June Round-Up

Tai Kwun Contemporary, WIELS, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, etc.
By Andari Suherlan and Vivyan Yeo

Pacita Abad, ‘Filipinas in Hong Kong’, 1995, acrylic on stitched and padded canvas. Image courtesy of Pacita Abad Art Estate.

Garden of Six Seasons

Curated by Cosmin Costinas, Executive Director and Curator at Para Site, this exhibition speaks to Kathmandu Valley’s six distinct seasons, which are now lost to climate change. Its title is derived from an antique garden constructed by Kaiser Sumsher Rana and brings to mind humanity’s age-old practice of creating artificial environments. Involving artists such as Pacita Abad, Arunanondchai and Mary Dhapalany, ‘Garden of Six Seasons’ goes beyond Eurocentric art canons and focuses instead on indigenous frameworks for understanding the world.

Para Site 16 May to 30 August 2020

Thao Nguyen Phan, ‘Mute Grain’, 2019, three-channel video, black and white, 15 min 45 sec. Image courtesy of WIELS.

Thao Nguyen Phan: Monsoon Melody

Winner of the LOOP Video Art Award from the 2018 Han Nefkens Foundation, Vietnamese artist Thao Nguyen Phan explores the tumultuous past of her home country with a deep understanding of literature and language. Combining digital and traditional mediums, this solo presentation features three film installations alongside works created with silk, lacquer, watercolours and more. Dreamlike and sobering, Thao’s film trilogy mixes official and unofficial history to highlight what has been forgotten within Vietnamese history. Held at WIELS, a leading institution for contemporary art in Europe, these works engage with urgent issues such as colonisation, food security and the environment, all of which remain pertinent today. 

WIELS 1 February to 16 August 2020

Le Chatelier Hélène, ‘Instant Ink 5’, 2018, chinese Ink and Acrylic on Saunders Paper, 101 × 66.5 cm. Image courtesy of Intersections Gallery.

Story of a Timeless Time

Held on Artsy’s virtual platform, ‘Story of a Timeless Time’ revisits a 2019 show featured at Intersections Gallery in Singapore. Featuring Hélène Le Chatelier, who presents art as a profound mode of healing, the presentation includes her ink paintings alongside an installation made of instant photographs. These works were created during a time of anguish and confusion following the loss of the artist’s mother, and draw solace from the intimacy and gentleness of personal space. A timely rendition in the current pandemic, this exhibition addresses the difficulties related to uncertainty.

Intersections Gallery 7 May to 30 June 2020

PrayPal, PURE EVER, 2020, Installation view. Image courtesy of I_S_L_A_N_D_S.

PrayPal

In collaboration with PURE EVER, an artist collective supporting underrepresented and emerging artists, I_S_L_A_N_D_S presents ‘PrayPal’ as the first in a series of exhibitions to be held in their new gallery space. Challenging notions of humanity, the show frames the occult as a medium for understanding the threshold between the physical and spiritual. With various texts and paraphernalia made inaccessible by locked glass doors, the viewer is invited to question the normalcy of contemporary social experiences.

I_S_L_A_N_D_S, 10 April to end of July 2020

Wit Pimkanchanapong, ‘Not Quite A Total Eclipse’, 2009, mixed media installation, collection of Singapore Art Museum. Image courtesy of Tai Kwun Contemporary.

They Do Not Understand Each Other

Using the idea of collaboration as the foundation of cultural exchange, ‘They Do Not Understand Each Other’ conveys how deep connections can transcend language, space and time. The group exhibition draws its title from a video work by Tsubasa Kato, which features two individuals completing communal tasks despite their inability to communicate with one another. Curated by Yuka Uematsu from The National Museum of Art in Osaka and Dr. June Yap from the Singapore Art Museum, the show at Tai Kwun Contemporary emphasises how art can facilitate meaningful dialogues between cultures. 

Tai Kwun Contemporary, The National Museum of Art, Osaka and Singapore Art Museum, 25 May to 13 September 2020

Robert Renhui Zhao, ‘Last Cat on Christmas Island’, 2016, digital inkjet print. Image courtesy of UCCA Center for Contemporary Art.

Meditations in an Emergency

Inspired by the writings of Frank O’Hara, the exhibition ‘Meditations in an Emergency’ presents art as a source of solace, reflection and solidarity during times of crisis. Featuring the works of 26 artists from China and abroad, this large collection is separated into five sections: the everyday life, the body and biopolitics, the human and animal dichotomy, migration and borders and the information landscape. Included in the exhibition is Singapore artist Robert Zhao Renhui’s work ‘Last Cat on Christmas Island’. 

UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, 21 May to 30 August 2020