation of the 50 odd exhibits, with whom to be incharge of certain deadlines. Attached to that was the timeline to produce the catalogue of the exhibition.

The catalogue was planned to be launched around six months later but the work on both was going almost simultaneous as you see, the book was actually a exhibition on paper, just the texts were alot more in contents wise.

I met the curator Chen Jiazi from China who was based in Singapore. She gave me quite an insight of the Tang Dynasty society and what it was like then that all artifacts were create for. Jiazi explained that all artifacts was crafted to be buried together with nobilities, that after death, they will live with all that were buried with them. So in their tombs were different sections to form a world that the nobility will live in after his death.

Like many fortunate formations of designs and arrangements, her idea of a Tang dynasty tomb fit rather well with my draft exhibition design. The entrance of a tomb would stand warriors, beasts and other defensive figures to protect the space, as an elevating stepped platform was then designed hold them in such a way that gave the narrow walk in an even more powerful impact. A typical tomb would have then the horses and camels stored in the next section where the improvised distorted platforms where suppose to be to hold the larger artifacts. The third section keeps the nobility’s society where the ladies, common man, servants, etc were and in the end would be some magnificient living items such as jars, ewers and bowls. I couldn’t say more how beautiful this project was and including the opening ceremony which welcomed double the expected crowd.

The challenge in this project was to combine furnitures with prints, and living items such as clocks, lamps and perfume jars. There were several platforms that were drafted at first in shapes of rectangular and triangle forms. Scrapping more than five sketches, I derived a five piece platform, which was some inspiration that materialised after losing some sleep, which resembles the outline of one of the Parchous prints. It has to be first formed with four rectangular platforms of slightly different heights, and then a circle platform tallest of all, in the middle of the other four cutting off the edges of the rectangular structures that it sits on. 

Colours of solid red and white were then added to the concept of the main hall platforms set. The setting up of these were as interesting when I visited the installation each half hour to see it being built.

Hey, see my sketch and the actual stuff which is like drawing came alive! Yes, the prints of this show were sold out, the furnitures remained very much back on flat floors.

1 x suitcase (2009 – 2011)

In 2009, eight suitcases were packed, containing in each the creations and belongings of eight Singaporean artists, from a space they were let opened before, for all to peep and ponder over their travel experiences – loaded onto a journey towards and through different parts of South-East Asia such as Thailand, Cambodia and along the journey, people who love art and reposition followed, who packed a suitcase of their own with this group to return home.

1 x suitcase - a South-East Asia traveling exhibition curated by Agnes Lim and Ernest Chan, marked the beginning of its journey with an exhibition held at the Alliance Française de Singapour in 2009, and is returning this year 2011 for their final show with additional 10 artists from Thailand, China Xi’an, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Cambodia, the countries where 1 x suitcase has stopped over throughout the duration of two years.

The concept of this travel show with creations “pre-packed” into suitcases intend to give viewers an insight into the artists’ travel experiences and to also provide the ease of transporting them to and from these countries. But further than the practicality of showcasing art in suitcases, the artists are exploring the idea of “duality”, of which journeys, usually seen as embarking in the name of “new life” or “self-discovery”.
Since its tribute in 2009, Alliance Française de Singapour has shared the vision of 1 x suitcase in extending the artistic expression of local artists to the region and also raising awareness of art in Asia to its audiences in the latest and final exhibition.

The fans of 1 x suitcase would have realised that some of the pioneering batch of Singaporean artists has stepped out in the midst of this two year journey. It leaves us to realise that a commitment of such extend requires not basically a passion for art making, but the determination in what that only sounds simple as to move art in suitcases.

Looking back at the debute exhibition then, Ernest Chan, who is engaged in the idea of private fantasies, recalled drawing the inspirations from children in Cambodia playing happily for the book kept in his black suitcase where he sketched their moments of delight. Before viewers could get to pick that sketch book from the bag, they should already be drawn into his world of innocence and joy in a rather huge work mounted across the wall portraying them taking pleasure from swimming in the stream and wondering about the greeneries by the flowing waters. These were his part of the show that he dedicated to them who “has so much curiosity that one could enjoy just by picking up stones or other simple games”.

Beside the records of childhood in the village, artists like Steve Chua and Tan Seow Wei have decided then to place their personal experiences to the show. In a more matured world, Seow Wei has explained joy in a more lonesome manner in her work called the “Solitude Joy”. There, her notes of simplicity of life appears much like an old story book where she wrote journals of her lifestyles and events she came across as though they were hand written Chinese song lyrics with sketches of pictures through her memories.

Alike Seow Wei, Agnes Lim used writings together with spontaneous sketches to form her after thoughts of a recent trip to Cambodia resulting to the journal created by a combination of words and pictures. It could simply be a snapshot of a landscape or expressions in what she explains as “reworking ideas on found objects”. It is somehow challenging to perceive a diary made in such code of creativity unless one would take time to perceive the abstract visual drawing in handwritten letters from his subconscious mind.

Steve in turn took his motivation from his personal experiences through the city of Berlin in Germany and finding incredulity within the modernised old town. “There was something distinctive in the place… it was the constructions of present architecture coming out from the classical Prussian Grandeur buildings”, he expressed. During this journey, he has picked tokens of beauty from the streets and the farther landscapes, where he pictured his art in abstract forms deriving from photos and recollections, and subsequently placing wooden cards of these impressions into a structured symphony in his suitcase.

Perhaps abstraction is a method that art could unify cultures as “going to a different place, whether it’s another city or another country, is like trying to reconfigure how I see a line”, Stephanie Cheng sees. Stephanie, who seeks to discover the beauty of using lines, a media that she believes to be the most basic stroke that can be transformed, presented a suitcase made of pale rattan, which in it fills with pieces that resemble memories of her home hence creating a relationship of her with a new place, which she would eventually find home.

Those whom had brought a suitcase to travel likely have attempted finding familiarity and significance in the new environment while travelling. And from the search of those qualities while moving, as the journey progressed in every country, their efforts translate into breakthroughs between language and cultures, artistic exchange and understanding, and successful presentations of different travel experiences by followers whom execute their art forms with an unconventional art medium seen as baggage of necessity.

This medium is easy to relate to all cultures to begin with; that makes each exhibition opening a remarkable stop as the idea of suitcases conveniently marks its place somewhere in the memory of anyone there and here, allowing kept items to unveil the messages of pain and joy through art; that conveys duality, the very fundamental idea of 1 x suitcase.We welcome you to view the finale of this two year long adventure.

I have worked with Steve on two separate shows, one back in 2007, when I was a writer and coordinator with Swiss art agent art-management.com, and one in 2011 as a gallery manager.

You are going to read more on what I have wrote on both shows that I have been involved with him.

ARTICLE ON LIMELIGHT BLOSSOMS – FEB 2011

Fine artist Steve Chua is putting together his two contrastive collections, in his upcoming solo exhibition entitled Limelight Blossoms, from the series that he has developed concurrently over eight years.

Steve first explored abstract creation in 2002. Since then he has been actively exploring unusual forms, contours, patterns and textures of various living organisms. These unusual forms he christened “Blossoms”. Through time spent in observation, Steve continues to translate his discoveries for “Blossoms” onto canvases.

While creating abstract pieces for “Blossoms” and following a formal education in graphic design, Steve’s attention was caught by post-modern popular culture and modelling today – where viewers are introduced by various media contents that serve widely to capture their senses and induce thoughts. These stimuli then became the subject of his series “Limelight”, coexisting with his abstract forms in “Blossoms”.

This simulated lifestyle in “Limelight” is exposed in Steve’s dreamlike flawless world which turns darker than his earlier works of this series. Hues in clouds of lipstick red, and a backlight that glows with fascinating energy, though painted rather dim; and the green that nevertheless finishes the mystical element, engulfs his subject much without them realizing.

Through the perspective of Singaporean artist, Steve Chua,Limelight Blossoms brings you on a journey into the world of stardom and his coherent subject of metamorphosis and living matters. The title is a combination of the similes “Limelight” and “Blossoms”, placing together a tale on the growth of humanity in a cycle of desire for limelight with the materialization of natural objects of magnified surfaces.

BIOGRAPHY OF STEVE CHUA – 2007

The artist, born 1980, found his passion and strength in fine art from when he begun a one year drawing class in 2000. He discovered a new world of expression from charcoal drawing to finger dabbing, black and white sketching to the theory of colours, and capturing still life to live model drawing, all, then triggered his curiosity.

From after that phase of study, he extended his found passion into a 3 year practice from 2001 independently under Ernest Chan, a Singaporean The President’s Young Talents Award recipient whom have achieved recognition in arts communities both locally and in overseas countries. The apprentice with Chan have inspired him and hence in time supplied him with a style of paint – the composition, subject, approach and faint-intense hues. 

Concurrently, he widened his training in the creative field specializing in graphic design during his formal education in LASALLE College of the Arts and spent several years engaged with local art galleries and artists such as Noni Kaur and Khiew Huey Chian in producing exhibitions catalogues, portraiture photography and book designs.  His talent was uncovered and was offered his first group exhibition at the Art Seasons Gallery entitled Big Small Show in 2003.

Opportunities to showcase his art works subsequently followed involving him in over fifteen shows in less than four years. Among the art showcases are several exhibitions at Art Seasons (Singapore) namely “Fresh!”, “Erotica”, “New Finds”, “Solitary Desire”, “M9 Artist in Styles” and “Made in Singapore”, “Milestone” at Vanessa Art House in Jakarta, Indonesia, “1X1X1” at Fost Gallery, Linda Gallery’s “Deweleven” and his recent “Your Private Little Movie” at the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay, in Singapore. 

Steve Chua, developing his paints distinctiveness from the style he adapted initially from the notable fine artist, assimilating vivid elements from his parallel aptitude in graphic design, is now one name to look out for. The uniqueness of the art works gained the interest of collectors especialy regional young executive and professionals as well as buyers from Australia, Switzerland and the UK. 

Chua is constantly constructing his art with the philosophy to question and explore the notion of desire and identity and to deal with the issue of society associating with consumerism and the effects of that on an individual’s envious mind, by taking the human body as the subject matter. Today Steve is exclusively represented by art-management.com with the vision to bring his ideas to more people and elevating his art to the next level. 

The Singapore fine arts took a longer time of nine months to complete due to delays from artists’ submissions. It is when I found out another difference of fine artists and photographers, and of course how much persuation is needed to get them involved in something… different. Pairing to the artists uncertainty was when tablets are coming into the trend. We wanted this edition to be on tablets too. Despite the dragging almost made Alvin and his team in the studio consider of dropping the case, it went on the Google Android Market eventually, launching timely a week before the celebration of Independence day. That is one project I felt really worth working on, and I had two sides to pull together, the producers and artists. Isn’t this the one role of an arts agent, being like a middle man? Yes, it’s a worthwhile thing.

Read on the article I wrote of the art app. It was published on the Singapore Art Gallery Guide and Business times did a review on this app. And if you do own an Android device, get them on your phone or tablet.

SINGAPORE ART – FIND THE DIFFERENCE

Android game developer partners Singapore Art to put artists on the mobile technology trend

Introduction of Painting Findings – Singapore Collection

Launching by the National Day in the Google Android Market, Painting Findings is back with the latest edition of the well loved classical spot the differences game which includes a unique Virtual Art Gallery developed for Andoid mobile phones and tablets. This edition features Singapore artists of different generations and styles namely the pencil genius Ashley Yeo, Ben Puah, Fyerool Darma, Steve Chua and also internationally reputable names such as pop artist Justin Lee and surrealist painter Rosihan Dahim. Players will be able to collect their art works in theVirtual Art Galleryby winning the stages of the spot the difference game. In that gallery, users of the game application can discover more about their art works by reading the descriptions and are able to place them on the wall paper of their mobile devices. This mobile game application has begun its discussion one year ago and is developed by Oluss Studio in collaboration with arts manager Benedict Tan.

Edutainment with a difference…

Painting Findings latest collection of art works of Singaporean artists in its popular spot the differences game has a one of its kind Virtual Art Gallery which showcases art works that game players collected. Players can collect art works by winning stages during the spot the differences game. This virtual gallery is also a special learning and educational component in this gaming application that allows people to discover about the art works and learn important facts about them. Tad different from other finding differences games, the unique feature of this game is the display of different differences every time an art work is re-played hence an art work replayed is a new gaming experience.

Prior to this edition, the first ever Painting Findings edition featured painting masters’ during the classical era. Photo Findings was launched subsequently as the photography edition of this game featuring three travel photographers.

A Benchmark of Singapore art…

Painting Findings gathered celebrated artists of different generations and styles to be represented in itsSingaporeart collection, aiming to be a benchmark ofSingaporeart by its artistic standards through this internationally available channel of exposure.

Artists involved in this project are namely young genius of pencil and the 2009 Finalist of France + Singapore New Generation Artists annual visual art competition Ashley Yeo with her ‘Japanese’ drawing capabilities which could only be lined from the finest feeling from the heart, Ben Puah – whom is known by his nick name of Singapore’s Vincent van Gogh with his post impressionist style of painting in a local child like slang and international artist and curatorRosihan Dahim, often spotted by his giant matchsticks, whose works are influenced by Savador Dali, a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres – in his world of Dadaism being the image of surrealism in an Asian context.

Also in the line up of artists in this edition of this spot the differences game are Steve Chua, Justin Lee and Fyerool Darma. Players of this game will be able to experience Steve’s signature graphic design rendering effect and the orange-red hues in his attempt to reflect the media programmes’ negative influences on society especially teenagers today of it having encouraged lifestyle of violence, sex and drugs portrayed by celebrities. Justin’s strength in Pop art found its space between Andy Warhol’s facial impressions and with a blend of Frank Stella’s line abstraction; yet Justin’s study of Popular art history has launched himself toward a different station of his own, the commentary of Singapore’s society and a celebration of all the small city has. The next in the line of this puzzle application is Fyerool Darma who puts the player in a real heart puzzle in this spot the difference game with his canvases or papers collected from streets while he expresses the melancholy of disposed toys and belongings of grown up boys and girls – catch the teddy bear and the abandoned bath tub in the game…

The Gaming experience…

Having over more than 70 stages, this latest version of Painting Findings spot the differences game has upgraded itself with high definition -HD- resolution that showcases the art works in distinctive clarity, and is fully capable to display the game screen on tablets. It retains the classic game loved by many around the world and differentiates itself from this old game by featuring art works by exceptional artists whom have proven their talents in the arts scene in theAsiaregion and internationally. Players will be able to view the original art works in greater detail, use the zoom function and also to explore the pictures in an educational perspective.