April Round-Up

Art for Air, The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, The High Line, Reminiscence, Nova Contemporary, Jendela Gallery, Esplanade, and Galerie Quynh
By Alana Malika

Jodi Tan, ‘Sense of Order #012’, 2016, Cotton floss thread on Aida cloth, 21.5 x 39 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

Sewing Discord
‘Sewing Discord’ features Singapore artists Hazel Lim, Ginette Chittick, Jodi Tan, Nature Shankar and Berny Tan at Jendela Gallery, Esplanade. The group exhibition reclaims sewing as a stereotypically feminine domestic craft by renegotiating the medium’s potential in visual culture. These works offer a progressive view of how the technology behind weaving, embroidery, origami and cross-stitching can be used to communicate nuanced narratives.

Jendela Gallery, Esplanade, 16 April to 4 July 2021.

Song-Ming Ang, ‘Parts and Labour’, 2011, film still. Image courtesy of the artist.

Piano Magic
The High Line at New York presents ‘Piano Magic’ a solo exhibition by Song-Ming Ang. The  Singaporean artist’s work showcases the influence of music in both social and material contexts through the study of instruments beyond the constraints of classical techniques. Ang provides a wider perspective on music through his survey of cross-cultural practices.

The High Line, 4 March to 28 April 2021.

Ahmad Fuad Osman, ‘Dreaming of Being a Somebody, Afraid of Being a Nobody’, 2013, UV prints on mirror. Image courtesy of A+ Works of Art.

Reminiscence
As an official concurrent exhibition to the 2021 conference for the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), ‘Reminiscence’ features female Southeast Asian artists that collectively explore the materiality of clay. Amy Lee Sanford, Le Hoang Bich Phuong, Colleen Toledano, Khin Thethtar Latt, Linda Nguyen Lopez, Nia Gautama, Soe Yu Nwe and Suwanee Natewong join together in an inquiry into the malleability of clay as a metaphor for the formation of memory. The exhibition makes space for folk and contemporary ceramic practices to unpack ancestral roots and universal themes of womanhood.

 Reminiscence, 17 March 2021 to 17 March 2022.

Installation view of ‘Within / Between / Beneath / Upon’. Image courtesy of The Factory Arts Centre.

Within / Between / Beneath / Upon
Curated by Bill Nguyen and Van Do, ‘Within / Between / Beneath / Upon’ is a group exhibition focusing on sculpture work at The Factory Arts Centre, Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnamese artists Le Hien Minh, Richard Streitmatter-Tran and Thao Nguyen Phan share their diverse practices to interrogate the 3D medium beyond its common public presence as religious statues, political monuments, or outdoor decoration. The exhibition aims to present an expansive perspective on sculpture that exists at the intersection between personal narratives and collective legacies.

The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, 13 March to 6 June 2021.

Trong Gia Nguyen, ‘Enid, circa 1982’, 2019, oil pastel on canvas, 100 x 140 cm. Image courtesy of Galerie Quynh.

familiar
The group exhibition ‘familiar’ at Galerie Quynh, Ho Chi Minh City will feature works by artists Nadege David, Trong Gia Nguyen, and Xuan Ha. The show ponders the paradoxical nature of familiarity as one remembers the essence of memory while forgetting exactly how it was formed. These works present the body as a locus of knowledge, always passively storing generational rhythms, subtle cues, and unconscious habits.

Galerie Quynh, 11 March to 10 April 2021.

Aracha Cholitgul, ‘LDR - Through Space and Time’ , 2020, color pencil on paper, wood, photo frame, 102 × 67 × 1.8 cm. Image taken from Nova Contemporary.

The Study of A Long Distance Relationship
Nova Contemporary in Bangkok presents ‘The Study of A Long Distance Relationship,’ a solo exhibition by Thai artist Aracha Cholitgul. In a series of paintings, drawings, installations and writings, Choltigul contemplates interpersonal relationships that are in the state of flux. Without a settled home or a grounding sense of belonging, how does one navigate a connection that is out of sight but in the mind?

Nova Contemporary, 18 February to 20 April 2021.

Installation view of ‘Air’ by Kavita Vatanajyankur. Image taken from Art for Air.

Art for Air
‘Art for Air’ is a collaboration between Breath Council, the Chiang Mai Arts and Cultural Center, and other independent art spaces that organise art projects across public spaces in Chiang Mai. The event, which features notable Thai artists Kavita Vatanajyankur, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Angkrit Ajchariyasophon, and Piyarat Piyapongwiwat, aims to foster a synergistic discourse on contemporary art as a socially conscious practice. Through close liaison with art practitioners and academics, ‘Art for Air’ provides spaces to further discussions on the role of contemporary art in the solution to global warming and other pressing issues.

Art for Air, 14 February to 30 April 2021.