Off the Wall – Down by Law in Singapore, Lah!

Somethings going on at the moment - it feels like Singapore is awash with art events. First the Elephant Parade, then the Affordable Art Fair. But then one came along that blew everything else out of the water - Off the Wall and Down by Law in Singapore, Lah! This is one of those exhibitions that you walk into and take notice. It's explosive, sassy and inspiring. And it's a celebration of graffiti.

Everything about this exhibition is cool. Including it's location which is at the Artspace@Helutrans at Tanjong Pagar District Park, hidden away in a warehouse right by the Keppel port.

The exhibition blasted open with a live Graffjam - kinda like a music jam session but with artists creating works together on site. Taking turns on the canvas were eighteen street artists - nine from Singapore (represented by Fortune Cookie Projects) and nine from France (represented by Wallworks Gallerie). AND if you wondering about the French angle it's because the exhibition is part of the Voilah! French Festival of Singapore.

So let's check out some pics of the artists in action...

The exhibition follows the same level of explosive energy - with 72 works by street artists reflecting on the energy drawn from their respective urban environments...

An interesting bit of insight on the picture just below on the right, many people think that street artists just knock out their work but I was speaking to the artist who created these and it took him one whole month to complete the work because of the level of detail there...

It's so incredibly refreshing to see exhibitions like this pop up in Singapore and to me, they feel like gold dust. We just don't get enough of them and hopefully this is a nod in the right direction towards Singapore's (hopefully) blossoming art scene. Go check it out or miss out.

This exhibition will run until 26 November at ArtSpace@Helutrans at the Tanjong Pagar Distripark (39 Keppel Road, #01-05) daily between 11am to 7pm and is FREE admission. Off the Wall – Down by Law in Singapore, Lah! is supported by Hermès, Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort, Maquet, the French School in Singapore, Air France, Encore! TheEuropean Season and Voilah! French Festival Singapore 2011.

Here come the Elephants! Elephant Parade Singapore 2011

I am a big fan of elephants. I guess it's something to do with having seen the African elephant in it's natural habitat on safari in South Africa which has to be one of my all time incredible experience.  For such lumbering great animals, there is something so beautiful, wise and yes, graceful about this phenomenal creatures which are capable of complex emotional functions of thought and feeling.

So I was very excited to hear that 162 brightly painted baby elephant statues by local and international artists would be taking over Singapore in the form of the Elephant Parade, having already done so in various other global cities including London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Milan but to name a few.  It's also a good sign that Singapore is starting to come up in the world in the global art scene.

Before we take a look at some of the elephants around Singapore, I just want to rewind to the story behind the Elephant Parade. It all started when Mosha, a baby Thai elephant lost her leg after stepping on a landmine. When founder Marc Spits learned of this he, together with his son Mike was inspired to set up Elephant Parade to co-finance Mosha's prosthetic leg.

Fast forward five years and Elephant Parade is on a crusade to become the world's largest financial supporter for the conservation of the Asian elephant. In case you don't know, the Asian elephant is smaller than their African cousins and while sacred they are also sadly highly exploited and endangered.

This is the Elephant Parade's first outing in Asia and through the exhibition the organizers hope to raise public awareness and support for Asian elephant conservation.

Yesterday I stumbled across two of the installations by chance whilst out and about and so wanted to share them with you here.

Introducing...

At 313 Somerset

Hellaphunt by Ricky Gervais

A Circle of Life by Noppawan Nuansiri 

Zelda Zelliphant by Dick Lee 

At Marina Bay Sands

Damaged Dumbo  by Renato L. Barja Jr.

Don't Forget by Glen Goei

And Giddo by Bobby Chinn & Le Quang Ha  

So as you notice these beautiful baby elephants in various locations across Singapore, stop and take a while to reflect on their meaning and interpretation. You can check out all the other Elephants on display at the Elephant Parade website here

The world art stage comes to Singapore

Yesterday I went to Art Stage Singapore, Asia's new and ambitious art fair - and the new opening of the world's art season.  I was pretty keen to go and see this as at the helm is former Director of Art Basel and the Co-Creator of Art Basel Miami Beach. For those of you who don't know these are major events rocking the world of art each year.

Anyway I think this could be the start of something big for Singapore. And the quality of the exhibits definitely  pointed in that direction.

Here are some of my personal favourites...

The first exhibit that stopped me in my tracks was The Final Judgement by Indonesian artist Ronald Manullang...

It doesn't take a genius to see why. Twisted and deeply thought-provoking, the artist himself describes the series as "an artistic punishment, the art of expiation, to atone for all the souls that (Hitler) had taken away, which he would repay with his own soul."


I was really pleased to see there was a bit of the great and mysterious British street artist on show and I thought the subject was a perfect fit with Singapore's love affair with shopping...

Interactive art always floats my boat so I loved the installation by Japanese artist Takashi Kuribayashi, Forest from Forest, which is yes you got it, a forest...but one made out of traditional handmade Japanese paper that starts above your head with holes cut into it so you can poke your head through and enter the tranquillity of the forest if only partially...

Also a bit of humour in art goes a long way so I loved Albert Watson's (one of the world's most successful fashion and commercial photographers of the last four decades) cheeky Monkey with Masks...

and Steroids Shrink Your Balls by the iconic photographer David Lachapelle...

and finally what better use of Veuve Cliquot boxes than to get British designer Tom Dixon to use them to make a massive structure suspended from the ceiling...genius!

It's creator gives Art Stage five years to achieve it's mission of being one of the top art shows in the world and I say it's off to a very good start!

Help! I need some art!

It's a long way from the art galleries of London, and every now and then I just need that art fix in Singapore.

But Singapore is a place that didn't even have an art gallery until 1950! So things are  not quite the same - especially for someone who worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum for 4 years.

Yes I know we recently had the Affordable Art Fair and the Contemporary Asian Art Fair  but what about what about the galleries here? I set out on a mini-discovery tour to find out.

Yesterday was World AIDS Day, so I wanted to go see  the "Show Me  Love" exhibition at the Chan Hampe Galleries - where young and established artists showcased works that exemplify what World AIDS Day stands for.

I got there and the gallery is closed....ON WORLD AIDS DAY!

I don't care if  the gallery does not usually open on Wednesdays, it was World AIDS Day and this is supposed to be an exhibition to commemorate it!

Helllo! Did somebody miss a small detail here?

I peeked through the glass door the exhibition was no bigger than my  living room - perhaps a correlation to the voice of HIV in Singapore. But the works inside looked interesting including a pillar made of blown up condoms and a "blood" stained statue...

So off to the Substation I went. The exhibition Us and Them and You was trying to push the boundaries a little by hightlighting  a minority group of Singaporean-Malay individuals bucking tradition including Singapore's first transgender tour guide. But it was just so small you could do a circuit in under 10. Speed art!

US AND THEM AND YOU
By Khairuddin Hori

Next stop Singapore Art Museum  at Q8 - the new contemporary art wing - for some Japanese contemporary art at Trans-Cool TOKYO.  I was welcomed by a  taxidermy deer with lots of glass bubbles stuck on it -

Kohei Nawa, PixCell-Deer #17, 2008-2009,
mixed media, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo collection

Just the kind of bizarre that I love...and then as I meandered up the levels of exhibition I finally got what I was looking for at the very last room...the highlight of my day...


...a dance booth for one complete with private glitter ball!

Yeah how cool is that! Yes you can get in it, shut it, put your headphones on, bop away and make your own art. Sadly there is no video footage of me doing this but thank goodness it was a quiet day. Anyway, this is my kind of contemporary art - quirky and interactive.

Seeing as the ticket included entry to the main part of the museum, I thought I'd mosey over. It reminded me of the Victoria and Albert Museum before it had it's big overhaul and I think the SAM might be due a shake up to similar effect. 

There were a few little gems out there but it felt like there could be so much more.  I won't give up hope - if Singapore can do most things to a global standard, at some point art has got to be one of them and who knows maybe there might event be a blockbuster exhibition coming our way!

Bringing you up to speed - Asian art and the art of doggy sterilization

Right seeing as I have been back peddling a bit I'm going to bring you right up to speed with events of the last few days so I can blog as stuff happens...phew!

So for all your culture vultures out there, you might have heard me missing the UK art scene over here. Well finally got a bit of a culture fix on Sunday thanks to my friend Elaine who bagged us a couple of tix to The Contemporary Asian Art Fair.  Yes finally there was something that inspired, intrigued, moved and sometimes disgusted! And it even had some of the usual crazy gallery owners! Not quite Frieze Art Fair but not a million miles away either...

OK change the reel, fast forward, it's Monday morning and time to give beloved Reishii our adopted dog. Some of you will know that lovely Reishii here recently discovered he was a boy shortly after we adopted him. How many of you have had a dog try to hump your leg? It's quite funny the first time but subsequently it gets a bit scary (especially when their lipstick is glaring at you if you get my meaning). You start hiding from them in your own house because you never know when the next strike will be.

So we did the dirty and got his "you know whats" removed from  his you "know whats" sack. What remains looks pretty pathetic and even worse he has to wear this round his head a la Queen Elizabeth but he hardly looks regal. But he's good and fighting fit while he's not looking like the HMV dog and being plied with various doggy medicine. Ah it's a dog's life!