Cuturi Gallery is a next generation art gallery founded on the belief that art should be empowering and meaningful for everyone. A curator of change and a custodian of artistic diversity, Cuturi Gallery is a challenger of vested interests and of the status quo, pushing the boundaries of how galleries operate. The gallery connects broad audiences to high-quality art by diverse talents that speaks to the heart and tells the story of an undiscovered generation of aspiring artists that will have the art world aching for more. Diminishing aristocratic traditions and providing transparency in an art world that is at times daunting, Cuturi Gallery presents an inclusive and democratised art ecosystem which fosters greater collaboration, understanding and appreciation of art amongst artists, collectors and the industry at large.
61 ALIWAL STREET, SINGAPORE 199937 +65 6980 3068 | +65 8182 0214 | SINGAPORE@CUTURIGALLERY.COM CUTURIGALLERY.COM
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Cuturi Gallery is proud to present Fairy Conclave, a solo exhibition by Marla Bendini (b.1986). Fairy Conclave provides an intimate look into a new series of oil paintings that offer an alternative rendition of popular objects and figures from fables and folklore, allowing viewers to re-examine their perspectives regarding the mutability of one’s body and identity. Marla Bendini is a transgender, non-binary, visual and performance artist based in Singapore. Marla’s artistic persona found her origins amidst the intersection of art and life, allowing her to personify fluidity with pomp, pizazz, and a confidence that preens itself in the face of conservative Singapore. Identity and its representation are major themes in Marla’s oeuvre, as she is continually exploring the organic, amorphous nature of the body and its expressive capabilities, utilising them to craft new visual frames that actively challenge societal constructs of identity. Marla has performed and exhibited her work in Singapore, Malaysia, Macau, Sweden, Spain, and the U.S. Most recently, Marla had her first solo exhibition with Cuturi Gallery “Back Room” in 2020. Fairy Conclave is an invitation into a secret gathering of fairies and folklore, where magical beings converge to unveil new sides to familiar stories passed through generations. In her novel representations of mythical subject matter, Marla’s paintings also take viewers down an introspective rabbit hole, provoking us to delve deeper into the various facets of our identities. Her works are akin to imaginative fields that tease out images from inner thoughts, allowing their forms to coalesce and metamorphose upon the canvas, capturing the transfixing beauty of the fluid and forming. The introductory piece Fairy Conclave (2021) encapsulates this idea in its ephemeral, translucent aurora of light blue and purple wisps that hover above a grassy field like a luminous halo. This iridescent sphere is the titular fairy circle which conceals a community of fairies and sprites from the naked eye, and viewers are enticed to cross this boundary into a new threshold brimming with possibility. The circle encourages viewers to access a different set of eyes and tap into their creative prowess to glimpse scintillating sights that are not part of our mundane reality.
Tiger Lily (2020) stands out as one of the more prominent works in the exhibition, the subject’s svelte yet imposing figure making her presence felt throughout the room. What was initially a tiger-like form slowly morphed into a chimerical were-tigress, with the tiger’s characteristic stripes and tail melding to form the woman’s voluptuous physique and long braided hair. While the title itself bears associations with Greek and Chinese legends, the were-tigress’s shapeshifting abilities render her as a liminal figure; a queer individual who exists in between both man and beast, possessing both grace and ferocity. She is cloaked in flames – a layer of bright oranges pelted on to the canvas with a painted rag by the artist – yet she seems strangely at ease with these crackling embers upon her flesh as she lowers herself languorously into a lake. Rather than consuming her entire being, the blaze empowers her to shine brighter even as she descends into water. The fire’s juxtaposition with water suggests the dual nature of the destructive and generative forces that make up our identities, and this woman-beast hybrid aptly embodies a harmonious balance of these forces, a portrait of grace and fury. I Hope the Grass is Greener, Whichever Path You May Choose (2021) makes use of the popular Pandora’s Box image to reflect upon subjects of growth, transformation, and the freedom to choose our own path. A velvet chest opens to reveal increasingly smaller chests like a Matryoshka doll, with each chest being surrounded by patches of verdant overgrowth, expressing a never-ending series of choices throughout life and a yearning for greener pastures. Gilded butterflies are scattered across the canvas, presumably fluttering out from the opened chests, acting as charming symbols of metamorphosis and liberation. One could conceive of these golden butterflies as a manifestation of hopes and aspirations; the desire to take flight and freely pursue any path of our choosing. Marla Bendini’s Fairy Conclave offers us a glimpse into a wondrous sanctum of fabled figures and objects. Through her unique take on familiar fairy tales and folk stories, Marla ignites the imaginations of audiences and compels us to look past social conventions towards the deeper, more formative aspects of our identity. Marla Bendini’s Fairy Conclave will be on view at Cuturi Gallery from 20 Mar to 4 Apr 2021. Text by Lim Shao Yu
FAIRY CONCLAVE: MARLA BENDINI ANIMA ARTIFIIALIS
Tiger Lily, 2020 Oil on linen 150 x 120 cm
FAIRY CONCLAVE: MARLA BENDINI ANIMA ARTIFIIALIS
A Happy Ending Cannot Come in the Middle of a Story, 2020 Oil on linen 150 x 120 cm
FAIRY CONCLAVE: MARLA BENDINI ANIMA ARTIFIIALIS
Follow the White Rabbit, 2020 Oil on canvas 120 x 90 cm
FAIRY CONCLAVE: MARLA BENDINI ANIMA ARTIFIIALIS
The Consequences Scarcely Bear Thinking About, 2020 Oil on canvas 120 x 90 cm
FAIRY CONCLAVE: MARLA BENDINI
I Hope the Grass is Greener, Whichever Path You May Choose, 2021 Oil, acrylic, cardstock and magnets on canvas 120 x 90 cm
FAIRY CONCLAVE: MARLA BENDINI
Fairy Conclave, 2021 Oil on linen 122 x 91 cm
FAIRY CONCLAVE: MARLA BENDINI
God of Good Times, 2004 - 2021 Pastel on paper, pastel and chalkboard paint on glass 91 x 71 cm (Framed)
FAIRY CONCLAVE: MARLA BENDINI
Throw Caution to the Wind, 2020 Oil and spray paint on canvas 50 x 50 cm
FAIRY CONCLAVE: MARLA BENDINI ANIMA ARTIFIIALIS
The Butterflies in Your Stomach, the Roses They Throw in Your Way is a High with Diminishing Returns, 2021 Acrylic on jute 190 x 125 cm
FAIRY CONCLAVE: MARLA BENDINI
The Birds and the Bees and the Flowers and the Trees, 2021 (Diptych) Acrylic on jute 125 x 200 cm (Each) 250 x 200 cm (Both)
MARLA BENDINI Born in 1986 in Singapore. Lives and works in Singapore.
Selected Exhibitions 2020
Backroom, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore Precious Things, Coda Culture, Singapore New Beginnings, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore April Fools, Coda Culture, Singapore
2018
ArtScience Late: I'm willing, collaborated performance project, Art Science Museum, Singapore
2015
“I’m Nervous” Grey Projects + 10th edition of IndigNation, Singapore
2012
transSport - Madrid + Singapore, Factoria de Arte Y Dasarrollo, Madrid Goodman Arts Centre Gallery, Singapore Handsome: IVSG, The Substation Gallery, Singapore Portraits of Defacement, Your Mother Gallery, Singapore Queer Creatures, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden Image, Materiality and Space, Goodman Arts Centre, Singapore
2011 2010
RETREATTACK, Dhalia Gallery, Singapore HIV: Show me the love, Chan Hampe Gallery, Singapore Conversations between father and son, The Substation Gallery, Singapore
2008
Marla., La Bamba, Pattaya, Thailand
61 ALIWAL STREET, SINGAPORE 199937 +65 6980 3068 | +65 8182 0214 | SINGAPORE@CUTURIGALLERY.COM CUTURIGALLERY.COM
@CUTURIGALLERY