Modern Art Society Singapore (MASS)
This document on the Modern Art Society is written by Kwok Kian Chow.
This document is part of a joint project of the Singapore Art Museum and the
Honours Core Curriculum, National University of Singapore.
Singaporeart.org would like to thank Kwok Kian Chow for his support on the endeavors of singaporeart.org. This article has been reformatted for html by MASS (Modern Art Society) member. This article, freely available from the NUS archive server, has been stored here for its historical importance.
The Social Realist orientation of the Equator Art Society found direct
opposition in the Modern Art Society. In a 1964 newspaper article entitled
"Current Art Scene in Singapore", Ho Ho Ying discussed the opposing aesthetic
orientation of the Modern Art Society vis-a-vis the Equator Art Society.
Ho lamented that in the initial years of the Equator Art Society, there were a
few artists with a strong foundation in realism and the society's exhibitions
showcased good realist works. However, the realist works of the society in
general were merely documentary and lacked creativity. On the other hand, the
established art associations -- Singapore Art Society and Society of Chinese
Artists -- were habitually organising comprehensive art exhibitions which lacked
dynamic artistic leadership. Ho's analysis of the general art scene was that
many artists were lost in the midst of the new and the old without their own
direction. He concluded that the creative path for the artists was a difficult
one given the prevailing commercialism and the absence of artistic heritage in
Singapore ("Xinjieduan di Xinjiapo huatan").
Ho, however, went on to state that Singapore artists working in the "new
direction" outnumbered those working in the "conventional direction." Ho
identified Cheong Soo Pieng and Chen Wen Hsi as the first major artists to have
deviated from tradition to achieve a stylistic breakthrough in oil and ink
respectively. He predicted that Cheong and Chen would receive considerable
recognition. He also noted that the key significance of the then recently
established Modern Art Society was that moderm art could now be exhibited in a
devoted exhibition.
Before this, it was not that there were no modern art works being exhibited, but
they had to be displayed together with conventional works... as if the
organisers felt that if the newer works were not shown together with the
conventional works, it would not have beer persuasive that the modern works had,
indeed, a foundation in the conventional.
Ho Ho Ying was thought to have transgressed the deep-rooted values in Chinese
aesthetics -- truth, virtue, and beauty -- in his defence of non-objective
abstractor in the late-1950s. The keen debate between Ho Ho Ying and Chen Fan in
1958 centred upon two different meanings -- if not a miscommunication -- of the
concept of jia (untrue or unreal) in art. The debate reflected the deep rift
between realism and abstraction in Singapore art circles.
Ho maintained that representational or realist works in art, by virtue of the
fact that they were representations, were jia as they were not the actual
physical objects. Non-objective art had the potential of presenting an
unmediated reality between the artist as the creator and the canvas.
Coming from a steadfast Social Realist tradition, Chen Fan argued that it was
precisely the aesthetic transcending of the every-day which uplifted the subject
matter to a higher reality. To Chen Fan, truth and beauty were two sides of a
coin and he criticised Ho for setting them up as a dichotomy ("Xieshi zhuyi yu
xinhuapai").
Following the Modern Art exhibition of 1963 by Ho Ho Ying, Jolinda Goh, Tan Yee
Hong, Ng Yat Chuan, Tay Chee Toh, Wee Beng Chong and Tong Siang Eng, the artists
formed the Modem Art Society in 1964. The Society's emphasis and direction were
clearly articulated in its catalogue:
Let us have a look at our era.,. Realism has passed its golden age;
Impressionism has done its duty, Fauvism and Cubism are declining. Something new
must turn up to succeed the unfinished task left by our predecessors. Any
attempt to recover past glory shall be in vain, because history will not
repeat... Art, like all things in the world, is ever changing, and we are trying
to catch up with the change. ["Preface"]
In the following year, five new members - Sim Pang Liang, Tan Ping Chiang, Han
Kuan Cheng, Loo Pook Chiang and Swee Khim Ann -- participated in the Society's
exhibition. Three of Ho Ho Ying's oil works are illustrated here: Cave Age ,
Rhythm of Dance and Stone Age, Lim Chong Keat noted in 1966 that Ho Ho Ying
admitted to an intense admiration for the work of Jackson Pollock, the American
Abstract Expressionist which Ho had seen mainly in illustrations and art titles:
(Ho Ho Ying) appears to have established a natural sympathy for the spontaneous
expression of this kind of imagery and has used it as a vehicle towards his own
ends. The essential characteristic of his work seems to be reflective: the
finished paintings serve as an object for inward meditation. Even when they
attempt to portray an emotion, they are literally cool and disciplined, and are
quite unlike the tempestuous expressionism of Pollock Perhaps this difference
arises from the influence of Chinese cultural traditions, whereby a work of
plastic beauty is regarded as an object for contemplative veneration.... Ho has
arrived at a very distinctive and assured control of textures and abstract
forms; indeed these textures form definite elements in his composition, akin in
some respects with calligraphy. ["The Art of Ho Ho Ying"]
Another founding member of the Modern Art Society, Wee Beng Chong was closely
associated with NAFA first as a student and later as a lecturer after studying
sculpture at the École Nationale Supérièure des Beaux Arts in Paris. A versatile
artist, Wee works in painting, print and mixed media. In the early-1960s, he
became interested in both realist and abstract renditions and produced works
including Conflict in mixed media, and Standing Figure, in bronze. Two other
artists associated with the Modern Art Society are Thang Kiang How and Tar Ping
Chiang. They furthered the formalist direction in Singapore and were to serve as
presidents of the Modern Art Society and Singapore Printmaking Society
respectively. Examples of their works are Thang's mixed-media painting Crackling
Towards July and Tan's mixed-media relief Music.
References
Chen Fan. "Xieshi zhuyi yu xinhuapai". Nanyang Siang Pau, June 24, 1958.
Ho Ho Ying. "Xianjieduan di Xinjiapo huatan". Sin Chew Jit Poh, June 20, 1964.
Ho Ho Ying. "Preface", Modern Art. Singapore, 1963.
Lim Chong Keat. "The Art of Ho Ho Ying". The Art of Ho Ho Ying, Singapore, 1993.