Drawing asserts its place in art

IN the world of art, painting is king: It is commonly collected and traded in the secondary market, fetching the shattering prices you see in headlines. Drawings, on the other hand, are the poor cousins of paintings. They are perceived as being easier to execute on paper and are typically less durable than paintings.

However, a new show at Yeo's Workshop in Gillman Barracks attempts to dispel some of these notions and assert drawing as a medium in its own right. By assembling four talented artists - three Singaporean, one Thai - and showcasing their drawings on paper, A Drawing Show offers a rare perspective on the somewhat neglected medium.

Curated by Louis Ho, the show's biggest coup is getting abstract heavyweight Ian Woo to be part of the group. Woo, 47, is well-known for his gorgeous paintings that sensually juxtapose colours and forms. Here, restrained perhaps by his choice of black pencil on paper, Woo resorts to a variety of techniques - from sharp parallel lines to billowy nebulae - to create the kind of borders, distinctions and tensions he usually creates with colours.