Cai Guo-Qiang began experimenting with the properties of gunpowder in his drawings in the 1980s. He used gunpowder of various grades and forms and exploded it on paper, leaving burnt and smoky charcoal-stained residue marks behind.  Born out of his desire to subject his practice to the dynamic elements, Cai’s work expresses how beauty and violence are often intertwined. Much of this experimentation has lead[.....]

Recalling the stateliness and beauty of warriors, the delicate chainmail in Mella Jaarsma‘s latest work, Dirty Hands, is only interrupted through the visitor’s intervention in the form of light projections of 17th century Dutch prints picturing early colonial confrontations in Indonesia. While on one hand, the interactivity provides a recreation of these historical tensions, the intervention subtly implicates the viewer in their role as teller[.....]

FX Harsono: Testimonies is on show at the Singapore Art Museum from March 4 to May 9, 2010. The exhibition is a survey of works by the Indonesian-Chinese artist FX Harsono, a key figure of the Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru or New Art Movement in the 1970s which questioned assumptions on art and the attempts to depoliticize art during the authoritarian regime of that era[.....]

Inventory: New Art from Southeast Asia at Osage Gallery Singapore presents recent works by eight key artists in Southeast Asia. In 35 Black Cowries, 35 stainless steel Chinese characters are displayed in opened square miniature suitcases and each stainless steel Chinese character includes a black cowry shell to replace the Chinese symbol 贝(bei). The classical Chinese symbol 贝(bei) for money, originated as an ideogram of[.....]