Choy Weng Yang
b. 1930, SingaporeChoy has made important contributions to the progress of Singapore Art Scene as an educator, art curator, art writer and as a creative visionary. Instrumental in the development of museology in Singapore since the 1970s, Choy is celebrated for his innovative method of combining different modern Western artistic techniques. Inspired by his predecessors like Paul Klee and Josef Albers, Choy applies his own artistic expression that bridges instinctual, common interpretations to the responses of colours. He works upon the practices of these colour theorists, who used colours and composition to convey complex ideas, and sparking a series of emotional responses. Having graduated from the Hornsey College of Art in London in 1962, Choy was largely exposed to interdisciplinary modern art movements of his time, which helped advance the development of his own art. He absorbed the ideas and techniques that defined European art in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly relating to the manipulation of light and colours like Turner, Monet, Matisse, Cezanne, and Mondrian.
In 1973, Choy was awarded a six-month UNESCO Fellowship, touring the USA and studied deeper into the modern art landscape. He was mentored by György Kepes, who was the teacher of design at the New Bauhaus in Chicago. Continuining to work under Kepes, Choy experimented with environmental abstract sculpture design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Advance Visual Studies (CAVS). Choy further excelled in incorporating the concepts of light and colour interaction into his understanding of abstract expressionism.
During the year of 1975, Choy’s dedication to art resulted in him attaining the position: Head of the Exhibition & Design at National Museum Art Gallery (NMAG). He later on became the Curator of Art in 1987. As curator, he had a significant role in shaping the National Museum Art Gallery and crafting graphic designs for various art exhibitions. Choy oversaw the presentation of notable exhibitions throughout the 1980s, such as the Singapore Pioneer Artists’ Series and several international shows. He held this position until 1985, he then retired to focus solely on painting.
Choy played an active part in forming a community of artists to search for the identity of Singaporean Art and in pushing boundaries of traditional art movements. Like fellow second-generation artists Teo Eng Seng (1938–) and Anthony Poon (1945–2006), Choy introduced and brought the focus of abstract art to eager audiences. He gained recognition for the non-conventional methods of conveying unrestrained artistic expressions that redefined modernity of art, and laid the groundwork for nurturing new generations of artists in Singapore.
Text courtesy The Columns Gallery.
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