23 highlights of Singapore Art Week 2023

ART SG

This is the mega event every art lover is waiting for – not just in Singapore but also in the region. The debut of high-end art fair Art SG, organised by the respected impresarios of The Art Assembly, is expected to draw every single major South-east Asian art collector to these shores during its five-day run (including the VIP vernissage). The bluest of blue-chip art galleries will be bringing works by the world’s best modern and contemporary artists such as Alex Katz, Robert Rauschenberg, Louise Bourgeois, Sopheap Pich and Thomas Houseago. Its potential success could change the game for the city-state. Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Jan 11- Jan 15

JOO CHOON LIN: DANCE IN THE DESTRUCTION DANCE

There is never a dull moment in a show by Joo Choon Lin, an artist adept at turning industrial materials such as plastic, fabric and metal into the weirdest, most wondrous objects. In her new show at Singapore Art Museum, she once again transforms an entire space into a hyperactive installation-cum-performance guaranteed to overwhelm your senses. She is not so much interested in creating an artwork as a state of mind. If you care to decipher her strange logic – and there is a logic – you might be captivated. Singapore Art Museum, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Jan 13 - Apr 16

KHAIRULDDIN WAHAB: SHAPE OF LAND

Khairulddin Wahab is one of Singapore’s most gifted young painters. His vivid canvases find inspiration from post-colonial narratives in Singapore and South-east Asia, but they’re depicted with a contemporary sensibility and cinematic scope that draw the eye. Employing an unconventional palette from sentimental pastels to lurid fluorescents, the paintings occupy a magical realist space between figuration and abstraction. His latest solo exhibition is based on extensive research conducted while he was a creative resident with the National Library Board. Cuturi Gallery, 61 Aliwal St, Jan 7 - Jan 29