Locals only! 2017

CHING WEI HONG DANIELLE TAY SEBASTIAN MARY TAY JING X HU ZHOU HAN SHUN

_

CHING WEI HONG DANIELLE TAY SEBASTIAN MARY TAY JING X HU ZHOU HAN SHUN

_

KUALA LUMPUR

17 Jalan Pawang 54000 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia T +603 4251 4396 kl@taksu.com SINGAPORE

43 Jalan Merah Saga #01-72 @ Chip Bee Singapore 278115 T +65 6476 4788 sing@taksu.com

TAKSU is a leading contemporary art gallery and specialist in Southeast Asia. Representing selections of fine art with distinctive urban edge, we are at the forefront of contemporary art in this region. TAKSU works to forge a platform for established and emerging artists to share their pool of creativity and knowledge through its residency programs and exhibitions. Encapsulating the true meaning of the word TAKSU; divine inspiration, energy, and spirit.

Graphic Design Jeffrey Lim / Studio 25 Artworks & Images © 2017 Participating Artists This publication may be reproduced in any form for academic, editorial and/ or non-commercial purposes without special permission from the artist(s) and gallery, with acknowledgement of the source. For other purposes, prior consent is needed.

Suherwan Abu Director, TAKSU Galleries

CHING WEI HONG DANIELLE TAY SEBASTIAN MARY TAY JING X HU ZHOU HAN SHUN

_

TAKSU Singapore introduces ‘Locals Only!’ 2017, a showcase of new works by five Singaporean artists. Our popular Locals Only! exhibition gives an insight into works by new and established homegrown artists.

CHING WEI HONG DANIELLE TAY SEBASTIAN MARY TAY JING X HU ZHOU HAN SHUN

_

left cover; Danielle Tay / Across The Wallace Line acrylic & gouache on paper 82 x 75 cm / 2017 this page; Ching Wei Hong / Venetian Morning lamda print on aluminium and acrylic 120 x 80 cm / 2016 right page; Sebastian Mary Tay Chromatic Solstice #13 giclée prinitng on lustre paper 80 x 60 cm / 2016 right cover; Zhou Han Shun / Frenetic City 16 digital print on paper 80 x 80 cm / 2016

Sponsors

CHING WEI HONG DANIELLE TAY SEBASTIAN MARY TAY JING X HU ZHOU HAN SHUN

_

CHING WEI HONG Wei Hong’s love for photography dates back during his childhood.

He focuses on opportunities as compared to staged shots.

His interests lies in street photography taken during his travels, covering architecture, portraits & night scenes.

left; Ching Wei Hong / Perisian Lights I lamda print on aluminium and acrylic 80 x 120 cm / 2016 below; Ching Wei Hong / Venetian Morning lamda print on aluminium and acrylic 80 x 120 cm / 2016

DANIELLE TAY The Wander Wonder series came about as a way to record her explorations and adventures in places which were special to her.

It was a way to memorialise these experiences in a tangible way visually. It was also a reminder to be present in the moment; to be aware and sensitive to your surroundings, to simply experience.

In this series, the artist aspires to push that ‘to dream is imperative’. It is essential to dream, wander and wonder. That it is sometimes simply ok to dream, wander and experience wonder. bottom left; Danielle Tay / Last but Not Least paper & wood / 140 x 180 cm / 2014

SEBASTIAN MARY TAY “Chromatic Solstice’ is a body of photographs of handcrafted landscapes made of powder, pigment, artificial fog, and light.

Having been originated from Singapore, Sebastian studied and lived in Scotland for six years.

The tropical island of Singapore located at the equator has two weathers – sunshine and rain, unlike Scotland’s four seasons, throughout a year. The light in Singapore is of consistent quantity throughout the year, and is different from Scotland’s dramatic long winter darkness and perpetually bright summer skies. As light takes a longer time to reach Scotland, it is stretched and scattered and diffused, which is different from Singapore’s intense and concentrated quality.

This body of works was essentially inspired by the theatrical light of Scotland’s skies, observed through the repetitive equinox and solstice cycles.

The construction and photographing process of each images took place over a period of three to seven days, with important considerations placed in the lighting and composition of each landscape structure, in aim of uniting the vocabulary of materials into the spatial singularity of the photographic image: the landscapes provide a theatrical space where the colours manifest, and engage in dialectics amongst each other.

The colours, light, composed landscapes consequently assemble themselves as a spatial entity in the embodiment of the fog. The fabrications invite the viewers to embark on a journey of the imaginative, and consequently participate in the positions of an admiring, contemplative being. bottom right; Sebastian Mary Tay Chromatic Solstice #3 giclée printing on lustre paper 80 x 60 cm / 2016

JING X HU In the modern society, people are constantly moving and traveling, resulting in hybrid identities, blurred cultural borders and confusing social contexts. How does one negotiate the ever more confusing realities of contemporary life between past spatial; and new geographical locations? What is identity? Does it change as one travels?

Hu extrapolates bits of architecture and historical itinerant experience to create synthetic worlds that shatter into numerous pictures and stories. In the process, some lost memories would need to be manufactured.

In some small way, she feels as though she is becoming empowered to re- imagine these gaps, rather than to simply record it.

Her paintings represent imaginary landscapes that mirror and document a perception of her real life environment. In doing so, she also hopes to speak more broadly to the lost social and cultural information for generations of Chinese who has been spending most of their life abroad.

below; Jing X Hu / Diaspora oil on canvas / 120 x 150 cm / 2016 top right; Jing X Hu / Impermanent Durations 1 oil on canvas / 30 x 30 cm bottom right; Jing X Hu / Impermanent Durations 3 oil on canvas / 30 x 30 cm

top; Zhou Han Shun / Frenetic City 6 digital print on paper 80 x 80 cm / 2016 bottom left; Zhou Han Shun / Frenetic City 55 digital print on paper 80 x 60 cm / 2016 bottom right; Zhou Han Shun / Frenetic City 53 digital print on paper 80 x 60 cm / 2016

ZHOU HAN SHUN Frenetic City– To say life moves fast in a city is an understatement. From daily commuting to eating lunches to causal conversations, people go through life in an uncompromising and chaotic pace. Everyone from the rich to the poor, the fortunate and the unfortunate, the young and the old – moves through the city like a chaotic mass, overcoming and absorbing anything in their path.

Time in the city seems to flow quicker, memories in the city tend to fade away faster. Nothing seems to stand still in a city.

A UN report suggested that by 2050, the world’s population would reach 10 billion, with three-quarters of humanity living in our already swelling cities. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with a population of over 7 million but less than 25% of its land developed.

When the artist first arrived in Hong Kong, he was immediately confronted by a society that is in fierce competition for physical and mental space. This project is an attempt to capture the unforgiving way of a crowded life in the city.