Ian Woo
Born 1967, Ian Woo has drawn critical attention
for his distinctive style of drip and leak paintings. His bustling and vibrant
abstract paintings touch on the systems of encoding imageries and one's journey
of visual experience as he explores various framing devices combined with
spontaneous doodling and hard-edged mark making. He achieved his Master of Fine
Art, Painting in 1995 and has since been awarded several prestigious awards. In
1999, he was a Category Winner of the Abstract Medium for the 18th UOB Painting
of the Year art competition, followed by a Recipient of the Japanese Chamber of
Commerce and Industry Singapore Art Awards. He was also Juror’s Choice for the
Philip Morris AEAN Art Awards in two consecutive years, 1999 and 2000. He has exhibited widely
locally and in Europe since the early 90's. Ian also lectures in LaSalle-SIA
College of the Arts Singapore.
IAN WOO at HARBOURFRONT MRT
STATION
Enigmatic Appearances #1 & #2 (Diptych)
Ink on paper
H90 x W128 cm (left)
H100 x W100 cm (right)
About the artwork
“I never try to represent anything I see fully. I can’t and I don’t see the
point in it. I try to keep things really simple and thankfully, the architects
liked the clean lines of my work.” Ian Woo
The design of HarbourFront station, the southernmost station of the North East
Line, marries the unchanging appeal of the sea with the clarity of modern
architecture. This distinctive maritime identity serves as a fitting backdrop
for the minimalist works of contemporary artist and painter Ian Woo.
Abstract images on blue vitreous enamel panels evoke a sense of open seas and
ocean-bound vessels. This maritime theme is depicted through clean, uncluttered
line drawings of nature, water and symbols of the marine industry rendered in
the artist’s fluid, minimalist style
The image above is one of the many preliminary paintings produced prior to the
‘Enigmatic Appearances’, a permanent display at HarbourFront MRT station.
SELECTED SHOWS
2001
Plastic Works, Plastic Kinetic Worms, Singapore
President Young Talent Exhibition, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Project 2, Too to The Power of Two, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
2000
Celebration,Victoria's, Tapestry gift To Singapore, Tour in various parts of
Australia
Renewal of Painting, Plastic Kinetic Worms, Singapore
Philip Morris ASEAN Art Awards, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Philip Morris Singapore Art Awards, MITA Building, Singapore
Kachang Puteh, Telok Kerau Gallery, Singapore
Between, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
Mental Images, Paintings and Drawings-Solo Exhibition, LaSalle Gallery,
Singapore
1999
Ambulations, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
Philip Morris ASEAN Art Awards, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Hexagon, Drawing and Drawings, Telok Kerau Art Gallery, Singapore
Philip Morris Singapore Art Awards, Cardwell House, Singapore
The 18th UOB Painting of the Year Exhibition, UOB Plaza, Singapore
Praxis, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
Topographies, LaSalle Gallery, Singapore
Carte Blanche, Alliance Francaise Gallery, Singapore
1998
Painting Now, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
New Generation, Art Forum, Singapore
Semiosis, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
1997
President's Charity Art Exhibition, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
Look, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
1996
The Ida Branson Bequest Exhibition, Atkinson Gallery, Sommerset, England
1995
Language and Location 3, Byam Shaw School of art gallery, London, England
Language and Location 2, Delfina Studios, London, England
Language and Location, Winchester School of Art, Winchester, England
Tallers Oberts(Open Studios), Palo Alto Studios,Barcelona, Spain
Untitled Group Exhibition, Gravina Centro de Arte Studios, Huelva, Spain
1994
KIAD Degree Show, Kent Institute of Art and Design, Canterbury, England
1993
Where Does It Hurt?, Felsted Gallery, Essex, England
1992
The Space, Hong Bee Warehouse, Singapore
Art and Material, The National Museum, Singapore
Image and Text, 5th Passage,
Singapore
QUALIFICATIONS
1995
MA Fine Art, Painting Winchester School of Art-Winchester, England/Barcelona,
Spain
1994
BA in Fine art, Honours, 2nd Upper, Painting Kent Institute of Art and Design,
Canterbury, England
1991
Diploma in Fine art, Painting Nanyang Academy of Fine art, Singapore
CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE
Curator for Painting Now an exhibition on contemporary painting in Singapore,
LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts
Curator for No Dead Space, No Wasted Motion, the 24th Diploma of Fine art
exhibition in Singapore, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts
Curator for Verisimilitude, the 25th Diploma of Fine art exhibition in
LASALLE-SIA Gallery, Singapore, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts
Curator for Travelogue, the Winston Oh travel award for drawing exhibition in
LASALLE-SIA Gallery, Singapore, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts
AWARDS
• Juror's Choice, Philip Morris ASEAN Art Awards, 2000
• Juror's Choice, Philip Morris Singapore Art Awards, 2000
• Juror's Choice, Philip Morris Singapore Art Awards, 1999
• Category Winner of the Abstract Medium, The 18th UOB Painting of the Year Art
Competition, 1999
• Recipient of the JCCI Singapore Art Award 1999 presented by the Japanese
Chamber of Commerce and Industry 1999
PUBLICATIONS
• Fresh ideas from 10 young talents, Sian E.Jay, The Straits Times, April 2001
• Spokesman for Life, East, Feb 2001
• His work sounds like abstract art by Sian E Jay, The Straits Times, Nov 2000
• It pays to keep it under wraps by Sian E Jay, The Straits Times, Nov 2000
• An eye on social concepts by Veronica Shunmugam, Sunday Star, Nov 2000
• Try getting artist to click report on the Philip Morris Group of Companies
ASEAN Art Awards 2000
• Philip Morris Art Awards review by Lian He Zaobao, September 2000
• Right at home with new ideas by Sian E.Jay, The Straits Times, September 2000
• Art takes five, by Tan Dawn Wei, Project Eyeball, September 2000
• Shapes that will woo you by Sian E.Jay, The Straits Times, March 2000
• Candy? No, its frozen images by Cheong Suk-Wai, The Straits Times, 1999
TELEVISION AND RADIO
• Philip Morris Art Awards interview by Passion 99.5, September 2000
• Mental Images interview by Passion 99.5, March 2000
• Topographies interview by Passion 99.5, February 2000
• Featured artist interview televised on "One Small Island", a television
program on local artist, 2000
• Television interview for "New Generation Artist", CNN, June 1998
TRAVEL PROJECTS
Tapestry workshop with Salleh Japar and Chng Ching Kang
organized by the National Arts Council, the Victorian Tapestry Workshop and the
Victorian College of the Arts
Mapping of the Landscape project in Briadwood, Australia
organized by LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts with resident artist Helen Geier
PROJECTS
Artist for the proposed public art and architecture programme for the North
East Line Train Station at the World Trade Centre organized by the Land
Transport Authority of Singapore- 1998-2002
