Gallery Publications

CHNG SEOK TIN: DRAWN THROUGH A PRESS ENG TOW: THE SIXTH SENSE GOH BENG KWAN: NERVOUS CITY JAAFAR LATIFF: IN THE TIME OF TEXTILE MOHAMMAD DIN MOHAMMAD: THE MISTAKEN ANCESTOR Paperback | 80 pages | $26.75 (inclusive of GST) each Published on the occasion of the Something New Must Turn Up: Six Singaporean Artists after 1965 exhibition, each standalone catalogue traces the individual journeys that these artists undertook as they strove to be continuously “new.” By bringing together essays, interviews, full-coloured plates and archival material, the series offers a comparative perspective of how artists critically engaged with the conditions of multiculturalism, developmentalism and modernisation in post-independence Singapore. The catalogue for one of the six artists in the exhibition, Lin Hsin Hsin, is presented digitally on the Gallery’s website in accordance with the artist’s digital practice.

GEORGETTE CHEN: AT HOME IN THE WORLD Hardback | Approx. 208 pages | $53.50 (inclusive of GST) | ISBN: 978-981-14-4922-2 Paris, Shanghai and New York: Georgette Chen, one of Singapore’s foremost artists, once counted these cultural capitals as home and cut her teeth as a painter there. Chen eventually found in Singapore “a veritable paradise,” enchanted by its tropical climes and unexpected forms. These remarkable and cosmopolitan life experiences have informed Chen’s uniquely syncretic artistic practice and aesthetic style. With over 100 full-colour image plates and archival material, along with critical essays, this monograph brings new perspectives on her independent artistic voice and vital role as an educator in the development of modern art in Singapore.

Georgette Chen. Self Portrait. c. 1946. Oil on canvas, 22.5 × 17.5 cm. Gift of Lee Foundation.

THE GIFT: COLLECTING ENTANGLEMENTS AND EMBODIED HISTORIES Published by Singapore Art Museum | Paperback | Approx. 116 pages | ISBN: 978-981-18-0923-1 | $37.35 (inclusive of GST) Focusing on ideas of inter-relation and exchange that manifest in history, geography and identity, this catalogue examines how the act of giving is performed, remembered and entangles.

Collecting Entanglements and Embodied Histories is a dialogue between the collections of Singapore Art Museum, Galeri Nasional Indonesia, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum and Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, initiated by the Goethe-Institut. Each institution will stage an edition of the exhibition and carry its own publication.

HISTORY AND IMAGINATION: MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY FROM SINGAPORE Paperback | Approx. 116 pages | ISBN: 978-981-18-0631-5 | $37.45 (inclusive of GST) History and Imagination presents the works of four Singapore photographers: Tan Lip Seng, Lee Lim, Lim Kwong Ling and Lee Sow Lim. These amateur photographers were active members of camera clubs in the 1950s and 1960s, a period of rapid political and urban change in newly independent Singapore. Navigating the desire to document the emerging nation against the conventions of pictorial photography, scholarly essays and full-colour plates trace how their images parallel a newfound search for independence from British rule and the anxieties of modernity.

AWESOME ART THAILAND: 10 WORKS FROM THE LAND OF THE SMILING ELEPHANT THAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW Paperback | 64 pages | $19.30 (inclusive of GST) | ISBN: 978-981-14-8425-4 From painting and sculpture to photography and installation, Thailand has an array of art ready for you to discover! Follow Chang the elephant through the art history of this rich and diverse country, and have your pen and paper at the ready for crafts and activities along the way. For readers aged 9 and up, the Awesome Art series represents the Gallery’s continued commitment towards presenting and advancing the art historical discourse of Southeast Asia.

Tan Lip Seng. Z. 1970, reprinted in 2017. Digital print on archival paper, 50 × 33 cm. This acquisition was made possible with donations to the Art Adoption & Acquisition Programme.

PERSPECTIVES

Our online weekly magazine for views, conversations, research and behind-the-scenes insights, Perspectives is a discursive space and resource for Southeast Asian art. Find out more at nationalgallery.sg/magazine.

FREE-TO-DOWNLOAD ZINES Check out our new zine series, Another Initial Impetus, which explores the legacies of the seminal Alpha Gallery. The first three issues feature pioneering architect Datuk Sri Lim Chong Keat, culinary doyenne Violet Oon and interdisciplinary artist Michael Lee. Visit nationalgallery.sg/zines to download these new mobile-friendly zines to read on the go, or print and bind them at home.