Contemporary art in Singapore

Singapore
Art Guide

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Singapore galleries
featured on Ocula

Ocula Member Galleries are selected by a committee of respected gallerists to present only the best of contemporary art on Ocula.

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Whether you want to discover contemporary art created by established artists or emerging talents, below you will find some of the best galleries across Singapore's vibrant art scene presenting a range of both.

Many prominent galleries in Southeast Asia have grown their roots on Singapore's shores. Established in 1996, Gajah Gallery has been pivotal in generating increased interest in art from the region. The gallery has catapulted Southeast Asian artists into worldwide recognition, staged landmark travelling exhibitions, and platformed emerging artists.

In Gillman Barracks, an art cluster within former military barracks, are local and international galleries such as The Columns Gallery, Yeo Workshop, Yavuz Gallery, ShanghART Singapore, and Sundaram Tagore Gallery. Established in 2000, with outposts in New York and London, the latter represents artists and photographers such as Karen Knorr and Steve McCurry.

STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery was founded in 2002 as a non-profit space on the Singapore River banks. Divided into a workshop and gallery, the venue holds creative workshops that support artistic experimentation with print and paper. Its gallery boasts local and international talents such as Rirkrit Tiravanija, Do Ho Suh, and Manuel Ocampo.

Ames Yavuz contemporary art gallery in Singapore
Ames Yavuz Current Exhibition:
Group Exhibition
Map
ShanghART contemporary art gallery in Singapore
ShanghART Current Exhibition:
Group Exhibition
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STPI - Creative Workshop & Gallery contemporary art gallery in Singapore
STPI - Creative Workshop & Gallery Current Exhibition:
Group Exhibition
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Sundaram Tagore Gallery contemporary art gallery in Singapore
Sundaram Tagore Gallery Current Exhibition:
Hiroshi Senju
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The Columns Gallery contemporary art gallery in Singapore
The Columns Gallery Current Exhibition:
Group Exhibition
Map
Whitestone Gallery contemporary art gallery in Singapore
Whitestone Gallery Current Exhibition:
Yasuo Sumi
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Yeo Workshop contemporary art gallery in Singapore
Yeo Workshop Current Exhibition:
Group Exhibition
Map

Singapore exhibitions
featured on Ocula

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Singapore Institutions
and Non-Profits

Singapore's museums and institutions offer an exceptional arts and culture experience. Explore our selection of the best spaces to visit.

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National Gallery Singapore is located at the heart of Singapore's civic district and downtown core. Established in 2015, the museum oversees the world's largest collection of Singaporean and Southeast Asian art. Beyond its permanent collections, the museum has shown internationally acclaimed artists such as Nam June Paik and Yayoi Kusama.

Singapore Art Museum at Tanjong Pagar Distripark opened in 1996 as Singapore's first art museum. Today, it hosts the Singapore Biennale and strives to build an important public collection of contemporary art from Southeast Asia.

Singapore's art schools and universities also hold exhibitions of local and international artists. These include LASALLE College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, National University of Singapore, and NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, among others.

Other museums and cultural institutions worth visiting are Asian Civilisations Museum, Aliwal Arts Centre, Objectifs – Centre for Photography & Film, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, National Museum of Singapore, and ArtScience Museum.

Singapore
in Ocula Magazine

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Ocula Magazine has developed a reputation for thoughtful and in-depth editorial dedicated to exploring the best in contemporary art.

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Our team regularly covers shows and art news relevant to Singapore. Ocula has interviewed important figures shaping Singapore's art scene, such as June Yap, Emi Eu, and Eugene Tan, and leading artists who show regularly in Singapore galleries and museums, such as Shubigi Rao.

Ocula Magazine has also published features of artists such as Georgette Chen, Charles Lim, Heman Chong, and Dawn Ng.

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Ocula Advisory
on Singapore

Gain in-depth insights into the art market with Ocula Advisory, our service for collectors wishing to build and manage their collections.

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Led by Ocula's founder Simon Fisher, Ocula Advisory assists new and established collectors in growing and managing their collections.

With 40+ years of combined experience and extensive relationships with galleries, auction houses, art dealers, and collectors, Ocula Advisory has exceptional knowledge of modern and contemporary art, as well as market trends.

Follow Advisory Picks, Perspectives, and Selections for must-see art, and stay up-to-date with art market news.

Artists on show
in Singapore

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In Singapore, you can view work by some of the world's most exciting artists. Below is a selection of artists with works currently on view in exhibitions showing with Ocula Member Galleries.

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Sign up to My Ocula to follow artists and galleries, save artworks to your favourites, and be informed when new exhibitions and features are published.

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Artworks
in Singapore

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Representing leading galleries in Singapore, on Ocula you can view a selection of artworks by important established artists and emerging new talents currently being shown in the city.

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Sign up to My Ocula to follow artists and galleries, save artworks to your favourites, and be informed when new artworks become available.

The ancestors are watching - Sorge (Care) by Franziska Fennert contemporary artwork sculpture, mixed media
Franziska Fennert The ancestors are watching - Sorge (Care), 2023 Carved plastic stones from shredded, melted and pressed residue, with acrylic color, gold leaf, spray paint on wooden fossils
98 x 22 x 22 cm
The Columns Gallery Request Price & Availability
Unravelling Worlds 1 by Nandita Mukand contemporary artwork sculpture, mixed media
Nandita Mukand Unravelling Worlds 1, 2022 Medical gauze, cement, resin, acrylics, wire
100 x 43 x 17 cm
The Columns Gallery Request Price & Availability
Oasis Searching by Nandita Mukand contemporary artwork sculpture, mixed media
Nandita Mukand Oasis Searching, 2023 Medical gauze, plaster, resin, acrylics, wire
90 x 70 x 30 cm
The Columns Gallery Request Price & Availability
Yuugure (Evening) Cloud August 22 2023 6:20:12 PM Santa Cruz, CA by Miya Ando contemporary artwork painting
Miya Ando Yuugure (Evening) Cloud August 22 2023 6:20:12 PM Santa Cruz, CA, 2023 Dye, ink, pure micronized silver, resin & urethane on aluminum composite
127 x 127 cm
Sundaram Tagore Gallery Request Price & Availability
Eclipse and Endless Fountain by Citra Sasmita contemporary artwork painting, mixed media, textile
Citra Sasmita Eclipse and Endless Fountain, 2024 Acrylic on traditional Kamasan canvas, brass hanger, hair
100 x 76 cm
Yeo Workshop Request Price & Availability
Etherized objects 68 by RAENA ABELLA contemporary artwork photography
RAENA ABELLA Etherized objects 68, 2024 Ambrotype on glass
20.32 x 25.4 cm
Ames Yavuz Request Price & Availability
Brushwork by Nilo Ilande contemporary artwork painting, sculpture
Nilo Ilande Brushwork, 2024 Oil on cast resin, and wood
68.5 x 2 x 1.5 cm
Sold
Ames Yavuz
Singapore Crocodile, 1930s (series) by Robert Zhao Renhui contemporary artwork photography, print
Robert Zhao Renhui Singapore Crocodile, 1930s (series), 2023 Found postcards and archival piezographic prints in frame
42 x 21.9 cm (incl frame)
Gajah Gallery Request Price & Availability
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Events
in Singapore

As a major port for Southeast Asia and beyond, Singapore has become a hub for international and large-scale exhibitions that celebrate both the global and local.

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The biannual art exhibition Singapore Biennale has been a mainstay in the country since 2006. Presently, the event is organised by Singapore Art Museum, a public institution that has prioritised contemporary art from the region.

Inaugurated in 2018, Singapore Art Week (SAW) returns every January. The week-long joint initiative by Singapore Tourism Board and National Arts Council holds events, exhibitions, tours, and workshops across the city, celebrating both the work of local artists and international collaborations.

Singapore Night Festival was initiated in 2008 to enliven the arts and heritage district of Bras Basah.Bugis with public installations, performances, and light shows. Held every August, the festival boasts an impressive line-up of local and international artists.

Singapore also hosts several art fairs, including S.E.A. Focus, led by STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery. Held during Singapore Art Week, the event seeks to bring artists and galleries from the Southeast Asian region to the global market.

Launched in 2023, Southeast Asia's largest art fair, ART SG, presented over 150 galleries across five sectors, including 'Futures' for galleries below six years of age and 'Reframe', which spotlights virtual reality and NFTs. Conversely, the city also organises an edition of the London-initiated Affordable Art Fair.

20–28 January 2024 S.E.A. Focus View Photolog
19–21 January 2024 ART SG View Photolog
19–28 January 2024 Singapore Art Week

Since its 1965 independence, Singapore has cultivated a vibrant arts scene spread across museums, institutions, galleries, and independent art spaces. Its strategic port location and bustling cultural hub feed into local practices, inciting explorations of regional issues and their connections to the broader, international space.

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Its core, National Gallery Singapore (NGS), is a government-funded institution that features historically significant art from Southeast Asia and exhibitions by internationally acclaimed artists such as Yayoi Kusama and Nam June Paik. Established in 2015, NGS oversees the world's largest collection of Singaporean and Southeast Asian art.

Nearby, Singapore Art Museum stands ground among Singapore's best contemporary art museums. From its new location at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, SAM organises the biannual exhibition Singapore Biennale and is striving to build an important collection of contemporary art from the region.

In recent years, Tanjong Pagar Distripark has grown as a bustling hub for galleries. Its industrial architecture and harbour-side location have provided ample space for artists to experiment with scale, highlighting Singapore's context as a city-state that prides itself on global connections and routes. Gajah Gallery, Artspace@Helutrans, and the S.E.A. Focus art fair are all sited here.

Gillman Barracks, the art precinct, continues to be an important venue for Singapore, located approximately ten kilometres west of downtown Singapore. The former military barrack, now a leafy enclave, is home to internationally acclaimed galleries such as Yavuz Gallery, The Columns Gallery, Yeo Workshop, and ShanghART Singapore.

Beyond museums and commercial galleries, Singapore also hosts non-profit and independent art spaces. STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery, established in 2002, holds workshops supporting practices on print and paper. Its track record includes exhibitions by Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Do Ho Suh, Manuel Ocampo, and Takashi Murakami.

Other independent art spaces around the city include Grey Projects, Objectifs, and starch. Located amid Singapore's oldest public estates in the Tiong Bahru district, Grey Projects focuses on design, writing, and curatorial research, often conducting reading groups, talks, and residencies with other partners in Asia.

With a focus on film and photography, Objectifs hosts exhibitions, screenings, and residencies to foster public appreciation for the above mediums, housed inside the Bras Basah.Bugis arts and culture precinct.

The youngest of the group, starch, began in 2021. Located in a former industrial complex north of the city, the artist-run space is an exciting venue for younger and emerging artists to experiment and develop their practices. As a space, it aims to facilitate critical conversations within an atmosphere of care and support.

Image: Singapore Skyline: Marina Bay Garden, Marina Bay Sands, and Raffles Place. Photo: Nicolas Lannuzel (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Ames Yavuz
Gillman Barracks
9 Lock Road
#02-23
Singapore Current Exhibition:Group Exhibition
Frieze No.9 Cork Street: Holding Ceremony & POV
5–20 April 2024
Gajah Gallery
39 Keppel Road
Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 03-04
Singapore
ShanghART
9 Lock Road, 02–22
Gillman Barracks
Singapore Current Exhibition:Group Exhibition
Shifting Sands Still
13–28 April 2024
STPI - Creative Workshop & Gallery
41 Robertson Quay
Singapore Current Exhibition:Group Exhibition
Departures
13 April–9 June 2024
Sundaram Tagore Gallery
5 Lock Road 01–05
Gillman Barracks
Singapore Current Exhibition:Hiroshi Senju
Between Movement and Stillness
8 March–27 April 2024
The Columns Gallery
22 Lock Road #01-35
Gillman Barracks
Singapore Current Exhibition:Group Exhibition
Evolving Expressions
19 March–4 May 2024
Whitestone Gallery
39 Keppel Road
#05-03/06 Tanjong Pagar Distripark
Singapore Current Exhibition:Yasuo Sumi
Harmony in Chaos: A Peek Into The Mind of Yasuo Sumi
13 April–2 June 2024
Yeo Workshop
47 Malan Road, Lock Road 01-25
Singapore Current Exhibition:Group Exhibition
Storytellers: Mythic Journeys and Modern Realities
17 February–12 May 2024
Aliwal Arts Center
28 Aliwal Street
Singapore
Singapore Upcoming Exhibition:Deborah Chan
Deborah’s Judges: Art, Covenant & The Kingdom
17–20 May 2024
ArtScience Museum
6 Bayfront Avenue
Singapore
Singapore Current Exhibition:Group Exhibition
Future world: Where Art Meets Science
From 1 April 2024
Asian Civilisations Museum | ACM
1 Empress Place
Singapore
Singapore
Gillman Barracks
9 Lock Road
Singapore
Singapore
Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore
LASALLE College of the Arts
1 McNally Street
Singapore
National Gallery Singapore
1 St. Andrew’s Road
#01–01
Singapore
National Museum of Singapore
93 Stamford Road
Singapore
NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore
Block 6 Lock Road
Gillman Barracks
Singapore
Objectifs - Centre for Photography & Film
155 Middle Rd
Singapore
Singapore
Platform Projects
22 Lock Road
#01-35 Gillman Barracks
Singapore
Singapore Art Museum
39 Keppel Rd
#01-02 Tanjong Pagar Distripark
Singapore
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