The SG60 Sale: Art Agenda, SG

This SG60, ANNEXE presents a special auction of paintings, sculptures and rare books pertaining to Singapore art and history. More than just an auction, The SG60 Sale tells a story of the diverse ways Singapore artists have conceptualised the city, identity and existence across time.

The opening section of the sale is titled Past, and features a selection of Singapore scenes from the 80s by Ong Kim Seng, Chew Piak San, Thang Kiang How, and Tay Bak Koi. Infused with poignance for what is left in the past as the nation evolves, these renderings of the city are at the same time packed with anticipation for what may come.

The second section, Present, foregrounds works by Singapore artists that explore the richness of lived experience. 

This takes the form of confessional, almost psychological ruminations on self and identity from Teng Nee Cheong, Aiman, Henri Chen KeZhan and Lim Yew Kuan, but also manifests in works that embrace and render scenes, experiences and objects of the everyday, as seen in the art of Ling Yang Chang, Jaafar Latiff, Ng Yak Whee, Iskandar Jalil, Robert Zhao Renhui, Hong Sek Chern and Anthony Chua. Also included in this section are paintings from Earl Lu and Ong Kim Seng that capture the unique experience of being present in a fleeting moment during travel.

The final thematic section titled Eternity subverts expectations, serving as a reminder that the story of art is not linear, but a rhizome of developments and influences. If the art in Present is rooted in the specificity of experiences, Eternity reveals the capacity for Singapore artists to engage with universal concepts.

Works in this section provoke rumination on abstract ideas that have always persisted through the ages- the keen interest in form expressed in the works of Anthony Chua and Yeo Hoe Koon; the exploration of spirituality and primordiality in pieces by Teo Eng Seng, Chong Fah Cheong and S. Chandrasekaran; the resonance with natural forms in the works of Baet Yeok Kuan and Brother Joseph McNally.

Browse the sale here.