Attributed to Kano Sansetsu, The Old Plum, Edo Period (1615-1868), ca 1645

Attibuted to Kano Sansetsu, The Old Plum, Edo PEriod (1615-1868), ca 1645, four sliding door panels (fusuma), ink, colour, gold leaf on paper, The Metropolitian Museum of Art, New York

A solemn meditative piece by Kano Sansetsu. What a marvellous contrasting sight of a grand, gnarled, twisted and darkened tree bearing delicate pretty sensual flowers. So much about time is also encapsulated within this painting. Technique-wise, the use of gold leaf on paper is a clever way to depict the subject matter without making it too gloomy a piece to be desired by patrons as a decorative piece.

FX Harsono, Bon Appetit, 2008 (Contemporary)

FX Harsono, Bon Appetit, 2008, Installation, Dimension Varies

One of the role of art is to express the socio-political situations of the times. Political art tends not to be pretty given the emphasis on oppression and violence. Very few artist are of the stature of say Picasso to be able to execute a beautiful painting of an ugly disposition.

-

SAM is currently showing the works of FX Harsono and I attended the opening reception. I initially thought "oh another one of those forgettable exhibitions" (as South East Asian political art tends to be, at least for me). But I have to say I was quite impressed with Harsono's work. Almost all the installations were haunting and poignant as the above picture shows. Many of Harsono's creations are in response to the oppresive Suharto's regime towards the chinese community.

-

In this work, Harsono seems to be suggesting that in the bid to satisfy the whimsical appetite of the political elites, the beautiful dreams of the delicate and vulnerable are prevented from taking flight. Harsono is also reminding us not to be decieved by the refined practices of the elites. It is more important to look at what they are eating.

Antony Gormley, Fields (sculpture/installation)

35000 clay figurines, 1991

Nowadays installations filling up a whole room or a gallery is no longer a novel concept. The first for me was Antony Gormley's fields at Tate Liverpool in 2004. I recalled being quite captivated by the sight of tens of thousands of figurines, each unique, unexpectingly greeting me as i was about to walked into the room . This time there is no room of course. Instead you are about to be swarmed by the masses.

Face Mask from Gabon (Art Negre)

Face Mask Ngil, Fang, Gabon, Wood, Kaolin, brass nails, height 66cm, 19th Century, Musee du Quai Branly; Depot Musee de l'Homme

Masks are haunting and frightful but at the same time utterly fascinating. I am always riveted by any masks I see be it from Japan, Asia or Africa. Some of them give me the feeling that they are alive and calling out to me. African masks, like all wooden artefacts, are appealing when they are scratched, worn and aged with a layer patina.

I read that in recent years, scholarly voices from the art circle pointed out two misconceptions regarding the aesthetic discourse of African masks. Firstly, African tribal masks were never intended as objects of arts meant purely for admiration. They are ritual artifacts. Secondly, instead of being artifacts of aesthetic autonomy, masks are only part of an aesthetic totality consisting of dance, movement, music, audience, narrative and ecstasy.

With these views brewing in my mind, it suddenly dawned upon me that masks are indeed incredible objects because they can be appreciated as standalone objects much like sculptures in addition to being appreciated as a process much akin to performing art.

Perhaps African masks show us that the power of rituals come from aesthetics. Indeed sacred activities cannot function without it. We must then ask ourselves whether religious experience is in large part no more than an aesthetic one and that it is only words convincing us otherwise?

Russell Young, David Bowie, 2008 (Contemporary art)

Russell Young, David Bowie: The Jean Genie, 2008, Acrylic paint, enamel and diamond dust silk screen print on line, 2008, 62 x 48inches

Attended an exhibition featuring the works of Russell Young. Although the 'sexy-glamour' style makes the paintings rather chic, I do not rate these series of work highly for a couple of reasons. These series of work couldn't escape the shadow of Warhol's prints. It's too reminiscent of Warhol to the point of mimicking his works. The uniqueness is not there. Moreover, most of the pieces were done in 2009. Yet the subjects of the paintings were icons of the past, making them irrelevant to the prevailing zeitgeist. Where is the strong connection between the artist and the subject matter? Warhol is justified to paint these iconic celebrities as he had personal relations with these stars.

Of the whole collection, I only like the above David Bowie piece. I feel this style of glitzy glamour painting works for David alone.

Picasso, Nude Woman with Necklace, 1968

Picasso, Nude Woman with Necklace, 1968, Oil on canvas, 1135 x 1617mm, Tate Gallery

This is a very powerful piece of work to me. When i first saw it at Tate Modern, waves of emotions just hit upon me. I could feel the raw energy pulsating throughout the painting subjecting the body of the odalisque to much disturbance. Why is she indifferent to the invisible hands outraging her body right before our eyes? Is this painting about the indifferent attitude of prositutes towards the violation of their body?

Aboriginal Art by woman of Bulgul, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia (modern aboriginal art)

Club 21 gallery presented an exhibition on Aborignal art from Bulgul in Jan-Feb 2010. The style from this region tends to focus on colourful geometric patterns that are on the whole very pleasing on the eye. As I am not well verse in aborignal art, I am not aware whether the style is representative of modern aborignal art. In future, I would like to find out whether these works have a lineage with ancestral aborignal art and how they have evolved. In my opinion, I take issue with the word aborignal though as 'aborignal' in my mind has 'folk art' connotations and these works are certainly modern and appeared to be done by professional artists. Perhaps its marketing of art and the label 'aborignal' adds a sense of intrigue to theis art form.

All said, what i saw make nice decorative pieces and can see that they easily go well for most homes. Although beautiful pieces which i enjoy looking at, I do not rank them highly as they do not forcefully brings out emotions in the viewers, a quality I look out for in art.

Thota Vaikuntam, Siesta (Indian Contemporary)

Thota Vaikuntam, Siesta, 2008, acrylic on canvas

I first saw this piece by Thota Vaikuntam at ART Singapore 2008. This painting somehow always stuck in my mind ever since and i am still trying to figure out why... I call it a quiet painting as it doesnt elicit strong emotions from me at first sight. I tend to grade such works a notch (or several) lower. Nonetheless its a beautiful piece of work that grows on me.