PRESS RELEASE

A LANDMARK EXHIBITION ON THE HISTORY OF SINGAPORE CONTEMPORARY ART
Opens to the Public: 20 November 1998 - 21 February 1999
(Official Opening: 2 December 1998)

NOW AT THE SINGAPORE ART MUSEUM: WORKS BY 3 SINGAPOREAN CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS

(Singapore, 28 October 1998) The Singapore Art Museum is pleased to present a timely exhibition featuring the works of three important Singaporean contemporary artists, S. Chandrasekaran, Goh Ee Choo and Salleh Japar entitled,Trimurti and Ten Years After, by showing a selection of over 40 works by the artists. The works which include paintings, sculptures, installations will be accompanied by multimedia documentations. The exhibition will trace the individual development of the artists over the past decade. More importantly, the exhibition will also provide an assessment and appraisal of the earlier exhibition put up by the artists in 1988 entitled Trimurti. With an immediate critical success, Trimurti (1988) found its way into most, if not all, major historical accounts of Singapore contemporary art.

Trimurti, an exhibition initiated by the three fresh graduates of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts then, has been identified as a critical moment in the development of contemporary art in Singapore. The event is important in the context of Singapore art as it underlined the artists' interest in expanding the formal vocabulary of contemporary art in Singapore in a manner which was conceptually rooted to the various religious beliefs of the practitioners, and still is. The exhibition which featured paintings, sculptures, installations and performances were based on ideas anchored to eastern philosophy drawn from Hindu, Islamic and Daoist traditions.

Trimurti, a Sanskrit term meaning three visages, has been employed as a theme in this exhibition to propose the dynamic integration of differing traditions into a syncretic form, that different things can exist together harmoniously. The exhibition can be seen as a co-optive response to the Singaporean multiculturalism. This theme, which is the essence of multiculturalism - the very notion of the harmonious co-existance while maintaining the integrity and uniqueness of the given cultures, is particularly important and relevant in the context of Singapore, it being a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious society.

Since the event, these artists have earnestly pursued their individual interests, evolving ideas that they have each forgrounded in Trimurti. They have all held important solo exhibitions over the past few years, extending and developing their practices beyond Trimurti. Their works had been featured in international exhibitions in Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe and the United States. Through a selection of works completed over the past 10 years, the exhibition will show how the three artists have refined their ideas beyond the Trimurti exhibition and subsequently emerged as artists of international standing.

The exhibition will occupy the Upper and Lower Galleries in the Museum.

A series of talks, lectures and discussion sessions based on the themes of the exhibition will be held at the Singapore Art Museum over the period of the exhibition, November 1998 to February 1999. A series of talks, lectures and discussion sessions based on the themes of the exhibition will be held at the Singapore Art Museum over the period of the exhibition, November 1998 to February 1999.

The following are some talks & activities held in conjunction with the exhibition:

1) Talk by Artist In conjunction with the exhibition, Trimurti & Ten Years After, Salleh Japar will be speaking on art as a jouney into the self, his role as an artist and his works.

Curators-in-charge:
Ahmad Mashadi
Tay Swee Lin

Guest Curators
T K Sabapathy
Constance Sheares