Living with objects by yeo siak goon

Living with Objects �

living with objects...与物共处

Yeo Siak Goon杨昔银

� Living with Objects

Yeo Siak Goon is an artist whose paintings spring from his lived experience that is inseparable

from life and nature. New perspectives into painting as a vital and critical practice is generated from

looking at the overlooked, and the contradictions between objects, images, and figures manifested in his

interpretations of the nude that make visible the invisible orders and structures of this world. For Yeo, the

nude brings together his work in other genres, particularly in still life and landscape to propose new ways of

looking at the world that we live in.

His search for the tropical in Southeast Asia was deliberate and self-reflexive, spurred by his trip to

New York that left an indelible mark on him for the need to find his own imagery derived from regional

cultural contexts that he is located in. The tropical manifests in his use of bold bright colours, a slower

tempo of time, and spatial relations between subjects and objects mediated by nature. Being one with the

natural world brings forth a sensibility shaped by a lived experience of a tropical environment that has

shaped the cultures and aesthetics of this region through its climate.

Recently, Yeo is beginning to look into history, ranging from personal to colonial histories to uncover

different ways in which the past is constantly reinterpreted by the present. He seeks new sources such

as archival materials including bridge designs of Cavanagh Bridge, and photographs from family albums

to recover and reinterpret history. Yeo is an artist who produces pictures that can be described as ‘open

works’, conceived by Umberto Eco as art works whose interpretations are never fixed, ambiguous,

unfinished and dialectically engaged between the intention of the author and the choices of the viewer. The

ambiguity and unfinished aesthetics of Yeo’s paintings that bring the easily overlooked into relief provides

a latitude of readings by the viewer that enables his works to claim new perspectives in how we perceive

our world.

杨昔银是一位（忠实于生活的）艺术家，他的创作来自于他的个人生命体验，与生活，与自然息息相关。其作品中所出现

的重要的和关键性的呈现，竟是我们在现实生活中所忽略的。现实生活所见与其作品中的呈现，一定程度上揭示了他对于周遭

世界秩序与结构的理解。因此，在杨昔银的作品中，无论是裸体、静物、风景等，无不带给我们重新观察和认识世界的新的视

角和方法。

（八十年代的首次）纽约之行带给他深刻的文化震荡和艺术反思，他因此意识到他需要找寻属于自己的独特艺术语言，并且

必然是要从本身所处的区域文化环境中深度挖掘所产生的。于是，他几乎是刻意而执着于自己所身处的东南亚热带风情。热带

风情在他的笔下成为明丽的色彩、炎热天气下的慵懒时光，以及重新被建构的人与自然的和谐关系。甚至因为他笔下的热带风

情也带给我们新的生活体验，文化意识和审美意识和人与自然的关系。

近来，杨昔银也开始关注历史，从个体生命的历史到旧殖民时代的国家历史，他在尝试从中获得新的历史启迪。例如在他

的最新作品中，他借用新加坡人所熟悉的加文纳桥的部分设计原图史料，结合家庭旧相簿上的老照片，将这些看似毫无相关的

元素有机组合起来，耐人寻味的画面让我们开始重新回顾和审视历史。

杨昔银的艺术创作形成了正如艺术评论家艾柯所指出的“开放式创作”，即作品不做任何结论性陈述，相反，它是开放

的，不固定、不确定的，甚至有些暧昧、隐晦、模糊的，从而提供更大思考与联想的空间给予读者和观众，他让我们不再对世

界做简单而武断的结论，而有更多的思考和感知。


l iv ing with objects. . .与物共处

YEO Siak Goon 杨昔银


Publisher: YEO Siak GoonArtist & Project Director: YEO Siak GoonCopy Editor: Vincent LINDesigner/Photographer: YEO Siak Goon

This publication in conjunction withYEO Siak Goon’s Solo Exhibition“living with objects... 与物共处 ” 4th - 10th November, 2015 at ION Art Gallery, Singapore

© 2015 YEO SIAk GOON. All rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphs, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by using information storage and retrieval systems – without written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-981-09-7453-4

Email: [email protected]. yeosiakgoon.com


Contents

前言 4Foreword 5

画出那些被我们忽略的：裸体、景物和静物

Painting the Overlooked: The Nude, Landscape and Still Life 7

画页

The Paintings 32

Chronology 90

Acknowledgement 92


前言

刘思伟新加坡国家美术馆策展及典藏处处长

能有幸为杨昔银最新的画展目录写下一点感想是件愉快的

事，因为他的作品总是令人赏心悦目。

杨昔银近期的具象画提供了无穷的细节让我们细细玩味。它

们夺目的色彩以及光和影之间的消长，反映的是在热带地区里草

木尽是茂盛、气息永远湿润的生活质感。举凡草木、建筑、宠物

或是杂物，他皆是细心陈列，令观者和画布上的主角都一样安身

立命。

然而杨昔银从未忘记提醒我们，眼前注视的是一幅画，而不

是现实。流溢的颜料、未完成的形体、遁入画布中的头颅、夸大

的重叠色彩——这些是让我们了解杨昔银在作画过程中的思绪的

迷人线索。这也证实了艺术家在创作过程中是做着理性的选择，

而非机械地记录着主角们和他们的周遭。重点是，这些画作有着

许多艺术家憧憬的特质；它们牵引着我们探索得更深更久。

我衷心恭贺杨昔银展出成功圆满！


Foreword

Low Sze WeeDirector (Curatorial and Collections) National Gallery Singapore

It is a pleasure to pen a few words for Siak Goon’s latest

exhibition catalogue because his works are themselves a

pleasure to behold.

Siak Goon’s recent figurative paintings contain a multitude

of details for us to mull over. Their brilliant colours and play of

light and shadow, reflect the special qualities of living in the

tropics where the foliage is ever luxuriant and the air is always

filled with moisture. Plants, buildings, pets and miscellaneous

objects are laid out with care, providing a sense of place for the

viewer as well as the figures who inhabit the canvases.

Yet, Siak Goon never forgets to remind us that we are looking

at a painting, and not physical reality. Paint dripping across the

surface, forms seemingly left unfinished, heads disappearing

into the canvas, exaggerated colour juxtapositions... They

provide tantalising clues into what and how Siak Goon thinks

when he embarks on the process of painting. These are evidence

of an artist at work, making deliberate choices, rather than a

mechanical documentation of people and their surroundings.

Ultimately, these paintings possess qualities that many artists

aspire to. They intrigue and keep us hooked into looking deeper

and longer.

My warmest congratulations to Siak Goon on a successful

exhibition opening.


SENG Yu Jin is a Senior Curator at National Gallery Singapore.

He had previously taught at LASALLE College of the

Arts in the MA Asian Art Histories and BA Fine Arts

programmes. Seng’s research interests cover regional art

histories focusing on Southeast Asian art in relation to

studies on diaspora, migration, and cultural transfers.

He is currently researching on artistic activities and its

histories, focusing on the history of exhibitions and artist

collectives in Southeast Asia. His curatorial research

extends to exploring “relationality”, conceptualism,

socially-engaged artistic practices, as well as unfinished,

rejected and unrealised artworks as a productive

field of enquiry. His curated exhibitions include From

Words to Pictures: Art During the Emergency (2006)

and he also co-curated The Artists Village: 20 Years On

(2008), FX Harsono: Testimonies (2009) and Cheong

Soo Pieng: Bridging Worlds (2009) and Sudjojono: Lives

of Pictures (2014). Seng is currently a PhD candidate

at the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne.

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Siak Goon taking selfie with Yu Jin at the National Gallery Singapore

Painting the Overlooked: The Nude, Landscape and Still Life �

画出那些被我们忽略的：

裸体、景物和静物1

辛友仁新加坡国家美术高级策展人

绘画是一种召唤行为，时间的流逝

决定了一种图像的神采，也决定了

绘画形式生生不息地衍生演变。这

种行为也说明，绘画本身就有阐释

性，通过参考照片或者观察静物，

在画布上将条件反射式的记忆通过

形状描绘出来。绘画是极其具象的

语言，超越了原来的主体来源，为

我们看待世间万物开启了新的前

景。2

绘画是一种表述行为艺术，一种将看似

矛盾、冲突和充满争议的画面汇集在一起

的动作和行为，绘画为我们提供了一种观

察这个世界和事物的新方式。它强迫我们

去思考，去重新审视，去重新琢磨那些画

中描述的东西，那些被我们忽视的、或是

司空见惯的事物中衍生出的新东西。也引

用了胡耀光 Ian Woo 在绘画上的思考，不

仅是因为它的深刻，还因为它是一种了解

和深入论述绘画的方式，也是深入探讨新

加坡本土艺术家自身如何参与和塑造绘画

实践与理论的方式。

杨昔银从1980年代开始他的绘画生

涯，当时他对绘画的理念和想法是关注那

些被忽略的，在物体、画面和题材三者之

间建构对应联系，他有一段时间专注画裸

体，是要把人们忽略的，不被发现的部分

显现出来。

我曾想去吉隆坡学习艺术，但当时

的情况是不可能，因为我的家庭不

是很富裕。后来，听一个邻居说可

以在新加坡画电影海报。当时不知

道那是什么工作，但是，我不想回

到学校上学了。我坚持自己的想

法，直到获得母亲的同意，带着她

的祝福去了新加坡。就在1971年

我独自离开了家乡。3

Painting the Overlooked: The Nude, Landscape and Still Life1 SENG Yu JinSenior Curator, National Gallery Singapore

Painting is an act of summoning, determining the presence of

an image caught between the passage of time, resulting in the

painting’s momentary fissure. This act also suggests the body’s

attempt to register in the form of interpretive drawing, the use of

reflexive memory in composing shapes on the canvas surface by

referencing photos or looking at a subject matter. Painting is thus

an embodied language, one that transcends the sources of the

original subjects, claiming new perspectives in the ways we look at

the things of this world.2

Painting as performative, an action and gesture that summons images that

are contradictory, in tension and contestation produces new ways of looking

at our world and the things that encompass it. It forces us to reflect, rethink

and reconsider objects and subjects that are depicted, engendering fresh

perspectives of the overlooked or what appears to be familiar to us. Citing Ian

Woo’s rumination on painting at length not only because it is insightful but also

as a way of acknowledging and entering the discourse on painting and how

painters in Singapore themselves actively engage and shape the practice and

theories of painting.

Yeo Siak Goon’s practice as a painter since the 1980s provides entry points into

what painting is as it claims new perspectives generated from looking at the

overlooked, and the contradictions between objects, images and subjecthood

focused obsessively on the nude that make visible the invisible of this world.

I thought of going to Kuala Lumpur to study art, but it was quite

impossible as my family was not very well off. Then I heard of a

neighbour who was working in Singapore doing ‘commercial art’.

I didn’t know what it was. But I didn’t want to go back to school.

I persisted until I had my mother’s blessings to go to Singapore.

I left in 1971 alone.3

�0 Painting the Overlooked: The Nude, Landscape and Still Life

他在14岁那年，独自一人从马来西

亚的柔佛州来到新加坡，这样的经历更坚

定了他的决心，因为他要找到一条属于自

己艺术梦想的路，成为一名艺术家。他的

第一份工作是在一间画电影海报的公司当

学徒，但很快他就发现，只是一个打杂的

小伙计，根本没有机会见识真正的艺术创

作。4

拜师学艺

1973年，经过介绍，杨昔银来到勿拉

士峇沙联络所的美术班学习，师从梁其栋;

当时老师赴日本深造，就师从潘再雄。这

两位老师都是毕业于南洋美术专科学院。

梁老师是擅长通过对色彩和线条的运用建

构几何图案，而潘老师则是以水彩画的方

式捕捉新加坡5不断变化的城市景观。当时

除了在艺术院学习之外，到社区中心上艺

术课程, 或到一些艺术家如刘抗的画室上课

程, 都不太被关注。

杨昔银通过联络所的美术班开始进入新

加坡的艺术环境，这类美术班的教学与正

规艺术院校是截然不同的。正规的艺术学

校是从绘画基础技能开始，之后才进阶到

西方油画或中国水墨画。6 在勿拉士峇沙联

络所的美术班，他从不缺课地每周在那里

学习三小时的静物素描和水彩画，为自己

的艺术技巧打下基础。这些课程是给他实

现艺术家梦想的唯一可行之路; 而且对他来

1974年，昔银（前排左一）于勿拉峇沙联络所上美术班课

1974, Siak Goon, first row left at Bras Basah community centre art class

Yeo’s account of his early youth when he left Johor for Singapore alone,

at a tender age of fourteen, underlines his determination to find his own path

towards fulfilling his desire to make art as an artist. He started working in a

commercial design company in Singapore but quickly found out that he was

merely running menial errands without opportunities to actually learn about

art making, whether ‘commercial art’ or ‘fine art’.4

Alternative Sites for Learning Art

In 1973, Yeo was introduced to an art club at the Bras Basah Community

Centre taught by Leo Hee Tong and subsequently by Hua Chai Young when

Leo went to Japan to further his studies. Both Leo and Hua studied at the

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Leo’s works gravitated towards the

use of colours and shapes to produce geometric landscapes, while Hua was

a watercolourist who captured the changing urban landscapes in Singapore.5

Alternative sites such as art clubs in community centres and private studio

lessons conducted by artists like Liu Kang remain an overlooked area for

further research for the transmission of art besides via the art academies.

Yeo’s entry point into the Singapore art world was via an art club with a

pedagogical departure from the structured curriculum of a formal art academy

(like NAFA) that would start from foundational skills in drawing before

progressing to courses on Western oil painting and Chinese ink painting.6

The art club at the Bras Basah Community Centre where Yeo studied art, for

three hours every week, equipped himself with artistic techniques grounded

in sketching, drawing, and watercolour painting. Yeo religiously attending

every class without fail as it offered him the only practical way of fulfilling

his aspirations as an artist that had to be balanced with his full time work at a

commercial design firm, making the option of enrolling as a full time student

at an art academy untenable.

Painting the Overlooked: The Nude, Landscape and Still Life ��

说，选择以全日制在艺术学院上课并不适

合; 而作为一个艺术家，可以让他在商业设

计公司的全职工作与梦想之间取得平衡。

杨昔银采取的路线是从联络所美术班获

得技能和知识，而不是一直在他的脑海里

反复闪念的艺术学院的念头，虽然这条路

不一定是障碍或缺点，但却能以另类学习

之路的方式成为一个艺术家。他的资源是

从生活历练中提取素材, 采用不同的角度呈

现作品，最终走出自己不同寻常的艺术成

长之路。

杨昔银在联络所美术班的学习是他的起

步成长时期，磨炼了他的水彩画技巧，及

影响到他后来偏爱以静物写生来表达他对

于生活周边的看法。

静物：关注那些被忽略的

我决定报名参加勿拉士峇沙联络所

的美术班, 从画静物开始学习，过

了一段时间才到户外作写生水彩风

景画。7

静物写生在艺术院校诸如南洋美专的课

程中是一门主修课。钟泗滨和张荔英都曾

在南洋美专教导静物写生。通过静物写生

教导学生了解构图、色彩和视角的不同，

培养画家的观察能力和表现技巧。这个静

物写生的教学传统早在第二次世界大战之

前就有，并从法国巴黎的艺术学院，经由

东京、上海、厦门和新加坡等地推广到亚

洲的艺术院校。

水彩画是一种精巧的媒介，通过对画笔

的掌握、水份的控制，色彩的发挥，尤其

是水彩的透明度把握都有很高的要求。水

彩画也是艺术院校的重要课程，从70年代

The alternative route taken by Yeo to acquire the skills and knowledge

from an art club, rather than the well beaten path of an art academy or

art college continues to weigh on his mind, not as a necessary handicap or

disadvantage but as a different way of being an artist whose sources come

from his own worldly experiences and ways of representing it from alternative

perspectives.

Yeo’s formative years at the art club proved to be significant in honing his

proficiency in watercolour painting techniques and his preoccupation with still

life as a genre and a way of representing the world.

Still Life: Looking at the Overlooked

I decided to enrol in classes there [classes by the art club at Bras

Basah Community Centre]. I started with still life, and then, after a

while went outdoors to do landscapes in watercolour.7

Still life features prominently in the curriculum of art academies like

NAFA. Cheong Soo Pieng, and Georgette Chen are exemplary teachers from

NAFA who employed still life as ways of understanding formal interests in

composition, colours, and perspective; and honing an artist’s observation and

technical skills. The tradition of teaching still life to students was transferred

from the E’cole des Beaux Arts School in Paris to art academies in Asia through

Tokyo, Shanghai, and Xiamen and Singapore before the Second World War.

Watercolour is a delicate medium that demands extensive control of the

paint brush, spontaneity of brush strokes and a strong ability in manipulating

colour to capture the translucency that this medium can achieve. Although

watercolour was taught at art academies, it was at the art club that Yeo

almost singularly focused on this medium through the late 1970s and 1980s.

The reasons for doing so are compelling and resides in the characteristics of

this medium itself as the art club’s classes were only three hours long and

�� Painting the Overlooked: The Nude, Landscape and Still Life

末到80年代，杨昔银几乎把全部精力放在

水彩画上。他这样做的原因是一方面是由

于水彩画有不可抵挡的魅力，另一方面也

是由于水彩画的特性，通常联络所美术班

的课程每次只有三个小时左右，水彩画的

快干性可以立刻使作品面貌呈现出来，相

比之下，油画可能需要数小时甚至数天才

能干透呈现。8 此外他选择水彩作为媒介还

有另一个原因就是他可以在户外作画，水

彩很快变干，便于他将自身的感受和经验

通过持续的视觉刺激在作品中迅速表现出

来，从而促使他不断从自身历练中追寻创

作静物写生和风景画的视觉灵感。

静物画为杨昔银在画家生涯中留下了

不可磨灭的印记。联络所美术班的课程重

视水彩静物绘画，这给了杨昔银坚实的基

础，让他可以运用不同色调来创作大量的

水彩画，如《静物》（图1）就是一个很

好的例子。在这幅画中，作者运用了许多

并排的白色纸板作为背景，来凸显瓶子的

深颜色。横置的瓶的瓶口引导观众将视线

从大茶壶上移开，向它左边的两只瓶子看

图1, 静物

figure1, Still life1975 Watercolour on paper53 x 73 cm

so favoured the quick drying nature of watercolour as compared to the slow

drying oil paints that could take hours or even days to dry completely.8 There

is another reason why watercolour was the medium of choice for the artist.

Watercolour allowed Yeo to paint outdoors as a quick drying medium, which

shaped how he drew continued visual stimuli from his own experiences to find

new perspectives to his still life and landscape paintings.

Still life painting was to leave an indelible mark of Yeo’s practice as

a painter. The art club classes’ emphasis on painting watercolour still life

provided Yeo with a strong grounding in employing tonalities of colour to

create volume as seen in Still Life (figure 1) that juxtaposes the white piece of

paper as a background to accentuate the darker colours of the bottles.

The only horizontal bottle with its pointed mouth directs the eyes of the

viewer from the large teapot towards the two bottles on the left. The creases

and folds of the cloth on the table is accentuated by a sensitive gradation

of light grey. The subtle use of empty spaces below the table gives ample

breathing room for the viewer to roam around the picture.

Yeo’s affinity for empty spaces seen in his early still life paintings is

transferred to his representation of landscapes. In Singapore River (figure 2),

more than half the picture depicts an empty land on which a seated person

is seated, holding what appears to be a large piece of paper. Is this person a

painter or just a person reading his or her newspaper? The ambiguity is doing

is caused by the huge expanse of space between the viewer and this seated

figure that corrals us to lean forward to close the gap in a vain attempt to

find out what this person is doing.

Yeo breaks away from conventional representations of the Singapore

River depicted by watercolourists from the Singapore Watercolour Society

that considered the land – the river bank – as of equal if not more visual

interest than the river itself. The subtle white streak that runs from the right

foreground towards the seated figure turns abruptly left as it leads the viewer


图 2, 新加坡河

figure 2, Singapore River 1979

Watercolour on paper 73 x 53 cm

to the bumboat. The emptiness of the river bank is contrasted with the density

of the buildings in the background that is visually broken down into geometric

squares, a clear influence from Yeo’s teachers at the art club, Leo Hee Tong

and Hua Chai Yong who broke down his landscapes using geometric forms.

This is a picture that balances the negative space of the land with

the positive space of the river and the buildings on the other side of it. It

is remarkable that Yeo did not learn Chinese ink painting that places an

emphasis on harnessing negative and positive spaces. This demands the

viewer to pay attention to the every detail in the picture without overlooking

anything. 9

去。通过浅灰的色彩渐变，对桌上布面的

折痕和褶皱加以强调。当时画家就巧妙运

用桌下和靜物以外的空间，给观众有充足

的喘息空间，让他们徜徉在画作里。

杨昔银在早期的静物画创作中，对空旷

的空间有极强的热爱，后来转化成对景观

的描绘。在《新加坡河》（图2）中，他

用超过一半的画面描绘一片空旷的土地，

其上有个人坐着，手里拿着一大张纸。这

人是一个画家，或只是一个在读报纸的

人？之所以产生这样的模糊理解，是因为

观众与坐着的这个人之间有巨大的空间，

让我们都不禁向前探看，希望可以知道画

中的人到底在做什么。

杨昔银的绘画不同于一般水彩画家

对新加坡河的一贯表达方式。一般画家们

会把土地和河岸视为等同，甚至比河流本

身更受到重视。淡淡的白色条纹从前景右

侧一直延伸到坐着的一个人，突然向左扭

转，把观众的视线牵引到驳船的方向。河

面的空旷与河岸上的密集建筑物形成对

比，那些建筑物已经在视觉上分解成几何

小方块。这显然是杨昔银受到他的老师梁

其栋、潘再雄的影响，他们都很擅长将建

筑物作几何分解的风景画模式。

这幅作品的构图以土地及河面的空旷

与河岸上的密集建筑物形成对应和平衡。

值得一提的是，杨昔银并没有学习中国水

墨画中的留白技巧。这就要求观众特别留

意画面的每一个细节变化，以免忽视任何

东西。9


在《后门》（图3）这幅作品中，延

续了画家对观众的要求，他要求观众仔细

观察那些常常被人们忽视的地方，将其纳

入视线和思考范围中。杨昔银忆道，有一

段时间他经常穿过房子的后门过天桥。10

画家利用水彩的半透明性将一层层的砖块

展现出来，这些通常是被忽视的。紧闭的

后门被漆成蓝色，门上贴着祈福的红纸显

得格外引人注目。门右边的水管直接引领

我们的目光向上移动，来到上方的蓝色窗

户，有谁会在这个窗口出现吗？这只是观

众的猜测和期待。杨昔银能够通过缜密的

构图引导观众注视和探查那些被忽略的细

节，同时又善于制造悬疑和暧昧，带给人

们新的视角和观感。

通过裸体进行色彩实验

《少女的梦》（图4）是杨昔银艺术创

作的转捩点，他开始专研裸体画创作。他

实验性地以斑驳的色彩几何线条来表现女

性的形体。他开始创作这一系列的裸体作

品，初衷是想尝试风景画以及静物写生之

图 3, 后门

figure 3, Back Door 1984 Watercolor on paper 62 x 100 cm

The penetrating demand to scrutinise what is easily overlooked and relegated

to the periphery of our vision and mind continues in Back Door (figure 3).

Yeo recalled having to pass by the back of a row of houses as he crossed a

bridge.10 The translucency of watercolour is exploited to reveal layers of

bricks that would otherwise usually be overlooked. The closed back door

painted in blue immediately draws our attention with the red paper often

pasted on doors for good fortune. The pipe on the door’s immediate right

leads our eyes vertically up towards the blue windows above, creating a sense

of anticipation that someone might appear at the window at any moment.

Yeo’s ability to compose these visually tight pictures that prompts the viewer

to scrutinise and discover overlooked details while creating moments of

ambiguity and suspense is made possible by his strong grasp of watercolour

techniques and his mastery over a key element of still life that focuses on the

overlooked to claim new perspectives in how we perceive our world.

Experiments in Colour through the Nude

Young Dream (figure 4) marks a turning point in Yeo’s picture-making as

he shifted his attention to nudes as a genre. He embarked on his experiment


外新的创作，给自己的艺术实践开辟新的

道路。他回忆起当初如何开始创作裸体画

时说：

我买了一系列著名艺术家有关裸体

画的艺术书籍。我的目的不是去模

仿他们，而是避开他们已经创作过

的。我想创造自己的绘画语言，

当然这是很困难，但肯定更具挑战

性。11

《少女的梦》是杨昔银汲取那些艺术书

籍中的养分，通过自学具有独创性的代表

作。他不打算模仿现代派，如毕加索和马

蒂斯的各种裸体代表作，而是发掘裸体创

作的不同方面。画家用多层油彩描绘破碎

的身体，创造出肌肤的纹理，这样就产生

了一系列实验性的创作，这些实验有不同

层次变化的颜色，人体被分割成不同的形

状，不同的笔触技巧也会产生或平滑或充

满纹理的表面。杨昔银并且开始使用油彩

这种媒介，而没有使用之前常用的水彩，

这也就解释了他为什么倾向于在画布的左

to represent the female bodily form fragmented by colours and shapes.

He started this series on the nude as a way of fomenting creative tension by

learning a new genre other than still life and landscape that he was already

familiar with. Yeo began this journey of exploration through self-study that

he hoped would yield alternative perspectives and open up new vistas to his

practice as a painter. He recalled how he started painting nudes:

I bought a series of art books on nude paintings by famous artists.

My purpose was not to imitate them, but to make sure that I did not

do what they did. I wanted to create a concept of my own, it was

difficult, but it was certainly more challenging.11

Young Dream represents a culmination from what Yeo corralled from art

books. He proposed not to imitate the various representations of the nude by

modernists such as Picasso and Matisse but to produce a different perspective

of the nude from them. The fragmentation of the body using layers of oil

paint to create texture produced a combination of experiments in lines that

varied in thickness, colour that broke down the figure into shapes and varied

brushstrokes that created a mixture of smooth and textured surfaces. This was

图 4, 少女的梦

figure 4, Young Dream 1985

Oil on canvas 120 x 100 cm

Private Collection


上角区域浓墨重彩，因为他不太熟悉这个

媒介。总体而言，他的形式主义实验更多

的是一种学术实践，而不在于刻画表现裸

体，这也使到他在长期没有真实裸体模

特的情况下，同样可以完成裸体画创作，

并着迷一般尝试不同裸体画创作。但在

1986年这一切改变了。

当时，没什么人愿意充当裸体模特让画

家进行写生，再加上公众缺乏将裸体这个

艺术流派和隶属于淫秽的裸露区分开来的

感知与理解。12 裸体是自文艺复兴以来，

艺术家们掌握人物形体的一个重要方式。

在亚洲，现代艺术家如徐悲鸿推荐艺术学

生使用真人模特，学习人体解剖学，并成

为中国艺术院校课程的一个重要组成部

分。在新加坡，像刘抗这样的艺术家也创

作了许多裸体素描和画作，一方面是作为

他们自己的艺术表达，另一方面亦是描绘

人体的美。

对画裸体的艺术家来说，当时寻求真人

模特是困难的，也是创作的一个真正的障

碍，主要表现在南洋美专和拉萨尔艺术学

院的学生不设人体模特儿课程。1987年，

约瑟夫·麦克纳利修士将写生课程带进拉

萨尔，他赞成人体写生课程可以为人体制

图术带来巨大艺术教育价值。而这样的价

值只能通过直接观察人体模特儿摆出的相

应姿式才能实现。90组合人体艺术小组

由麦克纳利成立，成员包括了以裸体模特

儿进行人体素描班教学的业余和专业艺术

家，画室地点是原拉萨尔在直落古楼的校

园内。在90组合人体艺术小组和包括其首

展在内的所有展览的努力下，1991年，在

南洋美专的Figurama展览帮助下引进了裸

体作品，使得裸体作品成为了一种在新加

坡被认可的艺术形式，但与风景画相比，

仍然是另类艺术。

Yeo’s initial use of oil as a medium rather than watercolour, which explains

his tendency to overpaint the top left areas of the canvas due to his relative

unfamiliarity with this medium. Overall, his formalistic experiments appear

more as academic exercises in formalism than a re-imaging of the nude,

but it was a necessary step in Yeo’s sustained interest in the nude that was

accomplished without a life model, which changed in 1986.

The lack of models willing to pose nude for life drawing, was coupled with

the lack of a perceived understanding by the public to distinguish between

the nude as a genre of art and nakedness, affiliated with obscenity and

pornography.12 The nude was an important aspect for any artist to master

the human form since the Renaissance. In Asia, modern artists like Xu Beihong

promoted the use of live models by art students to study the human anatomy

and it became an important part of the curriculum of art academies in China.

In Singapore, artists like Liu Kang produced sketches and drawings of the nude

both as an artistic expression in itself, and a practice to depict the human

figure that is anatomically accurate and proportionate.

Difficulties in securing a live model was a real obstacle to artists

depicting the nude seen in the absence of nude modelling classes for

students in both NAFA and the Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts (LASALLE).

It was only in 1987 that Brother Joseph McNally introduced life drawing

classes at LASALLE as he appreciated the immense art educational value that

life model classes bring to improving good draughtsmanship of the human

body. This could can only be attained by direct observation of life models

posing in the nude. Group 90 was thus formed by McNally comprising both

amateur and professional artists who employed a nude model for life drawing

classes at a drawing studio in the former LASALLE campus at Telok Kurau.

It was partly through the efforts of Group 90 and exhibitions such as its first

exhibition, Figurama at NAFA in 1991 that helped to introduce the nude as a

recognised art form in Singapore, but has since remained a peripheral genre

compared to landscapes and seascapes.


裸体作为景观

杨昔银很幸运，甚至在1987年90组

合（Group 90）人体艺术小组成立之前，

就拥有了自己的模特儿作人体分解研究。

在直接接触到人体模特儿时，他对裸体的

描绘有了明显的认识。《少女的梦》中出

现的人物姿势比较僵硬，而后来人物的姿

势就放松了许多，画面中的各种颜色也相

互渗透。他说: 他的模特儿之所以会采用不

同的姿式，是模特儿的自发性和艺术家的

指导两者结合的结果，13 是一种协商的过

程。

在裸体系列＃30（图5），杨昔银采

用自上而下的俯视角度，描绘了一个从人

体到景观的垂直全景图。身体被左侧的暖

色和右侧的冷色分成两个区域。婀娜的身

体被不同颜色的线条勾勒出来，身体的轮

廓不知不觉进入到看似丘陵的景观中。在

杨昔银的裸体画创作中把女性的身体和国

家的土地进行了自然联想和连接; 女性的身

体是要被呵护的，国家的土地是要被保护

的。国家是有其社会的意义，是文化价值

The Nude as Landscape

Yeo was fortunate to have a life model for his studies of the human

anatomy even before Group 90 was formed in 1987. Having access to a live

model had a visible impact on Yeo’s depiction of the nude. The stiffness

of the figure that appeared stylised in Young Dream shifted to looser and

colours that bleed into each other when a live model became available to Yeo.

According to Yeo, the different postures adopted by his model were the result

of a mixture between the model’s spontaneity and the artist’s directions.13

It was a process of negotiation.

In Nude Series #30 (figure 5), Yeo adopts a top-down perspective

that provides a vertical panorama of the body that slips between the

representation of a body and a landscape. The body is divided into two regions

by the use of warmer colours on the left and cooler colours on the right. The

curvaceous body is accentuated by lines highlighted by colours to give the

body volume that slips easily into what appears to be a hilly landscape. Easy

图 5, 裸体系列 #30

figure 5, Nude Series #�01987

Watercolor on paper 65 x 51 cm

Private Collection


的载体。他一直兴趣于土地和女体的互换

转移，更关注女性的美; 裸体画所赋予的权

力是有正当性的美学元素，是画家感兴趣

和重视的。

在《女性的优雅节奏》（图6）中，我

们可以看出作者对女性身体碎片化处理的

偏好。身体形成波浪状，这是巧合日本浮

世绘画家葛饰北斋的名作《神奈川冲浪

里》的艺术造型。裸体这种被忽略的画

派，重新获得重视，而发展成为强劲的浪

潮，重新活跃起来，并成为艺术家开发创

意，构思新颖意象的实验地。以女性身体

作为美学和艺术探索的工具，这一点在

《红色之夜》（图7）中有淋漓尽致的体现，

该作品将土地与女性的身体用不同色调融

合在一起，相互渗透。画中的女人有白皙

的面孔，处于画面的顶端，类似拼图游

戏，整个拼图的图案就是一个裸体，由许

多形状和颜色的多重组合。当裸体女人被

拆解，像剪纸的碎片，很快又会被重组。

神奈川沖浪裏

Great Wave off Kanagawa1829–32 Color Woodcut 25.7 × 37.9 cm

readings of the land as a feminised symbol of the nation that needs constant

protection – the Motherland – as the bearer of tradition and cultural values of

a society is absent in Yeo’s nudes. The interchanging of land and the female

body as images retains his primary interest in the aesthetics of the female

form rather than any intimation of the women as a symbolic representation

of the nation. The agency of the female form manifested in the nude as an

empowering and legitimate aspect of aesthetics is asserted as the artist’s

foremost interest.

The propensity for movement through the fragmentation of the female

body is seen in Womanly Rhythm and Grace (figure 6). The body is broken

down into shapes that form a wave, an iconography that draws from the

图 6, 女性优雅的节奏

figure 6, Womanly Rhythm and Grace 1987 Oil on canvas 100 x 120 cm


Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai’s famous Great Wave off Kanagawa. The

nude, an overlooked genre is re-figured and empowered as a wave, which

invigorates and installs itself as an experimental and fertile site for artists to

develop new figurative forms. The agency of the female body as a fertile site

of aesthetic and artistic investigation is all the more evident in Scarlet Night

(figure 7) that melds land and female body forms together in overlapping hues

that bleed into one another. A white face at the apex of the cut-out forms that

resemble a jigsaw puzzle reveals the entire picture as a nude produced from

multiple combinations of shapes and colours. The female form is broken down,

and reassembled as paper cut-out shapes that appear to move and rotate like

a machine.

图 7, 红色之夜

figure 7, Scarlet Night1989

Acrylic on canvas 91 x 118 cm


图 8, 姿 figure 8, Repose1989Acrylic on paper175 x 132 cmPrivate Collection

人体融入热带景观

1989年和1990年, 杨昔银的绘画创

作出现了新的转变，这源于他的纽约之

行，促使了他随后在东南亚游历，寻找关

于热带的灵感，这一切带给他不可磨灭的

印象：

我的最新人体画系列是源于去年我

与几位本地艺术家访问纽约艺术博

览会所得到的灵感。在那里，我有

机会参观了其他各种艺术展览和博

物馆。给我留下深刻的印象。我很

佩服西方艺术家的创新精神。他们

总是在不断变化与尝试，并寻找新

的表达方式。14

因为纽约之行，杨昔银渴望寻找新的视角

和意象，欲开始新的艺术创作，这让他有

好几个月无法作画。经过那段时间的集中

思考和反思，他的绘画主题及风格有了显

著变化。如《姿》（图8），《模特儿与

我》（图9）表现出杨昔银对诠释人体作

品的微妙变化。《姿》中的抽象人体较之

以前,如《红色之夜》的人体有更明确的

体形和轮廓。该人体脱离了与景色的关联

性，自成一格。《模特儿与我》表现尤为

明显，人体更具真实感，以人体作为一个

个体，是一个有自我意识的存在，画家还

把自已的形象也置放在其中这是艺术家和

模特儿第一次作为在同等条件下双双进入

同一个画面，使到我们的注意力集中到两

者的关系上。虽然在画中，模特儿是突出

的，右侧艺术家的形象是模糊的，缺乏明

确性的。艺术家在画面里为艺术提出一种

重新评估自己的创作理念，也为他自已开

辟新的绘画语言之路。这一次，他的目的

地是在东南亚地区。

Nude Meets Still Life in the Tropical Landscape

The years of 1989 and 1990 marked the beginning of a shift in Yeo’s

practice as a painter, first initiated by his trip to New York and subsequently

his search for the tropical by his travels across Southeast Asia that left an

indelible impression on him:

My latest series of nude paintings were inspired by my visit to the

New York Art Expo last year with some local artists. Whilst there,

I had the chance to visit the various other art exhibitions and

museums. It left quite an impression on me. I admire the creative

spirit of the artists in the West. They are always changing and

experimenting and looking for new means of expression.14


Yeo’s constant hunger to experiment and search for new perspectives

and imageries was shaped by this encounter that left him unable to paint

for months. It was a period of intense reflection and rethinking of his nude

series, resulting in noticeable changes in his pictorial schema. Repose (figure

8) and Model and I (figure 9) comparatively reveal subtle shifts in how Yeo

configured his nudes. In Repose, the abstract nudes take on a more defined

figurative form compared to earlier nudes like Scarlet Night. The nudes

break away from affinities with landscape and coalesce into figuration. The

process of shifting back towards figuration is seen in Model and I as the nude

figure takes on more solidity and texture that gives the nude fleshy tones as

opposed to previous nudes that dissolve into shapes and colours. The nude

as an individual, a person with an identity resonates with the insertion of the

artist himself into the picture.

1989年，昔银于纽约艺术之旅参观了纽约现代艺术博物馆

1989 Siak Goon’s New York art trip visit to the MOMA art Museum

图 9, 模特儿与我

figure 9, Model and I 1989


Private Collection


热带岛屿系列

我明白我需要做什么 - 我应该表现

出我生活在东方的一个热带岛屿这

一事实。在以前，我的作品主要受

西方艺术影响，所以当我创作时，

总觉得不对 - 我感觉不到自由。西

方的艺术家们知道如何在他们的作

品中揭示其文化之美。我想我也

应该用绘画反映我们的文化，这种

文化是我能理解的文化，不是西方

的文化。15

那两年，杨昔银创作了许多作品，都是

通过在印尼、新加坡、菲律宾、马来西亚

等热带地区的游历，提供了他对于风景、

静物和人体的艺术实验，塑造出新的绘画

语言。他对东南亚热带风情的追寻是一种

传统自省和文化反思。纽约之行给他留下

不可磨灭的印记，他必须找到属于自己的

绘画语言，这种语言来自他成长的环境和

熟悉的文化背景中。热带地区是必须亲身

体验的地方 - 他的旅行就植根于一种信念，

一种带着“开创南洋风格的裸体造型”16 的

目的游历东南亚。对他来说，游历就是体

验、获得认识、帮助实践。

作品《珊瑚收集》（图10），既是一

个开始也是一种继续，是艺术家对过去人

体、风景和静物作品经过一段集中的批判

性思考、归纳和再生的结果。连续性可从

静物作品得以表现：将珊瑚和海贝壳排列

在作品中; 在十八世纪，贝壳比较罕见，

需要从荷兰的殖民地，如爪哇岛进口，所

以在荷兰静物作品中，贝壳代表财富。杨

昔银的贝壳却打破了荷兰静物中贝壳在特

定的区域背景下所具有的象征意义。贝壳

在当时是被用作装饰的首饰，是像宝贝螺

一样在中国和印度流通的货币。甚至在十

For the first time, as subjects on equal terms, both the artist and the

model cast our attention to the relationship between the artist and model.

While the model is distinct, the artist on the right of the picture is ambiguous

and lacks solidity; as if dissipating before the glory of the nude. Casting the

artist as a subject presents a way of reappraising his own practice thus far,

paving the way for the start of a new pictorial language that began with his

second journey, this time in Southeast Asia.

The tropical island series

I could see what I needed to do – I should reflect the fact that I

was born in the East, on a “Corals Collection” [emphasis added].

Previously, my works were mainly influenced by the West so that’s

why, when I painted, it didn’t feel right – I didn’t feel free. The artists

in the West knew how to reveal the beauty of their culture in their

works. I thought I should be painting to reflect my culture, which I

understand, rather than the Western culture.15

These two creatively productive years consolidated his experimentation

in the genres of landscape, still life and the nude into a pictorial schema

shaped by his sojourns to the tropics in Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines and

Malaysia. His search for the tropical in Southeast Asia was deliberate and self-

reflexive, spurred by his trip to New York that left an indelible mark on him for

the need to find his own pictorial idiom derived from cultural contexts that

he was born in and familiar with. For Yeo, the tropical had to be experienced

first-hand – his travels to these Southeast Asian countries was born out of

his belief in experiencing the tropical with the aim of “creating a Nanyang

style figurative nude”16. For him, experiencing the tropical was the only way

to understand and deploy the strong and bright colours of the tropics in his

paintings.

Corals Collection (figure 10) marks both a break and continuity that


九世纪的菲律宾，以卡皮斯 capiz （一种

牡蛎）为材料制成的窗玻璃也是相当昂贵

的。杨昔银使用这些贝壳，成为连接人类

和自然界之间的传话人; 也收集了数量可观

的贝壳，满足自己对自然界无尽的兴趣。

他深深为这那些自然形成的图案和形式所

吸引。画中戴着浮潜面具的他, 是表示他潜

水回来; 一个可能的解释是批判人类徒劳地

进入大海这个本不属于人类生存的自然世

界，也许是人类非常渴望通过科学和技术

掌握自然的行为妄想，将追求世俗的物质

财富这样无意义的行为变得有价值。

在《珊瑚收集》中，画家运用热带色

彩，包括一些橙色，蓝色和白色等鲜艳而

明亮的色调，让观众体验到热带炎热气

候。这和他早期的深暗色调是有不同表

现。裸体人物在前景中溶入画面，成为一

个带着环境的形像。这标志着杨昔银的突

破，可以很容易与画面中的其他物体辨别

出来。人体与其环境的配合, 体现了艺术家

连接生活景物的本质信念。

was the result of a period of intense critical reflection, consolidation and

reconfiguration of the painter’s past work on the nude, landscape and still life.

Continuities can be seen in the elements of still life seen in the arrangement

of corals and sea shells as objects of interest. Sea shells in Dutch still life

represent vanity and wealth in the eighteenth century for their exoticism

and rarity as sea shells were not commonly there, and therefore had to be

imported from far flung Dutch colonies like Java. The sea shells depicted

by Yeo break from the symbolisms of Dutch still life as these objects have

meanings generated by contexts specific to the region. Sea shells have been

used as decorative jewellery, a medium of exchange as cowries in China and

India, and even as window panes made from the capiz (a type of oyster) as

glass was expensive in the Philippines in the nineteenth century. Yeo employs

these sea shells as interlocutors that bridges the human and natural worlds.

He has amassed a sizable collection of sea shells that feeds his insatiable

图10, 珊瑚收集 figure 10, Corals Collection

1990Acrylic on canvas

120 x 120 cmCollection of Singapore Art Museum

作为参考“珊瑚收集” 的图片之一，昔银摄于1990年

Photograph taken 1990 by Siak Goon as a reference for “Corals Collection”


作品《晴天与夕阳》（图11）通过捕捉

日落的橙色在一天中白天从画面左侧移到

夜晚右侧的过程，为画面带来了时间和空

间的元素。类似热带地区的木制房子的阳

台作为建筑结构，插入到整个画面的各个

角度，环绕整个画面，制造出一种亲密的

氛围。时间的流逝在这幅作品中是标志一

个重要概念。对于杨昔银来说“身体的轮

廓和景物事物的轮廓，是一场深刻而繁复

的构思。构思的目的则是为了表达”。17 模

特儿看起来是倚在阳台上，右边坐着的模

特儿正陷入沉思。在这幅作品中，杨昔银

对人体的诠释已经脱离审美旨趣，他将作

品简化到最低限度，没有面部表情，让观

众赋予模特儿的表情，建立两者之间共同

的情感纽带。通过这种方式，模特儿和观

众之间的心灵沟通成为一种鲜活的体验，

被定格在时间的流逝中。

杨昔银对颜色的作用及发挥体现在阳

光落在人体上，画家用相同浓度的蓝色和

橙色等创造不同颜色交融时产生的波动

感。波动感的活力给画面带来生机。静物

画中的元素，如贝壳、瓶子仍然是融入了

画面的色调。背景中的风景由椰子树和几

个代表地图上群岛的岛屿建构出来。空

间与时间彼此交织，体现出热带的“原

始”或“野性”感觉，是否也带给观众回

归自然的渴望。18

interest in these objects from nature. He is drawn to their naturally formed

patterns and forms. Another observable continuity is in the insertion of his

self, wearing a snorkelling mask even though he is on dry land when this

equipment should only be used in water. Why then is he depicted wearing

a snorkelling mask? One possible interpretation is a critique on the futility

of humanity to enter the natural world of the sea that humans are not

biologically made to survive in. Perhaps it is the very desire of humans to

master nature through science and technology that is the real vanitas that

makes visible the meaningless of pursuing earthly material wealth.

The use of tropical colours in Corals Collection in a way that enables the

viewer to experience the tropical heat using brighter hues like orange, blue

and white. This marks a break from his earlier colour schemes that are darker.

The nude figure in the foreground dissolves into the picture, becoming one

with the environment. This marks a break in Yeo’s use of the nude figure that

could be readily and easily distinguished from the other objects in the picture.

The blending of the nude into its environment exemplifies the artist’s belief in

the connected nature of life that binds all that lives in this world.

Sunny Day and Sunset (figure 11) brings the element of time and space

into the picture by capturing the sunset orange on the left over the course

of the day as it shifts into the night to the right. Architectural structures that

resemble the balcony of a tropical house made from wood are inserted at

angles and surround the entire composition of the picture, almost wrapping

around it to create a sense of intimacy and three-dimensional space. The

passing of time is significant to the concept of this picture. For Yeo, “To be

able to capture the contours of the body and work graphics around it actually

begins in the mind. The essence is to reflect the thoughts and expressions of

the model”17 . The poses of the model in the middle, appearing to lean on the

veranda and the seated model on the right are thoughtful and meditative.

Yeo’s representation of the nude in this picture depart from the aesthetic

conventions of the Western nude in his reduction and simplification of


图11, 晴天与夕阳 figure 11, Sunny day and the Sunset


115 x 206 cmCollection of Singapore Art Museum

作为参考“晴天与夕阳”的图片之一，昔银摄于1990年

Photograph taken 1990 by Yeo Siak Goon as a reference for “Sunny day and the Sunset”

his figuration to the bare minimum without facial expressions that allow

the viewer to relate to the models directly and building shared emotional

connections between viewer and model. In this way, a mind share between the

model and viewer is a lived experience framed by the passage of time.

The interaction of colours is seen both in how sunlight falls on the body,

and the painter’s use of blue and orange that are equal in intensity and value,

but opposite in hue to create vibrating lines along the parameters where

the colours meet. The vibrating line pulsates with energy and breathes life

into the picture. The still life elements like the sea shells and bottle continue

to feature but recede to the background. The background landscape is

anchored by a coconut tree surrounded by shapes that resemble islands in an

archipelago on a map. Space, time, and location interweave into one another

that goes beyond the tropical as tropes manifested in the “primitive” or the

“wildness” but as a sensibility that has to be experienced, often overlooked by

those who are disconnected from nature.18


杨昔银对绘画对象的收藏,可以追溯到

他在建立容易被忽略的对象之间关系的兴

趣之时。在《与周边物体共处》（图12）

中，一个山羊的头颅象征着生命的短暂，

来源于杨自己的收藏品。其他文物，如带

有龙的图案的中国锅，以及图片右侧的雕

像，暗示了雕像是在该地区的种族部落制

成的，并通过水平和垂直线，似乎与该地

区相交并连接。这些交集鼓励观众通过欣

赏这些来自东南亚文物，衍生自己的理

解。

完成的和未完成的画之间的徘徊是杨

昔银的另一个策略，扩大了观众的想象空

间。《月圆之舞》（图13）是巴厘舞者

系列的典型作品，作者将创作重心从人体

创作大举转移到他个人探寻本地区的传统

文化。舞者的身体部位，如她的胳膊，似

乎淡入淡出到周围环境，与他早期关于人

性是他或她的环境的一部分的兴趣进行对

话。左边的满月在舞者跳起这神秘而又具

灵性的仪式性舞蹈时，给舞者身上蒙上神

秘的色彩。

Yeo’s collection of objects relate back to his interest in forging

relationships between objects that are easily overlooked. In Surrounded with

Objects (figure 12), a goat’s skull symbolises the transience of life that Yeo

references from his own collection of objects. Other cultural objects, such

as the Chinese pot distinguished by its dragon motifs and the statues on the

right of the picture, allude to sculptures made by ethnic communities in the

region seem to intersect and connect by horizontal and vertical lines. These

intersections encourage the viewer to make their own meaning by seeing

these cultural objects from Southeast Asia together.

图12, 与周边物体共处

figure 12, Surrounded by the Objects 1993Acrylic on canvas 146 x 146 cm

昔银所收集的部分物件

Siak Goon’s collection of objects


2010年，昔银拜访了巴厘舞蹈大师，I Made Djimat

2010 Siak Goon Meet the Master of Balinese Dance, I Made Djimat

Slippages between a finished and unfinished painting is another strategy

adopted by Yeo to open up spaces for the viewer’s imagination. Dance with

Full Moon (figure 13) is exemplary of the series on Balinese dancers that

shifted briefly away from the nude to his personal explorations of cultural

practices in the region. Parts of the dancer’s body such as her arms that seem

to fade in and out into the surroundings forms a dialogue with Yeo’s earlier

interest in how the humanity is part of his or her environment. The full moon

on the left casts a kaleidoscope of colours on the dancer as she performs this

ritualistic dance that is mysterious and spiritual.

图13, 月圆之舞 figure 13, Dance with Full Moon


152 x 122 cm


杨昔银所坚持热带景观的理念，是重

新安排不可分割的大自然, 是人类与自然环

境的存在，这样的理念在他2011年搬进

新画室后，继续到他最近的系列作品中。

他的新画室位于友诺士村10号，是一幢旧

的二层楼房，是国家艺术理事会交与新加

坡美术总会管理, 为艺术家所提供的工作空

间; 这栋旧楼散发着小村落的气息，周围

郁郁葱葱，是艺术家和动植物共享，似乎

附近耸立的高楼（图18）都被忽视了。自

2011年，杨昔银搬进这个画室，让他将之

前热带系列的创作转移到周边的事物。

在新加坡的快速城市化背景下，城市和

农村或甘榜之间的紧张关系导致本国的甘

榜和农业生活方式的流失。《闲聊》（图

14）中，描绘了两只鸡互相盯着对方，有

可能演变成与斗鸡，一种东南亚的传统赌

博和娱乐活动的画面。这里的冲突气氛是

可能在任何时候开始，紧张的气氛与以背

景的楼群及中景的绿色植物相得映彰。

这幅画用一种暗喻的角度，观察时常

怀有敌意的人之间的关系，这与动物之间

的侵略和不满没有什么区别。创造紧张和

争论发生是不可预测的，也有可能是深思

熟虑的，就如公鸡遇到对方; 而就像乡村的

绿色植物建造城市景观那样，经历了蛮长

的时间。其实，以自然和农村为主导建造

城市的想法是虚幻中的东西，显然就像前

景里水槽和洗涤剂。城市化的印记无处不

在，自然慢慢被侵占了，其间两者的互相

适应是脆弱的，就像摇椅一样不稳定。自

然被迫与城市化相容，让我们看到以前自

Painting the Overlooked by Painting in the Negative

Yeo’s ideas around the tropical to reconnect with nature as an inseparable

part of being an inseparable part of one’s surroundings and living environment

continues in his most recent series of paintings since 2011 when he moved

to his new studio. His new studio at 10 Kampong Eunos is an old two storey

building under the National Arts Council’s (NAC) Arts Housing scheme

providing premises for art societies like the Federation of Art Societies (FASS)

and artists’ studios. This premises exudes the vibes of a kampong village

with its surrounding lush greenery shared by artists, animals and plants that

seem oblivious to the tall buildings towering over them nearby. Moving into

this studio since 2011 gave Yeo new directions that shifted his interest in the

tropical of the region by magnifying it to focus on the local – from the tropical

to the kampong – in response to his new environment.

Tensions between the urban and the rural or kampong in the context of

Singapore’s rapid urbanisation resulted in the loss of the country’s kampong

villages and an agricultural way of life. Talking Cock (figure 14) depicts two

roosters in eye contact with one another, potentially erupting into a fight that

resonates with the tradition of cock fighting in Southeast Asia as a form of

gambling and entertainment. The atmosphere is electrified by the possibility

of conflict starting at any moment, suspended in anticipation. The tense

atmosphere is juxtaposed by the serene greenery in the mid-ground that

frames a cluster of buildings in the background.

This painting carries a wry observation of often hostile human

relationships that do not differ from animals producing aggression and

discontent. Contact zones that create tension and contestation can be

位于友诺士村10号, 昔银的画室

Siak Goon’s studio at 10 kampong Eunos 画室周围的自然景观与日夜的情景

Day, night and everyday scenes surrounded by nature around the studio


spontaneous and unpredictable like the cocks meeting each other or

deliberate over a long period of time exemplified by the rural greenery that

frames the urbanised landscape. The dominance of nature and the rural that

frames the urban is illusory as seen in the sink and bottle of what is possibly

detergent in the foreground. The marks of urbanisation is everywhere,

图14, 闲聊

figure 14, Talking Cock2014

Acrylic on canvas150 x 120 cm

前景后景分开布色

Foreground and background colouring

描摹 Tracing

绘线 Outline

昔银的“反向”画法之程序: 描摹绘线、单层色法处理前景、

多层色法处理景、再经调至完成Siak Goon’s “reverse” process of

painting: Tracing and outline,single layer and colour on the

foreground,multi layer and colours on the background, final touch-up

for completion


然被忽视的现象。而自然就是以这种力量

去适应和挑战城市化的进程，那自然与人

的关系中蕴含的无形力量当作矛盾之源，

是必须找寻方法进行调和和共存。

将容易被忽视的东西变得有形，不仅是

杨昔银的创作理念，也在他的绘画技巧中

得以体现。他先在电脑上做草稿，完成了

画面的构成和规模之后再进行修改; 在画布

上的修改完成后，他再加深外形轮廓。正

是在这幅画上，杨昔银用”反向技巧”进

行创作，因为他并没有直接地用靓丽的颜

色突出轮廓，以此完成绘画。相反，他首

先在画布上用不同颜色为所描绘的对象区

域简单上色, 而后使用其他颜色或者白色来

给反面轮廓上色。这样的反向绘画技巧是

他早年在正反面作画实验的延续，现在已

经成为他的绘画技巧。

他一方面应用画笔上色，一方面挥动调

色刀，顺序去除胶彩涂料的质感和笔触的

痕迹。在《楼上楼下》（图15）中，他采

用胶彩颜色为媒介，给整个画面带来半透

明的视觉效果。

他的“反向”绘画技巧产生了层次感

的效果，因此反面空间不只用于给画布留

空;相反，他用白色胶彩涂料盖在其他颜

色上，似乎是制造出一种“未完成”的

状态，借此来描绘和创作反面空间。这

种“未完成”的状态产生出不确定性和自

encroaching on nature that is constantly contesting and finding ways to adapt,

even as its position is tenuous, suggested by the rocking chair that is unstable.

Deploying nature to frame the urban brings into relief the overlooked

strength of nature to adapt and contest the urbanisation, and makes visible

the invisible structures of power inherent in human relationships as a source

of conflict that must find ways to reconcile and coexist.

Making visible the overlooked manifests not only in Yeo’s pictorial idiom

but also in his technique. He first composes his picture using a computer

programme before making a tracing of it once he is satisfied with the picture’s

composition and size. Once the tracing on the canvas is completed he darkens

the outline of the forms. It is here that Yeo paints in the “negative” as he does

not simply fill colour within the outlined forms and complete the painting.

Instead, he first applies different colours generally to the areas on the canvas

that corresponds to the objects depicted. This is followed by using other

colours or white to delineate the negative forms. This technique of painting

in the negative marks a continuation from his earlier experimentations in

positive and negative spaces that is now translated into his technique.

When applying colours using a brush in one hand, he simultaneously

wields a palette knife in his other hand to smoothen the acrylic paint to

remove the traces of textures and brush strokes. In Upstairs Downstairs

(figure 15), he employs a colour scheme using acrylic to give the entire picture

a translucent visual effect.

His “reverse” painting technique produces a layering effect whereby

negative spaces are not just left unpainted to reveal the gesso. Instead, Yeo

paints and creates negative spaces using white acrylic paint over other colours

resulting in what appears to a painting in an “unfinished” state. This condition

of being “unfinished” generates uncertainty, and spontaneity as critical

elements of Yeo’s painterly process. Applying the colours first and then using

white acrylic paint over these colours can be described as a cyclical process

昔银的“反向技法”的应用前景的物体保留单层色彩后景物体则应用多层色彩

Using the “reverse technique” on Siak Goon’s painting: retaining the first layer of colour for the foreground object, and painting the background object


发性，这都是他绘画过程中的关键要素。

先用彩色，然后使用透明白胶彩盖过部份

颜色，这个过程可以被描述为一个循环过

程，将创作的部分过程回归到其原始的状

态，因此作品的外观看起来是未完成或不

完整的。

这种作画方式创造了更多的不确定性，

因为色彩在画布上的最初所上的颜色是底

色，而接下来使用的白色或其他颜色是制

造效果。杨昔银在《楼上楼下》中前景的

人体，使用调色刀和白色或其他颜色是对

这种方式的表现。这种作画方式与雕刻家

的工作方式相似，后者通过使用刮刀简化

和去除多余的材料，来创建稳固的正面和

that returns parts of the painting to its original gesso state, and hence its

appearance of being unfinished or incomplete.

This way of working creates more uncertainty as the initial general

application of colours on the canvas might not be ideal and making any

changes using white or other colours is more difficult. Yeo’s use of the palette

knife and applying white or other colours is most evident in the nude in the

foreground of Upstairs Downstairs. It bears similarities to a sculptor who

utilises positive and negative spaces by simplifying and removing excess

material to create solid forms using a scraper. As such, Yeo’s way of working

is performative as he creates negative spaces to define boundaries that

sometimes disappear just like the foot of the nude figure in the foreground

图 15, 楼上楼下 figure 15, Upstairs Downstairs


150 x 300 cm


反面空间。如此说来，他的作画方式是行

为性的，因为他创造了反面空间来定义边

界。有时反面空间会消失，就像在这张画

的前景中，裸女的脚与背景融合。通过这

样的做法，艺术家能够吸引观众的注意，

否则他们很容易忽视在坚固性和透明度之

间的物体，如裸体人物旁边的灯，或背景

中男体人物不完整的下半身。

严格的画作

回到胡耀光 Ian Woo 的话，他将绘

画描述为“召唤行为”，杨昔银却可以将

无形的东西变得有形，将避开了观众的对

象和观点召唤起来。他最近的系列作品都

是对其早期的景观、静物和裸体作品的综

合，已经为绘画创作产生了瞩目的方法。

通过描绘真实与幻想世界之间不明确的客

体和主体，他要求观众能看到这些物体，

不只是瞧瞧而已。在此过程中，观众需要

以不同的方式思考，让他们花时间与不同

色彩建立关系，了解正面和反面的空间之

间的互动，在空间间构建自己的故事和含

义。通过简化和创作反面空间，杨昔银的

作品变得可圈可点; 也只有通过对观众提

出这些要求，才能让我们周围世界有新东

西。

of this picture. By doing so, the artist is able to draw the attention of the

viewer to otherwise easily overlooked objects that slip between solidity and

transparency such as the lamp beside the nude figure or the male figure in the

background whose lower half of his body appears missing.

Demanding Paintings

Returning to Ian Woo’s description of painting as an “act of summoning”,

Yeo is able to make visible and to summon objects and perspectives that

elude the viewer. His more recent series of works that consolidate his

earlier explorations into the genres of landscape, still life and nude has

produced compelling and experimental ways of picture-making. By depicting

objects and subjects that slip between the real and imaginary worlds, he

demands that the viewer to see and not just to look. In doing so, the viewer

is exposed to different ways of seeing that is slowed and considered, taking

time to make relationships between colours, understanding how positive

and negative spaces interact with each other, and constructing their own

narratives and meaning in the empty spaces that punctuate Yeo’s pictures

through his process of simplifying and generating negative spaces. It is only

by making such demands on the viewer that new perspectives of the things

encompassing our world becomes possible.


1 The author would like to thank Mr Low Sze wee, Director (Curatorial and

Collections) of the National Gallery Singapore

2 Ian Woo, “Moving Air, Moving Paint” in Wong Shu Yun (ed.), Boo Sze Yang, Forever

at the Crossroads (Singapore: Boo Sze Yang, 2015), p. 101.

3 Goh Hwee Leng, “It Comes from the Art” in Singapore Tatler, December 1990, p. 73.


5 Besides NAFA, the Singapore Academy of Arts with Sun Yee as its principal was

the other active art academy in Singapore in the 1970s.

6 For NAFA’s curriculum, please refer to to Seng Yu Jin, The Primacy of Painting:

The Institutional Structure of the Singapore Art World from 1935 to 1972,

unpublished Masters Thesis, National University of Singapore, 2006, pp. 107-108.


8 Yeo Siak Goon Interview by Seng Yu Jin, 24 August 2015.


10 Ibid.


12 Foramoredetailedaccountofthedifficultiesforartiststosecuremodelswilling

to pose nude for life drawing classes, please refer to Wai Hon, Chia. The Figure in

Art in the Singapore Context (Singapore: Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts).




16 K.K. Goh (Wu Qi Ji), “Nude and Nature” in ZaobaoNow, 29 Sep 2009, p. 8.

The Nanyang Style refers to a group of artists such as Liu kang, Chen Wen Hsi,

Georgette Chen, Chen Chong Swee, Lim Hak Tai and Cheong Soo Pieng who

incorporated local and regional subject matter, symbols and materials with

pictorial and aesthetic conventions from Chinese Ink painting and the School of Paris.

17 “Figure Painters in Singapore”, (Luna Yap (ed.), in Goodwood Journal Magazine,

2nd Quarter, 1990 , published by Goodwood Group of Hotels.

18 For a discussion on tropical as trope, please refer to Hayden White, Tropics of

Discourse (London: The John Hopkins University Press, 1978).

1 本文作者非常感谢新加坡国家美术馆策展及典藏处处长刘思伟先生提供宝贵意见和编辑。

2 Ian Woo《流动的空气和移动的绘画》”Wong Shu Yun（主编），Boo Sze Yang，《永远徘徊在十

字路口》（新加坡：Boo Sze Yang，2015），第101页。

3 Goh Hwee Leng，《它来自艺术》，《新加坡Tatler 》杂志，1990年12月，第73页。


5 除南洋美专之外，沈雁所创办的新加坡艺术学院在20世纪50年代至70年代也曾是我国另一个活跃的艺

术学院。

6 有关南洋美专的课程，请参考辛友仁所著《绘画的首要地位：1935年至1972年期间新加坡艺术的教育

建构》，未发表的硕士论文，新加坡国立大学，2006年，107-108页。


8 2015年8月24日杨昔银与辛友仁的访谈。


10 同上


12 欲知艺术家在确保模特愿意在人体绘画课上裸体示范过程中经历的困难，请参考Wai Hon, Chia《人体

画艺术在新加坡》（新加坡南洋艺术学院）。




16 K.K. Goh (Wu Qi Ji)，《裸体与自然》，《新加坡联合早报》2009年9月29日，第8页，南洋风格是指

一组艺术家，如刘抗，Chen Wen Hsi, Georgette Chen, Chen Chong Swee, Lim Hak Tai

和 Cheong Soo Pieng，他们将当地和区域题材，符号和材料与中国水墨绘画和和巴黎学派的审美标准

联系起来。

17 “新加坡代表画家”（编辑Luna Yap），《古德伍德期刊杂志》，第二季度，1990年，古德伍德酒店

集团发行

18 有关热带作为比喻的讨论，请参阅Hayden White的《热带物语》（伦敦：约翰霍普金斯大学出版社，

1978年）。

�� Living with Objects

画页 The Paintings

Living with Objects 33

花园里的摇椅

Rocking Chair in the Garden 2011


Private Collection

34 Living with Objects

篱笆上的公鸡

Rooster on the Fence2012Acrylic on canvas100 x 120 cm


争雄

Cock Fighting 2012



篱笆旁的脚车

Bicycle at the Fence 2015Acrylic on canvas100 x 200 cm


夜庭院

Night Courtyard 2015Acrylic on canvas150 x 120 cm


屋檐下

Under the Roof 2015



公鸡与鸡公碗

Chicken with the Chicken Bowl 2015Acrylic on canvas100 x 100 cm


在泳池边

At the Poolside 2015



篱笆内外

Creeper on the fence 2014 Acrylic on canvas120 x 200 cmPrivate Collection


蓝色花园

Blue Garden 2013



靠在桌上的女人

Woman in Yellow2012Acrylic on canvas120 x 120 cm


摇椅

The Rocking Chair 2012



螺旋楼梯(赞美广场)

Spiral Staircase (CHIJMES)2014Acrylic on canvas162 x 130 cm


蓝图28 (加文纳桥)

Drawing No 28 (Cavenagh Bridge)2014



盛放的夏季

Blooming in the Summer2015Acrylic on canvas100 x 200 cm


盛开的家园

Garden in Bloom 2014



红色的墙门

The Red Gate 2011Acrylic on canvas100 x 150 cmPrivate Collection


晨光

Morning Glow 2015



水上家园

Floating House2014Acrylic on canvas135 x 150 cm


晴朗的蓝色之夜 Sunny Day and the Blue Night


100 x 200 cmPrivate Collection

欣喜的一天

The Absolute Day 2010


Private Collection


宁静的海滩

Serene Beach2011Acrylic on canvas120 x 150 cm


珊瑚恋

Corals’ Love 2012


早晨海滩

Morning Beach 2010


Private Collection


蓝夜的海滩

Blue Night Beach 2011Acrylic on canvas72 x 90 cm


海浪之声

Song of the Waves 2010


Private Collection


女人与镜子

Woman with Her Mirror 2006Acrylic on canvas120 x 120 cmPrivate Collection


与周边物体共处

Surrounded with the Objects2011


Private Collection


在夕阳下沐浴

Bathing at Sunset, (Bali)2004Acrylic on canvas120 x 120 cmPrivate Collection


河畔沐浴

Bathing at River Side 2011


Private Collection

夕阳下沐浴

Bathing in the Sunset 2012



巴厘舞 #4

Bali Dance #42007Acrylic on canvas120 x 120 cmPrivate Collection

巴厘舞 #7

Bali Dance #72007 Acrylic on canvas100 x 100 cmPrivate Collection


和谐之舞

Dance of Harmony 2015



传说之舞

Dance of Legend2008Acrylic on canvas122 x 152 cm


献之舞

Dance of Belief 2008



晨舞

Morning Dance 2006Acrylic on canvas130 x 100 cm


女人与酒

Woman with Wine1991



女人与杂志

Lady with Magazine1993Acrylic on canvas100 x 76 cmCollection of Singapore Art Museum


海贝的呼声

Song of Seashell1993


Private Collection


女人与红色

Woman in Red 1991 Acrylic on canvas100 x 80 cmPrivate Collection

女人与鱼骨

Woman with Fishbone1991Acrylic on canvas80 x 120 cm


形之美

The Beauty of Shape 1991



桌橱上的靜物

Objects on the Table 1991 Acrylic on canvas80 x 62 cm


女人与海贝

She and Seashells 1991



大伯公

God at Home 1993Acrylic on canvas162 x 130 cmPrivate Collection


窗景

Old Window 1993



童年

Driving Child 1994Acrylic on canvas120 x 120 cmPrivate Collection


女人背后的男人

Women with the Man Behind 1992



模特儿与画室

Model in the Studio 1991Acrylic on canvas162 x 130 cmPrivate Collection

女人与珊瑚

Woman and the Corals 1990Acrylic on canvas162 x 130 cmPrivate Collection


竹帘后的女人

Woman Behind the Blind1990


Private Collection


晒印

Sunburnt 1990Acrylic on canvas120 x 100 cmCollection of UOB


歇

Rest 1990



蓝色的回忆

Blue Memory 1986Oil on canvas100 x 120 cmPrivate Collection

和睦

Unity 1988Oil on canvas130 x 162 cmPrivate Collection

三个女人

Trinity Nude 1985 Oil on canvas 120 x 100 cmPrivate Collection


红色之恋

Red in Love 1987

Oil on canvas130 x 162 cm

Private Collection


裸体系列 #26

Nude Series #261987Watercolor on paper51 x 65 cm

裸体系列 #12


裸体系列 #3



裸体系列 #29

Nude Series #291987

Watercolor on paper51 x 65 cm

裸体系列 #13

Nude Series #131987


裸体系列 #14

Nude Series #141987


裸体系列 #32

Nude Series #321987



裸体

Nude 1989 Watercolor on paper62 x 100 cmPrivate Collection


黑沙滩 (巴厘岛)

Black Beach (Bali) 1988


丁加奴漁村 (马来西亚)

Terengganu Village (Malaysia) 1986



红灯码头

Clifford Pier 1987 Watercolor on paper62 x 100 cm

街景

Street Scene 1986 Watercolor on paper53 x 73 cm


潮州街戏

Teochew Street Opera1985


90 Chronology

Chronology

YeO SiAk GOON 杨昔银 Born 1957, Malaysia

SOLO eXHiBiTiON

20071st Solo Exhibition“Bali: The Art of the Offering “

Utterly Art, Singapore

20092nd Solo “She Sits Naked by the Seashore”Utterly Art, Singapore

20103rd Solo “Passion on the Beach”Utterly Art ,Singapore

20154th Solo “the affair”

The Art Fellas, Singapore

CONCURReNT eXHiBiTiON

2010 Three Man Exhibition“Good Mornimg, Yesterday”Hua Chai Yong, Leo Hee Tong & Yeo Siak Goon

ION Art Gallery, Singapore

SeLeCTeD GROUP eXHiBiTiON

1977 The First Asian Art Exhibition City Hall, Hong Kong

1980 Festival of Youth and the Arts in Asia National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore

1984 A New Generation of Singapore Artists: 9 Artists Exhibition Hotel Meridien Singapore, Singapore

1985 Taiwan – Singapore Art Exhibition Taipei Fine Art Museum, Taiwan

1985 National Day Art Exhibition National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore

1986Singapore Festival of Arts: 12 Artists 5 Fringe Events Arbour Fine Art, Singapore

1987 National Museum Centenary Art Exhibition National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore

International Art Exhibition in Paris “Feminissima”

Artcurial Gallery, Paris, France

1988 Singapore Festival of Arts: Singapore Young Artists The Pavillion Intercontinental, Singapore

The First Exhibition of Federation of Asian Art Association, Taiwan Museum of Art, Taiwan

1989 New York Art Expo Jacob Javits Convention Hall In New York, USA

The Second Exhibition of Federation of Asian Art Association Kelab Melawati Taman Melawti KL, Malaysia

11th The International Art Inter Change Exhibition and Asian Modern Art Exhibition, Taiwan

1st BRU-SIN Art Exhibition Brunei Museums NBD, Brunei Darussalam

1990 “Modern Art Travels East-West” Bears/Word Trade Center and Express Place Museum Rotterdam & Singapore

Singapore Artist Speak Exhibition National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore

5th of Asia International Art Exhibition National Art Gallery Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2nd BRU-SIN Art Exhibition National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore

12th Contemporary Artists Oriental Culture of University of East Asian, Macau

1991“Many In One” 25 Years of Art from Singapore National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore & USA

Days of Wines and Roses Allan Art Galleries, Singapore

2nd ASEAN Traveling Exhibition of Paintings ASEAN Country

“CHANCE” 20 Singapore Artist A Decade of their work National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore

New York Art Expo Jacob Javitts Convention Hall in New York, USA

6th of Asia International Art Exhibition Tagawa Museum of Art, Japan

19927th of Asia International Art Exhibition Gedung Merdeka Bandung, Indonesia

1993New Space Art Exhibition in Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Singapore: Place, Poems, Paintings” National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore

1994 9th Asian International Art Exhibition Taipei, Taiwan

Asia’s Excellence Singapore Changi International Airport, Singapore

The Atrium Collection Marina Mandarin, Singapore

1995Cocon Four Young Contemporary Artists Shenn’s Fine Art, Singapore

Figure Painting Exhibition ‘95 Gallery 21, Singapore

1998Kampong Glam Art and Ceramic Exhibition Kampong Glam Club, Singapore

Second Nature: Cityscapes of Singapore Central Plaze, Hong Kong

2002 Naked Perfection

National Art Museum, Singapore

Chronology 91

Singapore – Japan Exchange Art Exhibition Osaka Municipal Museum, Japan

200419th Asian International Art Exhibition Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan

2005Et Cetera Modern Art Society Exhibition Telok Kurau Gallery, Singapore

2006 21st Asian International Art Exhibition Singapore Art Museum, SingaporeContribution design, photograph taking, for the 21AIAE logo and catalogue

200722nd Asian International Art Exhibition Selasar Sunaryo Art Space Bandung, Indonesia

2008“Liquid Passion” MASS Annual Art Exhibition ARTrium, MICA Building, Singapore

23rd Asian International Art Exhibition University City Art Museum, Guangzhou, China

2009Remade, Relived: Modern Art In Singapore 2009 NAFA Art Gallery,Singapore

24th Asian International Art Exhibition National Art Gallery, Malaysia

Stretch your Imagination Malaysia & Singapore Contemporary Artist Impression Arts Center Penang & Wisma Kebudayaan SGM KL, Malaysia

2010“Boundaries” 47 MASS Annual art exhibition ARTrium, MICA Building, Singapore

Affordable art fair Singapore F1 Pit, No.1 Republic Boulevard, Singapore

2011Asia Top Gallery Hotel art fair (AHAF) Mandarin oriental Hotel, Hong kong

Art Melbourne Royal exhibition Building, Australian

Asia Top Gallery Hotel art fair (AHAF) Grand Hyatt Hotel, Seoul

26th Asian International Art Exhibition Hangaram Art Museum Arts Center, Seoul Jeonbuk Province Museum of Art, Korea

Art Expo Malaysia Matrade Exhibition & Convention Centre KL, Malaysia


201249th Modern Art Society Annual show Social Creatives Museum, Singapore


AWARDS

1976 1st Prize: Free hand Sketching Competition

(Organised by Sin Chew Jit Poh / The Singapore Art Society)

19761st Prize: On-the-Spot Drawing Competition for the Young (Organised by Ministry of Culture)

19761st Prize: National Art and Chinese Calligraphy On-the-Spot Drawing Competition(Organised by Singapore Youth Association)

1977 1st Prize: Beautiful Singapore River Art Competition (Bras Basah Community Centre)

19792nd Prize: National Art and Design Competition (by Far East Organisation Centre Ltd and Life Art Society)

19802nd Prize: “The Singapore Scene” Painting Competition (Organised by Ministry of Culture)

1984/86 Medal Award: Tan Tze Chor Young Artist’ Art Award (Organised by Singapore Art Society)

19852nd Prize: Sime Darby Art Asia ’85 Competition(Organised by Sime Darby)

Highly Commended: Australian Art Competition (Organised by Singapore Australian Business Council)

1987Highly Commended: IBM Singapore Art Award (Organised by IBM Singapore Pte Ltd)

19901st Prize: UOB Painting of the Year Competition “Figurative Category” (by United Overseas Bank Group)

2011 Medal award: Tan Tze Chor art award (Organised by Singapore art Society)

PUBLiC COLLeCTiONS

• National Gallery Singapore• United Overseas Bank, Ltd, Singapore• Trade Development Board, Singapore• IBM Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore• American Club, Singapore• Cathay Organisation, Singapore• The Bank of East Asia• Capella Singapore Hotel • Conrad Centennial Singapore• Four Seasons Hotel, Chicago, USA

2013 27th Asian International Art Exhibition Ratchadamnoen Contemporary Art Gallery Tailand Artshow Busan Bexco Exhibition Hall 2 Korea

201428th Asian International Art Exhibition, Kinmen Culture Park Historical Folk Museum, Taiwan

Nothing in Common ION Art gallery, Singapore

“MASS 50th Anniversary Commemoration”ION Art Gallery, Singapore Contribution design, photograph taking, for the MASS 50th catalogue

2015Affordable Art FairF1 Pit, No.1 Republic Boulevard, Singapore

The Lust For ArtION Art Gallery, Singapore

Art Expo MalaysiaMatrade Exhibition & Convention CentreKL, Malaysia

92 Chronology

Acknowledgement

I wish to express my gratitude to all those who have contributed tothe success of this publication and the exhibition

LOW Sze Wee, Director (Curatorial and Collections)National Gallery Singaporefor writing the “Foreword” of the publication andfor officiating the Exhibition as Guest of Honour

SENG Yu Jin, Senior Curator, National Gallery Singaporefor presenting “Painting the Overlooked: The Nude, Landscape and Still Life”

Vincent Lin, Senior Executive (Content), National Gallery Singaporefor executing as the Copy Editor

Lim Choon Jin Zuo Lufor translation writing from English to Chinese

Meileen Choo, Cathay Organisation Holdings LtdKoh Seow ChuanAlex Manzoni-Porathfor sharing their private collection in the exhibition

ION Art Gallery at Orchardfor providing the exhibition space and supporting the event

The Art Fellasfor the support

Family members, friends and artists for their enthusiastic support

With the support of

The Art Fellas

Chronology 93

94 Chronology

Living with objects by yeo siak goon

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