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ARTS&LEISURE
February15
A Walk on the Surreal Side
Known for his works exploring public and personal identity, social
commentary and international political tensions, Malaysian-born
artist Bayu Utomo Radjikin presents his solo exhibition
Ada Apa
Dengan Tengkorak
(“what is with the skull”), a series of charcoal
and acrylic-on-canvas pieces. Currently residing in Australia,
Bayu is intrigued by wide, endless landscapes – seen in his
strong horizontal canvases – that extend his style of figurative
realism into the realm of the surreal. Further lending to the earthy
feel is the animal horn, a visual metaphor for male power and
strength that features prominently in most of the works, its twisted
presence both beautiful and burdensome. To Bayu, the horn
is symbolic of a king’s crown – an icon of pride, position and
responsibility; in this case, it’s the responsibility of being virtuous
in life: horn or bone remain long after the flesh is destroyed, just
as one’s actions resonate beyond mortal life. See it from 10
February to 8 March at Chan Hampes Galleries, 328 North Bridge
Road, #01-21 Raffles Hotel Arcade.
chanhampegalleries.com
Wooden Wonder
Sculpture fans shouldn’t miss
Expose/Exposed
, a solo
exhibiton by Korean artist
Cha Jong-Rye, featuring 11
monumental, self-standing
and wall-mounted pieces
at REDSEA Gallery. Quite
unusually for a sculptor, Cha’s
chosen medium is wood; in
fact, she works with it as if it
were clay or paint, layering
and sanding hundreds of
delicate wood pieces into
contours and shapes that
seem to have no beginning
or end. The resulting works
have a natural fluidity and
energy that express Cha’s
philosophy of the landscape
of our lives and the world
around us. Presenting her
sculpture in the present
tense as something that
lives and moves, rather
than as completed reality,
Cha calls on the ideas of
creation, infinity and eternity.
See it until 15 February.
Block 9 Dempsey Road.
redseagallery.com
WALL
What’s on in Singapore’s
art scene this month