It’s been such a manic end of year, we’ve barely had a moment to blog. So before we step into 2013, a few highlights and events from the past couple of months:

 

1-29 December Euphoria at Numthong Gallery at Aree – breathtaking landscape paintings by Niti Wattuya, some stretching to six metres.

 

8 December-14 April (2013) The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT7) at GOMA and QAG Brisbane – we finally made it to APT, now 20 years old, and were glad we did. Many happy reunions with old friends at the opening, and a generally laid-back experience with interesting sights and sounds. We especially enjoyed Kids APT!

1 December VWFA closing party – we bid a sad final farewell to Valentine Willie Fine Art and the Bangsar gallery.

 

26 October-6 January Thai Transience at Singapore Art Museum – last chance to catch this wonderful exhibition of contemporary and traditional art works and objects from Thailand, curated by Apinan Poshyananda, organised as part of Thai CulturalFest.

 

2 November-5 December  Milenko Prvacki: A Survey, 1979 – 2012 at Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore (ICAS) – Charles Merewether in his notes to the exhibition describes Milenko Prvacki as “one of the most important painters today” and indeed, this exhibition truly showed there to be a giant among us.

 

7-28 November at VWFA KL Painted Words and Written Paintings: For the Refined and For the Masses – a fitting last solo exhibition at VWFA’s flagship Bangsar gallery. Malaysian painter Liew Kwai Fei has gone in a surprising, interesting new direction, pulling off a show bursting with colourful exuberance, brimming with angry social criticism.

 

1-20 November at TAKSU KL No Talking Points – it was refreshing, in this time of quick fixes, to come across this quietly, carefully thought-out exhibition of challenging paintings and objects by a generation of Pinoy artists of true mettle, including Bernardo Pacquing, Cris Villanueva Jr, Elaine Navas, Hubert San Juan, Juan Alacazaren, Nilo Ilarde, Pete Jimenez, and the younger Lyle Buencamino.

(BY)

It is talks season and we are busy preparing powerpoint presentations, reading lists, website links and so on. Beverly will be presenting a 3-part talk series “An Introduction to Contemporary Art in Malaysia” at Galeri Petronas starting this evening while I am preparing “Current Developments in Contemporary Southeast Asian Art” for Asia Art Forum in Hong Kong this coming May.

The organisers have requested that I put together a ‘further reading list’ for those interested in Southeast Asian art. Unfortunately, publishing is not our region’s forte but there are a few valuable gems and references. Here they are in chronological order:

Indonesian Contemporary Art Now
By Marc Bollansee and Enin Supriyanto
SNP Editions, 2007
ISBN-13: 9789812481429

Between Generations: 50 Years Across Modern Art in Malaysia
Beverly Yong and Hasnul J Saidon (editors)
Universiti Malaya Press, Universiti Sains Malaya Press & Valentine Willie Fine Art, 2007
ISBN: 983861348

Contemporary Art in Singapore
With Essays by Russell Storer, Gunalan Nadarajan and Eugene Tan
Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) Singapore, 2007
ISBN-13: 9789810564612
(Note: ICA Singapore is a part of LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts)

Telah Terbit (Out Now): Southeast Asian Contemporary Art Practices during the 1970s
Ahmad Mashadi
Singapore Art Museum, 2006
(Note: This is an exhibition guide and does not qualify as a book but the introduction essay for this show is insightful and really worth the read)

Art and Social Change: Contemporary Art in Asia and the Pacific
Caroline Turner (editor)
Pandanus Press, 2005
ISBN-10: 1740760468

Protest: Revolutionary Art in the Philippines, 1970-1990
By Alice Guillermo
University of Philippines Press, 2005
ISBN-10: 9715421679

Exploring Modern Indonesian Art: The Collection of Dr. Oei Hong Djien
By Helena Spanjaard & Oei Hong Djien
SNP Editions, 2004
ISBN-13:  9789812480101

Flavours: Thai Contemporary Art
By Steven Pettifor
Thavibu Gallery, 2003
ISBN-10:  9749173767

Image to Meaning: essays on Philippine Art
By Alice Guillermo
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2001
ISBN: 9715503764

Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions, Tensions
Essays by by Apinan Poshyananda, Thomas McEveilley, Geeta Kapur, Jim Supangkat, Marian Pastor Roces, Jae-Ryung Roe
Asia Society, 1997
ISBN-10: 0878480838

Modern Asian Art
By John Clark
University of Hawaii Press, 1998
ISBN-10: 9057040417

Southeast Asian Art Today
Joyce Fenema (editor)
Roeder Publications, 1996
ISBN-10: 9810060025

Vision and Idea – Relooking Modern Malaysian Art
T.K Sabapathy (editor)
National Art Gallery (Malaysia), 1994
ISBN-10: 9839572016
(Note: This book is unfortunately out of print but you can find it in some libraries in Malaysia and Singapore)

Modern Art in Thailand: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
By Apinan Poshyananda
Oxford University Press, 1992
ISBN-13: 9780195885620

UPDATED NOTE: It seems I have overlooked another key publication. Please also check out

Indonesian Women Artists: The Curtain Opens
by Carla Bianpoen, Farah Wardani Et Al
Yayasan Seni Rupa Indonesia, 2007
ISBN-13:  9789791656207

I apologise as these titles may not be readily available at your local bookshops but for those of you interested (and living in Kuala Lumpur), do visit the resource room at Valentine Willie Fine Art if you feel like browsing. For those keen to purchase these books, I believe Select Bookstore in Singapore stocks a number of titles, or feel free to email us contact@rogueart.asia and we’d be happy to point you in the right direction.

Also, I’d like to bring to your attention “Figuring The Times: Philippine Paintings 1996 – 2009, A Selection from the Paulino Que Collection”. This catalogue documents a small selection of works from Mr. Paulino Que’s vast collection. It was launched in conjunction with an exhibition sharing the same title on March 13th at Finale Art File, a highly anticipated show among the locals as Mr. Que is one of Manila’s most renowned and well-respected collectors. Exhibition ends April 3rd. For those of you in Manila, this show is not to be missed. Seriously. This is truly a rare opportunity to view some stunning Pinoy paintings from Mr. Que’s collection as this serious collector is somewhat ‘shy’ and does not make a habit of receiving guests regularly at home. (AO)