You are cordially invited to the opening preview and reception of

NOW YOU SEE IT
video and new media installations by staff
of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts


April Ng Kiow Ngor . Boo Sze Yang . Ivan Chan Keng Hong . Lim Soo Ngee
Michael Lee Hong Hwee . Roi Hew Chow Yeong . Terence Tan Chee Wah

Guest of Honour:
Mr Choo Thiam Siew
President, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Thursday 21st August 2003 7.30 pm
Utterly Art Exhibition Space
208 South Bridge Road 2nd Level, Singapore 058757
Tel: 6226 2605
Mon-Sat 11.30 am - 8 pm Sun 12 noon - 5.30 pm
The exhibition runs through to Sunday 31st August 2003.


Now You See It
… and now you don’t? Transience is innate in the moving images inherent in video and new media art. In this art form, fleeting glimpses and subtle movements can necessitate the rapt attention of the viewer in a full engagement of his faculties. At its most demanding, one apprehends the presentation as a work of art involving not just the sight, but also the mind. Nowadays however, television, computers and urban media screens generate much of the visual clutter that permeates our everyday lives, so video art struggles to rise above the chatter to make its impact. Video and new media can be narrative or situational, and at its best makes a lasting point that will be retained with its audience, as should all good art.

Now You See It is a show initiated by staff of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts who have had their grounding in the more traditional visual arts, but who are endeavouring to express themselves in new ways, much as the pioneer Nanyang artists appropriated ‘-isms’ in their painting styles from the School of Paris to portray Southeast Asia anew. Only some of the artists in this exhibition have received further training in electronic media; others are professional painters, sculptors and printmakers, but this has not deterred them from experimenting with new forms and new media to expand their creative vocabulary. The title, Now You See It, suggests a sleight-of-hand and magical conjuring by the artists – we eagerly await amazement by their digital prestidigitation.