44 Years of the UOB Painting of the Year Award
Ian Tee wins 2025 UOB Painting of the Year (Singapore) Award
The 2025 UOB Painting of the Year Award ceremony was held in Singapore on 12 November 2025 at National Gallery Singapore. Now in its 44th year, the storied award has played a consistent role in supporting the discovery of artists in Southeast Asia. Wee Ee Cheong, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, UOB, says, “Through the UOB Painting of the Year competition, we nurture artistic talent, bring art closer to people and foster closer ties within the art ecosystem through initiatives such as the UOB Artist Alumni Network.” For its long-time support of the arts, the National Arts Council presented UOB with the Distinguished Patron of the Arts Award for the 23rd time earlier this year.
The Singapore judging panel was led by Vichaya Mukdamanee, who conferred with fellow judges gallerist Richard Koh and artist and art educator Vincent Leow. Reflecting on the judging process, Leow says, “It was a delightful experience being part of the judging team at the UOB Painting of the Year, which has allowed me to see such a diverse range of painting approaches by both our established and emerging artists.” He adds, “I had enriching conversations with fellow judges about art and painting, and the challenges of reaching a unanimous decision on the winning works.”
The 2025 UOB POY Award winners at the awards ceremony. Image courtesy of UOB.
Singapore artist Ian Tee, who is also Editor, Art & Market, won the 2025 UOB Painting of the Year (Singapore) Award in the Established Artist Category. For this year’s award, UOB changed the submission rules, allowing only one work per applicant, instead of the three in previous years. Tee chose to submit Cloud of Unknowing I (未知之云 I) (2024) from a new series titled ARISING (緣起). The work is made by grinding and cutting into an aluminum composite panel, creating directional planes of varying depth that reveal its materiality and its message. “I felt that its themes of impermanence and change resonates with the collective sense of uncertainty in the world today,” says Tee. “I chose the largest format painting from this body of work, which features a wide range of the line qualities and reflective effects.”
Ian Tee, Cloud of Unknowing I (未知之云 I), 2024, slashed and sanded aluminium composite panel, 180 x 150cm. Photo by Michelle Yap. Image courtesy of the artist.
The creativity in the artworks was echoed in the videos commissioned by UOB to showcase the artists’ processes. These were played at the award ceremony, and are available for viewing on the UOB and Art website. Tee reveals the video-making process, made by the creative video studio Little Red Ants, which began with a chat with director Chua Seng Yew, about the painting he had submitted and how it fit within his broader practice. “I appreciate Seng Yew's approach, which is centred on storytelling and highlighting the dramatic flair in my technique,” shares Tee. “His decision to focus on the relational aspect of meaning-making helped connect the formal qualities in this winning painting and the conceptual thread that runs across my other bodies of work.”
The video was shot over two full days with nine crew members, including producer Rachelle Tan and cinematographer Elliot Sng. Ian elaborates, “It was a fun experience which opened my eyes to the enormous amount of unseen labour behind these shoots. It is a true team sport as compared to making paintings alone in the studio.” The videos of the awardees delighted the audience members at the award ceremony, and allowed them to understand the intentions and process behind the artworks.
Ian Tee with his work Cloud of Unknowing I (未知之云 I). Image courtesy of UOB.
For Tee, winning the award is a milestone in his practice, and opens up possibilities for where it will go. “It is deeply significant because UOB POTY is one of the few long standing art awards in Singapore,” says Tee. “Personally, I am encouraged by the judges' critical recognition and honoured to be considered among an alumni that includes Chua Ek Kay, whose work I greatly admire. It is also a win for family and friends who supported me throughout this journey.” Chua won the award in 1991, and later received the Cultural Medallion in 1999. Tee is looking forward to the opportunities that the award will offer to further develop his practice. He says, “The prize money offers resources to take more creative risks and pursue bolder projects.” He adds, “I hope the award and winner's showcase at National Gallery Singapore will introduce my work to new local and international audiences.” The showcase opened after the award ceremony, and will be on display until the end of January next year.
Jamilah Haji with her work Dua (Pray for a Blessing). Image courtesy of UOB.
Tee’s work was in the running for the 2025 UOB Southeast Asian Painting of the Year award, together with the country winners from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The regional award winner, announced at the ceremony, is Thai artist Jamilah Haji, with her work Dua (Pray for a Blessing), featuring women in prayerful poses brought to life using boldly coloured embroidery on fabric. The artist says, “In a world overwhelmed by conflict, disease, and inequality, I feel a responsibility as an artist to be a voice for peace and hope.” She adds, “Through my work, I want to remind people not to stop dreaming, to hold on to hope, and to believe in their ability to create change. I drew inspiration from the idea of beauty as a reflection of resilience, using symbolic elements to echo the aspirations of humanity.” All five country winners have interviewed for a UOB-sponsored overseas art residency programme at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.
Boo Sze Yang, Romance on Hobby Horses – The Gate Keepers, oil on linen, 180 X 150cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Aside from the country winner, there are also the gold, silver and bronze awards in each country. In Singapore, Justin Lee won the Gold Award with My Tiles and the Yellow Line, Boo Sze Yang won the Silver Award with Romance on Hobby Horses – The Gate Keepers, and Junko Tsuji the Bronze Award with Vessel of Presence. Boo explains his submission, saying “I was thinking about the bizarre, almost theatrical situations unfolding around the world, how power becomes performance and truth becomes masked.” He explains, “This piece attempts to reflect those tensions, wrapped in candy-coloured, playful images that feel bright on the surface but unsettling underneath.” The award ceremony attendees were all gifted a bag featuring a close-up of the artwork. Speaking about the accolade, Boo says, “Winning this award is a meaningful affirmation, especially for a work that confronts challenging and complex realities hidden under a seemingly playful appearance.” He adds, “It gives me the confidence to keep pushing these visual and conceptual tensions, to keep expanding the boundaries of my practice, and to continue exploring different approaches in painting what moves and affects me.”
Dayna Liu with her work Existence is Prison, a Personal Account. Image courtesy of UOB.
Complementing the Established Artist Category is the Emerging Artist Category. Dayna Lu won the 2025 Most Promising Artist of the Year (Singapore) with her work Existence is Prison, a Personal Account. It is a hyperrealistic rendition of a dystopian view, deftly created using acrylic on canvas. In Indonesia, the winner is Muhammad Shodik with i am here and in Malaysia, Putra Aqmal Danish Bin Mohd Zuraimi with I Love You, Bearbear. Tanyapat Manasarakul won in Thailand with Ctrl + Alt + Destruct and Nguyen Ngoc Thuan won in Vietnam with Self-Portrait, 2025 (A Life Rooted in My Form As a Tree). Similar to the Established Artist Category awards, the Emerging Artist Category also had gold, silver and bronze award winners in each country. In Singapore, they are respectively Lorain Kok with Map of Stroll Through the Neighbourhood, Tok Oei Kee with Whispers of the Garden and Mohammad Iqbal Bin Roslan with Transit.
Congratulations to all the winners!
The 2025 UOB Painting of the Year Regional Winners’ Showcase will be held at National Gallery Singapore, UOB Discovery Space, located on Level 4 of the Supreme Court Wing, from 13 November 2025 to 31 January 2026, open from 10am to 7pm daily. The winning artworks, along with the commissioned videos featuring the artists, can also be viewed on UOBandArt.com.
