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| My favorite play by Erica Norris - sweets mash-up, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery, Lasalle Singapore |
You would not believe, but since I started to go for art exhibitions in Singapore, yesterday was the first time I saw piece of art I was ready to buy here and now, and I was such in love with it from the first glance... And it was not even one particular work, but whole series, concept and feeling... And just imagine, that this happened to me, not at the Art Stage, the main exhibition of the year in Singapore, not at the internationally well-known galleries openings, like Bartoux-Singapore, I was writing about, but at the opening of the last chapter within The Lasalle Show 2013, that is mainly featuring students works.
I was visiting ICA Galleries Lasalle College of Arts quite often this year to check, what are the ideas of fresh graduates and students and to see, where art development in Asia is going to, so some of the interesting show cases I shared in previous posts. Especially memorable for me was Parallax Between_Borders: Singapore_China as some reminds of my China life experience. Other exhibitions were also interesting and I found some new tendencies. I put the list of show cases I wrote about at the end of this post, so you can check by yourself ideas of young artists, pics of their works and my thoughts regarding it. But here and now is THE story, how did I meet MY BRAIN-BLOWING ART...At the eve of 25th of April art-lovers, students, friends and professors gathered at the ICA Gallery 2 for opening of the truly mind-blowing showcase "Magic bullet". Lasalle College of Arts was finishing academic year, featuring works of Erika Norris, Jying Tan and Phuong Dang, graduates of Faculty of Fine Arts one and half year master program.
So there was food - cakes and sweets. Media works - colorful pictures of chocolate cakes, tarts, cheese cakes half eaten, destroyed and smashed face, squeezed between fingers... And the main trick here is that you don't realize it from the first glance. Looking from standard 1 m close distance you just see abstract colors mix, that attract and keep your attention... Then you read the name of the work... And you realize, that all that colors are layers of strawberry cake, but smashed on the body, which is almost not visible. You only guess. That's when the disgust feeling comes, as you understand, how food can become trash easily and you wouldn't wish to eat that beautiful piece of cake. Being a chocolate and cakes lover, I got weird feeling looking at the picture. I thought, I would never eat a piece of cake anymore, but when I step closer to see details, that whole picture washed out from my mind and what I saw were endless eye pleasing colors and I still new, that they are coming from sweets, so my mouth watered again... But one step back to see whole series of works and I can see body parts again, that's when I realize the whole picture again and in one moment food is brought down to trash again...
That were my personal feelings, as I'm having quite special relationships with the food. From eating the biggest steaks in German restaurants over eight years ago and trying all delicatessens of Asian strange food on Taiwan from shark fins soup to stinky tofu and hand-made ice-cream made from sweet-potato shaves mixed with parsley nearly five years ago to I'd rather stay hungry, then eat something I don't like after being on rice and noodles non-chocolate, no bread, no coffee, no dairy and cheese diet over year in rural area in China... So now I stick to my favorite food, which is hot and melted chocolate mixed with cheese, better the stinky or spicy one, and even better melted one topped by any kind of nuts and all this eaten with half litter of hot full fat six pro cent milk. Yeh, very strange taste and mix, but that's how I feel, that in the stomach all this will be mixed anyway. And the same feeling I had, when I saw Erica's works. Mix of food colors, smashed layers of cake, that is something, that looks like my favorite dish, and that is how it will look in our stomach but it's sick, destroyed food art, as cakes should be beautiful and please the eyes.
It's also very interesting, that years back, when I was eating biggest steaks in the city, my favorite passage in Hermitage was how I called it "food hall" - huge 2x5 meters almost street billboard size painting of markets and groceries shops of Renaissance time in Europe, when Holland, Dutch, French and Italian artists started to draw nice scenes from simple everyday life, showing the stall of fisherman at the market full of beautiful fishes of all kinds or butcher shop with all kind of meat and even whole animals, just brought in after hunting. I was going Hermitage every month and still I can't say, that I've seen at least ones all rooms, but this "food hall" I could never miss and always was bringing there my my guests. When I took my mom there, she laughed and said, that it's my low budget student life makes me loving to see huge paintings full of pleasantly looking food, and that time "food hall" fully mirrored my eating habits. This time I feel, that Erica's food experiments and art are just expressing my complicated feelings towards food - my love, my disgust, my appreciation and endless enjoy of sweets and chocolates, but my awareness of how easily the beauty of the cake can be destroyed and put down, and how actually it is in our stomach when digested. That magic transformation, that happens in process of chewing and swallowing and that is everybody is aware about, but prefers not to think and just to ignore, it's reflected in Erica's works, you just need to step back or forth to see and feel that transformation, like to swallow or to spit out the bite of food you were chewing.
Apart of series of media works, that I was trying to describe my feelings to, and which are pictured for this post, Erica is doing and actually specializing at small and meter big size color pencil drawings of chewed food, such as gums and jelly beans. It's the same trick... first you just see abstract objects of complex shapes, then you realize, that it's actually jelly beans chewed by the artist. Then this disgust feeling comes, but you can't ignore the fact, that it's something you do as well and actually produce the same material for an art work. I'm not sure, if I was able to transmit the feelings and ideas of the works, so please have a look at the pictures below the post and better visit @ ICA Gallery 2 for your "Magic Bullet".
Two other artists showcasing with the graduation are also playing with visitors experience and feelings. Focusing on art objects by Phuong Dang, visitors are loosing reality going deep into glass cubes with abstract paintings on it. From 2D to real dimension, from paintings to reality but on transparent glass, that is almost like invisible air. It takes time to adjust your brain cells and define on-wall dimensions art from sculpture and, to the end you just give up to name it, only sinking into strange feeling of being lost between dimensions.
Jying Tan is playing with guests daily life experience by flipping together in series pictures of kitchen behind the door. So you can see door opening and just simple interior in room, but it's something you expect, as you recall it from your own home and then it brings you to think about your experience of entering kitchen, putting food to warm up in microwave... You are gone out of reality of the exhibition hall just with the simple pictures flips. Another installation 'Strange familiarity' takes you to the corner of similar gray shadows stripes, where u get lost being surrounded by the same walls and it's not so easy to find ground again.
All three Fine Arts master program graduates are not only presenting their thoughts and ideas, but interacting with viewers pulling out feelings and recalling experiences, so it's not only artists expressing themselves but also viewers start to participate in art creation by adding their expressions to art pieces they see. And it's truly magic bullet, which thy are able to put in to your mind, that what is the main skill and advantage and power of that Masters - to interact with the audience and make it think, put anchors and pull out feelings, recall memories, impress and push out expressions.
"Magic Bullet" opening was greeted by guest of honor Low Sze Wee, Director, Curatorial and Collections of the National Art Gallery Singapore. Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts Dr. Charles Merewether thanked his team for whole year work at The Lasalle Show
Maybev was providing great spirits to welcome guests, greet graduates and warm up arts community for great eve of networking and socializing.
Exhibition will be featured until 9th of May @ ICA Gallery 2, Basement 1, #B1-06, 1 McNally Street, from Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm.
It's always nice to see fresh ideas from graduates, moreover, other galleries have temporary expositions as well and it's always absolutely free to attend. And hurry up, because it's last chapter of The Lasalle Show for this academic year, then school goes for holidays until July and you wouldn't have chance to see anything new until new year of The Lasalle Show starts!
But hold on! The last chance to see students works this year is still coming - Graduation showcases will gather all students, art lovers, professors and friends on the 23rd of May, 6.30 pm - 1 McNally Street @Singapore. It's going to be greatest hang out and ideas exchange for art community in May. See you there ;)
Read about other past exhibitions at @ ICA Gallery 2, Lasalle College of Arts - "Inside the Subject" by Bani Haykal
Read about other past exhibitions at Lasalle College of Arts - Artism, "The Art Incubator 4" exhibition, Art of Science: "Coded Transformations" and 1st Prize, Parallax Between_Borders: Singapore_China, Shifting between surfaces, Disappearing Moon
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| Do you this dirty hands? by Erica Norris - sweets mash-up, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery, Lasalle Singapore |
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| Series - sweets mash-ups by Erica Norris, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery, Lasalle Singapore |
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| Chewed Jelly beans Series by Erica Norris, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery, Lasalle Singapore |
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| Chewed Jelly bean by Erica Norris, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery, Lasalle Singapore |
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| Chewed Jelly bean by Erica Norris, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery, Lasalle Singapore |
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| Kitchen daily life by Jying Tan, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| Strange Familiarity 2 by Jying Tan, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| Boreal by Phuong Dang, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| Figure 1: Flux by Phuong Dang, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| Going another dimension by Phuong Dang, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| Rise by Phuong Dang, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| by Phuong Dang, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| by Phuong Dang, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| by Phuong Dang, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| Light inversions by Phuong Dang, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| by Phuong Dang, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| Opening speech by Low Sze Wee, Director, Curatorial and Collections of the National Art Gallery Singapore, Lasalle Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |
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| Opening The Lasalle Show 2013 Singapore, Fine Arts Graduation Showcase, Magic Bullet exhibition, ICA gallery |