Special Exhibitions

NAM JUNE PAIK: THE FUTURE IS NOW

Until 27 Mar 2022 | City Hall Wing, Level 3, Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery and Level B1, Basement Concourse

Don’t miss our biggest exhibition of the year!

Nam June Paik, Sistine Chapel, 1993, reconstructed 2021. Video projectors, metal, wood, custom video switchers and four video channels, colour, sound. Collection of Ulsan Art Museum. Installation view at San Francisco of Modern Art. Courtesy of the Estate of Nam June Paik © Estate of Nam June Paik. Photo: Andria Lo.

Treat your senses to a riot of vision, colour and sound from the works of visionary artist and pioneer of video art: Nam June Paik.

Playful, electrifying and thought-provoking, this immersive show will invite audiences to reflect upon their relationship with technology, and its intersection with other disciplines such as nature, music and religion.

The first major retrospective of Nam June Paik in Southeast Asia, this exhibition surveys over five decades of his pioneering work in the use of television and video in art.

CLOSING on 27 MAR

Nam June Paik, Egg Grows, 1984-1989, Eight video monitors, video camera, and egg. Gift of Elaine McKeon, Byron R. Meyer, Madeleine Haas Russell, and Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Swanson. Collection of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. © Estate of Nam June Paik. Photo: Katherine Du Tiel. Nam June Paik and John Godfrey. Global Groove, 1973. Video, colour, sound. 28 min 30 sec. Courtesy of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York.

Born in present-day South Korea in 1932, Paik was a key figure in avant-garde movements of the late 20th century and one of the first international superstars in the art world. He is credited with coining the term “electronic superhighway,” which foretold transformations in the way people would communicate in the networked age of the internet.

Discover the expansive range of Paik's work through 180 installations, projections, modified televisions, video sculptures, robots and other inventive contraptions, as well as archival materials relating to Paik's training in music and participation in movements such as Fluxus. This international exhibition has travelled to London's Tate Modern, Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum and San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art—making its last stop here at the Gallery.

Book your tickets now before it ends on 27 March 2022. For info on ticketing, admissions and more, visit namjunepaik.sg.

This exhibition is organised by Tate Modern, London and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in collaboration with National Gallery Singapore.

Curated by Sook-Kyung Lee (Senior Research Curator, Tate) and Rudolf Frieling (Curator of Media Arts, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) in collaboration with curators from National Gallery Singapore, June Yap (Senior Curator), Clarissa Chikiamco (Curator), Jennifer K. Y. Lam (Assistant Curator) and Roy Ng (Curatorial Assistant).

Lead Partner Strategic Partners

SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS

CHUA MIA TEE: DIRECTING THE REAL

Ongoing | City Hall Wing, Level 4 Gallery

Chua Mia Tee Workers in a Canteen 1974 Oil on canvas 88.5 × 126.5 cm Gift of the artist © Chua Mia Tee and family

Chua Mia Tee (b. 1931) is widely regarded as one of Singapore's leading realist artists. According to Chua, “The painter assumes the role of scriptwriter, director and actor to freely shape the subject's image.” Through the lens of film and his writings, this exhibition focuses on Chua’s practice from the 1950s to 1980s, a period of contention in Singapore as the young nation developed and strived for economic success. Chua's depictions of the city and its inhabitants offer an insight into Singapore’s ambition for progress and the diverse groups of people who have contributed to its story.

Chua Mia Tee Conversations at Chinatown 1976 Pencil and watercolour on paper 41 × 58 cm Collection of Mr and Mrs Chan Tan Fong © Chua Mia Tee and family

Chua Mia Tee City and Wharves 1981 Oil on canvas 94.5 × 161 cm Collection of Lim & Tan Securities Pte Ltd

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SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS

NG TENG FONG ROOF GARDEN COMMISSION: ANTONY GORMLEY

Ongoing | Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Gallery

Antony Gormley. Horizon Field Singapore, 2021. 47 rings of 23 mm square section aluminium tube and stainless steel spigots. Ring diameter varying from 2 to 5.5m. Image credit: Joseph Nair/ Memphis West Pictures. © the artist

Antony Gormley (b. 1950, United Kingdom) is internationally renowned for his sculptures, installations and public artworks that investigate the relationship of the human body to space. The fifth Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Commission, Horizon Field Singapore, invites visitors into an immersive experience exploring space and form.

The Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Gallery is made possible with the support of Far East Organization.

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ANTONY GORMLEY

Ongoing | Various locations

Three of Gormley’s earlier sculptures—Close V, Sense and Ferment—will also be on display in the Gallery’s public spaces, activating and engaging with the architecture of the buildings.

Antony Gormley Close V 1998 Cast iron 27 × 201 × 174 cm Image credit: Joseph Nair/ Memphis West Pictures © the artist

Antony Gormley Ferment 2007 2 mm square section stainless steel bar 273 × 177 × 211 cm Image credit: Joseph Nair/ Memphis West Pictures © the artist Antony Gormley Sense 1991 Concrete 74.5 × 62.5 × 60 cm Image credit: Joseph Nair/ Memphis West Pictures © the artist

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SPECIAL EXHIBITIONS

WU GUANZHONG: LEARNING FROM THE MASTER

Ongoing | City Hall Wing, Level 4, Wu Guanzhong Gallery

Wu Guanzhong with students from the Central Academy of Art and Design’s Department of Graphic Design 1977 class, on one of their outdoor drawing trips to Shanhai Pass, October 1978. Image courtesy of Zhang Peng.

Wu Guanzhong (1919–2010) is one of the most significant Chinese painters of the 20th century, renowned for his innovative fusion of Chinese aesthetic elements with Western modernism. He is also acclaimed as an educator, sharing his artistic practices and philosophies with students at leading art educational institutions in China over a teaching career that spanned more than 40 years.

Wu Guanzhong: Learning from the Master invites you into the intimate dialogues between Wu and his students at the Central Academy of Art and Design on their creative journeys, as they explored techniques, aesthetic sensibilities and more. The exhibition investigates for the first time Wu’s philosophies of art and pedagogy through manuscripts, art journals, sketchbooks, photographs and drawings by the master and his students.

Wu Guanzhong with students from the Central Academy of Art and Design’s Department of Ceramics 1977 class, on one of their outdoor drawing trips to Juyong Pass and Badaling, September 1978. Digital Collection of National Gallery Singapore, with kind permission from Wu Keyu. RC-CH1-WGZ1-121.

This is the fifth exhibition in the Wu Guanzhong series, launched in 2015. It continues the explorations into Wu’s life and practice undertaken in the previous exhibitions Beauty Beyond Form (2015), A Walk through Nature (2017), Expressions of Pen & Palette (2018), and Art Nurtures Life (2019).

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