From The Straits Times    |
Spotlight on Asian art at Art Stage Singapore 2014

Even if you think that art is not your cup of tea, the odd inflatable winged pig, carved tofu and more curious sights may kick away your art apathy at Art Stage Singapore 2014.

And if you’re clueless about where to start looking at this huge art fair, why not let the Asian platforms of the 2014 edition of Art Stage guide your way to art appreciation.

Spotlight on Asian art at Art Stage Singapore 2014

Chinese artist Chen Qiulin’s The Hundred Surnames in Tofu, 2004-2014. PHOTO: HERWORLDPLUS

Back for its fourth year, Art Stage Singapore 2014 now features eight distinct sections (or platforms, as the organiser would call it) that exhibit Asian art, next to a huge array of international works. The annual contemporary art fair is open from now to January 19 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, with a total of 158 galleries participating this year.

There is a growing “momentum for Southeast Asian art,” says Art Stage Singapore founder and director Lorenzo Rudolf at the media preview yesterday.

He hopes that the art fair can become “an Asian get-together”, a setting where collectors, curators and art enthusiasts of the region and beyond can meet and be introduced to the works of young and emerging Asian artists. “I see Singapore growing as the art centre for the region,” says Rudolf.

Uttaporn Nimmalaikaew's Image of Chair Father

Thai artist Uttaporn Nimmalaikaew’s Image of Chair (Father), 2013, shown as part of the Southeast Asia platform. PHOTO: HERWORLDPLUS

Flagged with pastel green signs, the region-themed exhibitions within Art Stage Singapore are hard to miss at the art fair — they’re also an excellent introduction to the artists of Asia Pacific. Visitors can also sign up for the daily art tours for deeper insights into works from artists of Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan and beyond.

While Singapore art lacks a dedicated platform of its own at Art Stage Singapore this year (it’s been subsumed into the Southeast Asian platform), you’ll easily find the works of local artists including Jane Lee, Donna Ong, Singapore art collective PHUNK as well as Cultural Medallion 2012 winner Milenko Prvacki exhibited at various booths within the art fair.

Sarah choo the hidden dimension
Singapore artist Sarah Choo and her work The Hidden Dimension, 2013, at Art Stage Singapore 2014. PHOTO: HERWORLDPLUS

The region-specific platforms also provide young talents like Singapore multimedia artist Sarah Choo a chance to showcase their work to an international audience at the biggest contemporary art fair in Southeast Asia.

The 24-year-old multimedia artist Sarah Choo won the prestigious Icon de Martell Cordon Bleu photography award last year and is exhibiting The Hidden Dimension, 2013 , as part of the Singapore contingent within the Southeast Asia platform.

In The Hidden Dimension, Choo presents a family scene that many of us would be familiar with: A family sits in separate rooms in their home, preoccupied with their computers, the television and just about everything else but each other. A selection of personal items from the artist’s family home have also been arranged around the video installation, specially for the Art Stage showcase.

“I wanted to give viewers a voyeuristic peek into the lives of my family members,” says Choo.

“I’m fascinated by how we’re all together in the same room and yet so isolated from one another at the same time.”

Art Stage Singapore runs from now to January 19 at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. Go to www.artstagesingapore.com for more information on the art fair.

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