Ocula Conversation Hito Steyerl: How To Build a Sustainable Art World 'A Picture of War is Not War', we read in Hito Steyerl's iconic film November (2004), an essayistic Super 8 film tackling the definition of terrorism constructed around the figure of the artist's best friend Andrea Wolf, who was killed as a terrorist in 1998 in Eastern Anatolia after she joined the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party). Mixing documentary...
Ocula Report Aichi to Okayama: Art in Japan Looks to the Future 11 Oct 2019 : Stephanie Bailey for Ocula There has been a flurry of triennial and biennial art activity in Japan this year. The Aichi Triennale opened in Nagoya this August, sparking a national debate about the shutting down of a display of formerly censored works—the result of public backlash against a burnt image of Emperor Hirohito and a statue commemorating the women forced into...
Ocula Insight | Video Hans Hartung and Art Informel at Mazzoleni London (1 October 2019-18 January 2020) presents key works by the French-German painter while highlighting his connection with artists active in Paris during the 50s and 60s. In this video, writer and historian Alan Montgomery discusses Hartung's practice and its legacy.Born in Leipzig in 1904, Hans...
Ocula Report Between abstraction and interaction: A report from Singapore 20 Oct 2016 : Alice Russotti for Ocula When I first went to see Oh Dear What Can the Matter Be (2016), an installation at Yeo Workshop by Singaporean artist Stephanie Jane Burt, I was reminded of a work by another young, and increasingly recognised Singaporean artist, Dawn Ng, How to Disappear into a Rainbow (2016), which I had seen a few months previously at the Hermes Aloft Space,...
Ocula Insight Si Jae Byun at Chan Hampe Galleries, Singapore 18 May 2016 You have worked in a wide variety of mediums as an artist. Can you tell me a bit about your artistic background?For my undergraduate work I majored in painting and minored in textile design. Then I received an MFA in new media/video from Kookmin University in Seoul, and a second MFA in Fine Art from the School of Visual Arts in New York...
Ocula Report Face off: The Singapore art scene 19 Jan 2016 : Sherman Sam for Ocula Contemporary Singapore, as most observers of the island state will know, is a place that has grown enormously successful despite the shock of its early separation from a federation with Malaysia. Celebrating its golden jubilee last year, and branded in typical Singaporean fashion as ‘SG50’, there was excitement in some circles over the...
Ocula Insight Belinda Fox at Chan Hampe Galleries, Singapore 13 January 2016 Belinda Fox (b. 1975, Melbourne) is a Singaporean based, Australian artist well known for her lyrical, abstract works that explore the precarious balance in contemporary life between hope and doubt.Her current exhibition at Chan Hampe Galleries in Singapore is inspired by her time in Singapore and travels to Vietnam and Myanmar. Alongside a series...
Ocula Conversation Dr Eugene Tan Director of the National Gallery Singapore The much-anticipated National Gallery Singapore opened its doors to the public for the first time on 24 November 2015. Following an extensive renovation by Studio Milou Architecture, the museum now occupies two important historic buildings in the heart of Singapore’s Civic District, the former City Hall and Supreme Court buildings. The...
Ocula Conversation Serge Tiroche Co-founder, the Tiroche DeLeon Collection With an ultra slick website that enables easy navigation of its 400 plus artworks from many of the leading artists of today, the Tiroche DeLeon Collection is unique in its focus and ownership structure. Established in 2011 by Serge Tiroche and Russ DeLeon, the collection is focused on artworks by both recognised masters, and emerging talent from...
Ocula Conversation Dawn Ng Artist, Singapore Dawn’s Ng’s work, Sixteen (2013), shown at Chan Hampe Galleries’ booth at Art Basel in Hong Kong, sold before the fair opened to the public. The work consists of nested wooden boxes, ranging from an antique shipping trunk to the size of a jewellery box, each lacquered in a bright color, with a brass plaque inscribed with text...
Ocula Conversation June Yap Curator, Guggenheim UBS Map Global Initiative, Singapore Launched in April 2012, the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative charts contemporary art in South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa. No Country: Contemporary Art for South and Southeast Asia is the Initiative’s inaugural exhibition. Initially shown in New York, (22 February–22 May 2013), the...
