From the Known to the Now: Artcommune Gallery
May 20, 2022 | Neo Hui-Lyn
Step into artcommune gallery – situated appropriately in the art district of Bras Basah at the sparkling Carlton Hotel – and one will be reminded of an art museum more than any commercial gallery. Boasting some of the biggest names and most well-known canvases of the Singaporean art scene, old and new meld into each other with this collection of Singaporean classics. Watercolour and ink gibbons recognisable to every Singaporean (courtesy, of course, of the fifty-dollar note) frolic opposite ceiling-to-floor scrolls splashed with Chinese calligraphy. Here, the iconic Nanyang style of revered pioneer artists like Cheong Soo Pieng and Chen Wen Hsi collide with the the diverse, modern art style as displayed by Singapore masters: Lim Tze Peng, Ong Kim Seng, Tan Choh Tee, Tong Chin Sye, and Wong Keen, who continued their legacy and redefined the next era of Singaporean art. The one thing they have in common, however, is how uniquely and characteristically local they are.