Hong Sek Chern

 

Hong Sek Chern received a MFA in visual arts from Goldsmith College of the University of London. She was awarded the 2000 Young Artist Award by the Singapore National Arts Council, and teaches at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Singapore, Brazil, China, Kuala Lumpur, England, Vietnam and Thailand.

 

                          

 

Two weeks later, it's off to the Southern Hemisphere for the 25th Bienal de São Paulo, Mar. 23-June 2, 2002, with 190 artists from 70 countries taking up the theme of "Iconografias Metropolitanas" at the 30,000-square-meter exhibition space on three floors of the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion. Chief curator is Alfons Hug. Representing Singapore is Hong Sek Chern.

On Singapore Art: She puts it down to a matter of cultural economics: 'We are not just passive recipients of what our colonial masters have doled out. What we have done - though sometimes absurd, for example, some of the crazy, whirlwind changes in artistic styles of old master Cheng Soo Pieng - can be seen as a direct response of the Western milieu.'

 

EDUCATION
1998
Master of Fine Art, Goldsmiths College University of London (Under the Chen Chong Swee Overseas Art Scholarship), London, United Kingdom.

1995
Diploma in Fine Art, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), Singapore.

1990
Diploma in Education, Institute of Education, Singapore.

1989
Bachelor of Science, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore.


SELECTED AWARDS / COLLECTIONS


Young Artist Award, National Arts Council (NAC), Singapore, 2000.


1st Prize (Representational Category), 18th Painting of the Year Competition, The United Overseas Bank (UOB) Group, Singapore, 1999.


Honourable Mention (2 awards), 1999 Singapore Turf Club Art Competition, Singapore, 1999.


Top Prize, Philippe Charriol Foundation Contemporary Art Competition 1995/6, Singapore, 1996.


Jurors Choice / Prize: Singapore Art Awards 96, 98 and 99, The Philip Morris Group of Companies, Singapore, 1996, 1998 and 1999.


Chen Chong Swee Overseas Art Scholarship, Chen Chong Swee Foundation and National Arts Council (NAC), Singapore, 1996.


1st Prize (Representational Category), Expression in Art, Singapore Telecom, Singapore, 1995.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS / ACTIVITIES


25th Sao Paolo Biennial, a Group Exhibition, Parque Ibirapuera Biennial Exhibition Hall, Sao Paolo, Brazil, 2002.


9th International Drawing and Print Exhibit, a Group Exhibition, Taipei Fine Art Museum, China, 2001.


Different Eye Different View, a Group Exhibition, Artfolio Gallery, Singapore, 2000.


15th Asian International Arts Exhibition, a Group Exhibition, Tainan Country Cultural Affairs Bureau, China, 2000.


NAFAs Lecturers Show, a Group Exhibition, NAFA Art Gallery, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), Singapore, 1999.


ASEAN Art Awards 99, a Group Exhibition, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1999.


Hexagon Drawing Exhibition, a Group Exhibition, Telok Kurau Studios Gallery, Singapore, 1999.


Modern Monuments, a Solo Exhibition, Telok Kurau Studios Gallery, Singapore, 2000.


Secretary, Sculpture Society, Singapore, 2000 Present.


Secretary, Telok Kurau Studios Management Committee, Singapore, 2000 2001.


Member, Modern Art Society, Singapore, 1998 Present.


Lecturer, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), Singapore, 1998 Present.


Education Officer, Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore, 1990 1992.