Raymond Lau Poo Seng

MURAL… MUSING ON MY WALL
6th Solo Show by Raymond Lau Poo Seng

13-28 September 2003
Monday to Saturday, from 11am to 7pm
Sunday, from 12pm to 5pm
Gallery will be closed at 4pm on 24 September 2003
 

Mural… Musing on my Wall presents Raymond Lau’s prolific recent series of paintings, most of them produced since his last solo show in 2002. The 30 odd paintings showcased are all inspired by the urban landscape in Singapore.


In this series, Raymond is developing a semi-abstract style whose inspiration can be traced back to 1991 when he started to represent walls, looking at their textures very carefully. With Window Speak, painted in 1992, we find the first example where texture is more important and has more to say than the subject itself. Developing further on some previous work, this time Raymond wants to break away from the use of lines and figurative themes that could be seen in his previous show Motherland, 2002.


The wall here is not the subject anymore but becomes a pretext for abstraction of reality. What we see through Raymond’s representation may be different for each of us. The coloured surface invites the viewer to let his imagination run wild and conceive perhaps a fishing pond, a green field, a lake with birds flying over, or a desert, a green land during spring with a cherry tree, a bunch of flowers, birds waiting on an electric wire behind a house, a stormy sea or the reflection of a building on water…


Remembering the award-winning Echoes of the Window produced in 1993, Raymond acknowledges painting today with a more versatile, spontaneous and free style embodying references to Chinese painting: washed-out and light colours, strokes and black lines. It is Chinese painting style with Western media.


This new series is a testimony of Raymond Lau’s ability to absorb new knowledge in his paintings and to challenge himself to make his style evolve. "If a painting is perfect, this is the end, there is no more experiment," says Raymond.


 

Motherland

Early last year, Lau dreamt of himself on a boat in the sea, looking out towards Batam, Indonesia, where he saw the island illuminated by an ethereal light. Believing this to be a sign that he should return to his cultural roots (his mother is from Batam), Lau has based his latest collection of paintings on his mother’s homeland. Capturing the essence of life in Batam, Lau paints warm and tranquil pictures of the Riau island, leaving the viewer with a impression of Batam as a relaxed and friendly place. See the paintings at Utterly Art (208 South Bridge Rd, #02-01,
Tel: 6226 2605) from now until June 9 2002.