You are cordially invited to
Out of the Grey


5th Solo Painting exhibition by WONG SHIH YAW

Opening Reception
THURSDAY 30th MAR 2006 7 pm
Utterly Art Exhibition Space (above Teck Soon Medical Hall,
opposite the Sri Mariamann Temple, Pagoda St Entrance)
229A South Bridge Road (2nd Level) Singapore 058778
Tel: 6226 2605 Fax: 6226 2645
Mon-Sat 11.30 am - 8 pm Sun 12 noon - 5.30 pm
The exhibition runs to SUNDAY 9th Apr 2006.

Like a bolt from the blue, Singaporean artist Wong Shih Yaw has emerged with a wholly original collection of paintings for his latest exhibition, Out of the Grey. Whilst the Christian underpinnings of his works have been self-evident for the last seven years of his artistic practice, Shih Yaw has innovated novel metaphors of the faith-based messages that he wants to convey in painting. From a background of grey subject matter, a central splash of colour arises to arrest the gaze of the viewer, whether it is the clothes of the faceless everyman of the Timeless series, or the geologic block diagram turned cake of the ensuing Slice series. The paintings bow to popular culture in their kitschy appeal, but this is how Shih Yaw intends the meanings to be brought forth over and above an appreciation of his technical skill, which he has amply demonstrated in the past.

Wong Shih Yaw was part of the original Artists Village movement in the late 80s to early 90s, which introduced conceptual, installation and performance art into Singapore. His work has been extensively collected by the Singapore Art Museum, which is currently featuring his paintings as part of the exhibition, The Inoyama Donation: A Tale of Two Artists.