 |
| Liu Ye's Bleah! |
Among the many highlights of the Asian Contemporary Art this season is Liu Ye’s work Bleah! , a classic large scale work painted in 1999, which signaled several important shifts in Liu Ye's career and practice. In the mid-1990s, after Liu finished his studies in Europe, the color red which had been largely absent from his earlier works, increasingly started to dominate his canvas. He begun simplifying the figures and scenes with geometric form. In Bleah!, the structure of the symmetric composition further perfects the world constructed by the artist. The title “bleah” is an interjection, which children may sometimes cry when they are disgusted with something or someone. However, the three angelic children in the foreground just stick out their tongues and seem not to express the apparent feelings; Bleah! then makes for a deceptively innocuous and playful scene, enticing the audience to consider the implication conveyed. Beneath the fairytale-like appearance, the multiple relationships between outward and inward practicing within Bleah!, in fact insinuate the psychological dimension of the individual self, reflecting the uncertainty and anxiety felt towards the external reality.
 |
| Zao Wou-ki's 14.11.63 |
Leading the Chinese 20th Century Art selection from Zao Wou-ki this season is 14.11.63. The abstract art of Zao Wou-ki has deep roots in the great landscape painting tradition of China's Sung and Yuan dynasties, but his work also belongs to the Western oil painting tradition. By the mid-1950s and the 1960s, Zao Wou-ki had begun to create art with an unequivocally individual character, giving the work presented here, 14.11.63, its special aesthetic and historical significance. In 14.11.63, brushwork and colour expand on a broader scale, lines and brushstrokes leap from the canvas with surprising strength and energy, as if documenting the artist's shifts from calmness to agitation during this period.
 |
| Sudjana Kerton |
Among the top works offered in the Southeast Asian sale is Anak Bermain Layangan (Boy with Kite) . This is a distinctive work by acclaimed Indonesian modern artist Sudjana Kerton. Despite spending most of his adult life in Europe and America, Kerton’s works retain a strong nationalistic sentiment. Exploring the characteristics of Indonesian identity through relatable visual narratives, Kerton often depicted people within the local community going through the motions of everyday tasks. This present work, one of his last full paintings, returns to his favourite theme – the unquenchable spirit of Indonesians who can find joy even within simplicity, such as a boy gazing skyward at a kite in flight.
The Fine Chinese Modern Paintings sale offers Wu Guanzhong’s Roar. Painted in the 1980s, it is a spectacular and unusually large-scale painting that captures Wu’s ingenious interpretation of the powerful, seemingly chaotic movement of a roaring river through ink and colour.
 |
| Wu Gaunzhong's Roar |
The preview Southeast Asian Modern & Contemporary Art / Fine Chinese Modern Paintings / Asian Contemporary Art & Chinese 20th Century Art / Watches will take place in Singapore 30 April – 1 May :at
ARTSPACE@Helutrans, 39 Keppel Road, #02-04, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Open daily from 10.30 am – 7 pm. The works will also be shown 23-24 April Shanghai Shanghai Club Ballroom, Waldorf Astoria; 26-27 April Beijing Grand Hall, St. Regis Hotel.