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ALMA MATTER Curated by Khairuddin Hori PRESS RELEASE Chan + Hori Contemporary, 6 Lock Road, #02-09, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108934 ALMA MATTER conditions. Also on display are the camp and pageantry captured Curated by Khairuddin Hori in the short-lived, gender-probing artistic practice of Khairul Ikhwan (deceased). Exhibition Dates: 24 May - 17 June 2018 Usually associated with the notion of an academy combining Opening Night: 24 May 2018, 7 p.m., featuring orthodox Western and Chinese art traditions, these artists have performances by Ella Wijt and moved on to establish themselves in the spirit of the contemporary The Kaizen M.D. and are emblematic of the ‘now’. Through their works, they have gravitated beyond local and regional concerns to incorporate a Held in conjunction with the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts universalism that connects with human experiences. (NAFA) 80th Anniversary celebrations, Alma Matter is a visual art exhibition organized in collaboration with the NAFA Fine Art PRESS RELEASE Alumni Chapter and Chan + Hori Contemporary. It features FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE artists who have graduated from various fine art programmes at the academy in the past ten years. Curated by NAFA alumnus Artists: Samuel Chen Khairuddin Hori, the exhibition takes its inspiration from a Khairul Ikhwan wordplay of alma mater - which ordinarily refers to an institution Warren Khong one has studied in and graduated from. In its original Latin form, Fiona Koh alma refers to the act of nourishing. It is paired here with Loi Cai Xiang matter - referencing affairs relating to the concerns and practices Justin Loke of the artists. Placed together, Alma Matter alludes to the artists’ Ong Si Hui past training at the academy while simultaneously reflecting on Ezzam Rahman their place in the contemporary art landscape of today. Sebastian Mary Tay Ella Wijt In a conversation with the curator, artist Ong Si Hui considers herself ‘traditionally trained’ in sculpture at NAFA - a terminology Venue: Chan + Hori Contemporary hardly used by contemporary artists today. Strength in heritage, or 6 Lock Road, #02-09, the Nanyang style of art, is the hallmark of this pioneer arts Gillman Barracks, institution. Yet, this is a quality that stands the test of time, Singapore 108934 contributing to both physiological and philosophical development (Tel: +65 6338 1962) of artists who went through its system. High-resolution artwork images and the artwork specification sheet can be Artists presented in Alma Matter engage with multiple disciplines downloaded at https://we.tl/tPvcfLarK3 (The link expires on 24 May 2018.) and utilise new approaches and uncommon mediums in their This exhibition is held in conjunction with NAFA’s 80th Anniversary. practices. Take, for example, Ezzam Rahman’s sculptures made of his own skin or Sebastian Mary Tay’s photographs composed of sawdust, fog and light. Ella Wijt engages with faith and womanhood, while Cai Xiang elucidates the void between the conscious and subconscious as a reaction to personal health Chan + Hori Contemporary, 6 Lock Road, #02-09, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108934 Khairul Ikhwan. (Image courtesy of the artist and Chan + Hori Contemporary) Khairul Ikhwan Education (b. 1993 - d. 2016, Singapore) 2016 Muhammad Khairul Ikhwan was an artist that focused on Diploma in Fine Arts (Western Painting), NAFA, Singapore painting, drawing, illustration, performance art and new media works. His works dealt with representations of his body and face Selected Exhibitions synthesised with imaginary creatures, based on subconscious thoughts. He conjured images that extended his own identity, while 2016 alluding to the nature of human behaviour. His amorphous forms HOPE, NAFA, Singapore suggested that beings were gender-fluid and that individuals existed on a spectrum. The videos he published featured himself in flamboyant outfits and make-up in a bid to spread messages of love and acceptance and self-empowerment. Khairul was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer in 2015, which led to his hearing and vision being impaired. Despite this, he held a solo exhibition titled HOPE in 2016 that featured 87 of his artworks. He used the exhibition as a channel for creativity, dialogue and awareness. Chan + Hori Contemporary, 6 Lock Road, #02-09, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108934 #116, Warren Khong, 2018. Glass, metal, LED light. 32 x 30 cm. (Image courtesy of the artist and Chan + Hori Contemporary) (1) #116, #117, #118, #119, #120 Education (2) #121, #122, #123 2014 - 2015 Warren Khong MA in Fine Arts, Goldsmiths’ College, University of London, U.K. (b. 1984, Singapore) 2008 - 2009 Produced at a factory based on Warren’s instructions, both series BA (Hons) in Fine Art: Painting and Drawing, of eight new works comprise lines made on glass. The first series University of Huddersfield, U.K. (#116, #117, #118, #119, #120) does not rely on external lighting and takes reference from the paintings of Mark Rothko. Natural light 2002 - 2006 invades the glass and produces shapes, forms and textures within. Diploma in Fine Art, NAFA, Singapore The second series (#121, #122, #123) relies on external lighting to cast shadows and images. Warren engages with the premise of Selected Exhibitions light and shadows as materials for art-making and emphasises their temporal presence. Light and shadows become form, with light 2017 as the active agent that asserts the artworks’ existence. Created In Praise of Shadows, ADM Gallery, with NAFA’s history and tradition in mind, these works represent Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Chinese ink paintings of bamboo - the first element taught in foundational year classes. Supernatural, Gajah Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Warren investigates materiality in art - pushing the possibilities of 2016 representation in painting and drawing, as well as their reception. Light-Space (in collaboration with Ulrich Lau), He engages the intangibility of materials in art-making as a way of Objectifs - Centre for Photography and Film, Singapore challenging the ontological status of art and art objects. Whitewash, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore Turn Loose the Mermaids, iPreciation Gallery, Singapore GELB, Zwischenzeitraum, Luzern, Switzerland Chan + Hori Contemporary, 6 Lock Road, #02-09, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108934 Artist’s Impression of Chasing Deers, part of the Tua Kang Medicinal Hall series, Fiona Koh, 2018. Mixed media. Dimensions variable. (Image courtesy of the artist and Chan + Hori Contemporary) Chasing Deers, Education part of the Tua Kang Medicinal Hall series 2008 - 2010 Fiona Koh Master of Arts in Contemporary Practice (Distinction), (b. 1994, Singapore) University of Huddersfield, NAFA Tua Kang Medicinal Hall takes reference from the medicine in Louis 2003 - 2004 Chia’s wuxia novels. In these stories, poisons and antidotes are BA (Hons) in Fine Art: Painting and Drawing described as being extracted from rare species of animals and (Upper Second Class Honours), University of Huddersfield plants. They are formulated in dubious pills, powders, poisons and so forth with extraordinary qualities to kill or heal. In this artwork, 2000 - 2003 Chasing Deers, one encounters a collection of poisons and Diploma in Design (Communication Design) (Distinction), antidotes re-created from one of the pugilistic novels, by a fanatical LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts toxicologist who believes there is an invisible pharmacy that dispenses medicines to heroes and villains alike. Selected Exhibitions Fiona Koh is the co-founder and a member of art collective, Vertical 2016 Submarine. In 2009, she was a recipient of the President’s Young EËJA, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, Talent Award. Her multi-disciplinary background attempts to Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore integrate art and design as a common field of inquiry. Lecturing part-time at NAFA, she held her first solo show, EËJA, at the 2015 Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore in 2016. A New View of An Old Estate, Taman Jurong Market, Singapore ex-libris, Central Public Library, Singapore 2014 Practice and Perfection, NAFA, Singapore 2013 All that dazzles (part of Urban Sensations for South East CDC), Goodman Arts Centre, Singapore Chan + Hori Contemporary, 6 Lock Road, #02-09, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108934 Punctured, part of the Void series, Loi Cai Xiang, 2016. Oil on canvas. 102 x 102 cm. (Image courtesy of the artist and Chan + Hori Contemporary) Punctured, Education part of the Void series 2010 - 2013 Loi Cai Xiang Diploma in Fine Art, Western Painting (Distinction), NAFA (b. 1992, Singapore) Selected Exhibitions The catalyst behind Void arises from a sense of intimacy and familiarity that one shares with their environment. It taps into the 2017 emotional resonance that arises from spaces that rekindle Void, Chan + Hori Contemporary, Singapore experiences and memories. Like an actor interpreting dialogue, Loi Cai Xiang’s paintings draw from personal experiences and first The Artling Pop-Up, Artspace@Helutrans, impressions to interpret environments and synthesise new represented by Chan + Hori Contemporary, Singapore narratives. He posits that the constant need to define a void that resides between us and the physical world is an attempt to analyse Not A Summer Hang, Chan + Hori Contemporary, Singapore our modes of being. This series is a personal exploration, a search for a sensibility to define a private gulf that exists between 2015 conscious and subconscious states of mind. Bank Art Fair 2015, Pan Pacific Hotel, Singapore Cai Xiang’s
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