The art of finance: What lines the halls of Singapore’s banking giants?

[SINGAPORE] Along the corridors of Swiss private bank UBS in Singapore, a vibrant explosion of colour and geometry arrests the eye in the form of Damien Hirst’s Beautiful, a Celebration of Innermost Fears (1998). 

Many financial institutions own and feature art in their buildings – some as part of a centralised corporate collection, and others simply as a curated experience for customers. The world of art and finance intersect on the walls of these firms, and art has long been a branding tool for banks.

Among the local banks, UOB, for example, has long championed South-east Asian art and local art. It organises the UOB Painting of the Year, which debuted in 1982 and is now Singapore’s longest-running art competition.

In its collection are some 2,800 works, about 70 per cent of them displayed and stored locally, The Straits Times reported.

At UBS, Hirst’s kaleidoscopic, 2 m long piece is among the many blue-chip art pieces lining its corridors in a reflection of a global portfolio that has grown since the 1960s to encompass more than 40,000 artworks.

For the private bank – the founding and lead partner of the ART SG art fair – these assets are not collected for financial gain, but as a “passion pursuit” that pays “emotional dividends” for employees and clients alike, the bank said. 

Young Jin Yee, co-head of UBS’ global wealth management in Asia-Pacific and country head of UBS Singapore (*see amendment note), said: “The UBS Art Collection aims to collaborate with and collect works by the most significant artists of our time. Most of these works are displayed in UBS offices around the world, serving as an inspiration for employees and a platform for dialogue with clients and the public.”

The bank’s Singapore office also displays local works.

“Our acquisitions aim to reflect UBS’ commitment to diverse perspectives and exploring the issues of our time. For instance, in Singapore, works by Singaporean artists are presented alongside international voices to foster a broader dialogue,” Young said. 

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The work of contemporary Singapore artist Dawn Ng is featured. Avalanche I, Time Lost Falling in Love (2022) is a 4K video that uses the entropic melting of ice to compress themes of time, memory and the ephemeral. 

Nearby, her archival pigment print, Nothing is Wrong She Turns Me On (2022), reprises the melting ice block to depict the staticity of this geomorphic form. 

The piece faces Flashing Streams (2024), an installation of acrylic paint, dye, ink and sand on wood, evokes the fluid, dynamic aftermath of a storm in colours reminiscent of the sheen of an oil spill.

UBS’ space also hosts two commissioned works by Hilmi Johandi, Destination image: Reception (after Penang Road, Fort Canning Road and Orchard Road) and Destination image: Lobby (after Penang Road, Fort Canning Road and Orchard Road), (2022).

His oil-on-linen works depict piles of postcards from the past, allowing a layered history of location to sit tangibly in the modern office space.

UBS is known for supporting the “primary market” by buying directly from living artists and galleries.

The bank said: “Through ART SG and our public and community engagement programmes at the UBS Art Studio, we hope to build on this momentum to support broader public access to art and provide a platform that reinforces Singapore’s vital role as a cultural hub for the region.”

Regional resonance

Over at Morgan Stanley’s new Singapore hub, the curatorial focus is exclusively on Asean artists.

The bank’s global art curator Cecilia Tay, when curating for the bank’s Singapore office, said she was aiming to ensure a “resonance” that would connect with the bank’s employees and clients.

“Everywhere we go, that sense of resonance matters. We want to connect with people – our clients and our employees – and we make sure the art is local.”

While the New York headquarters might draw from a wider pool of New York-based artists, the Singapore office is the bank’s South-east Asian hub, necessitating a collection that celebrates South-east Asian representation, she told The Business Times.

A cornerstone of this collection is Ho Tzu Nyen’s CDOSEA: Square Stack (Landscapes) (2019). The work features a lightbox with 26 images that are ever-moving, overlaid images created from viewers walking past.

Tay described Ho’s work as “South-east Asian centric” but possessing an “international vocabulary” that explores the region’s complex, non-unified identity, as depicted in the lightbox.

Facing this work on the other end of the corridor is Suzann Victor’s A Patchwork Tells A Thousand Histories (2023), an acrylic painting obscured by Fresnel lenses, which fracture the landscape into disparate narratives. 

Tay noted that Victor, the first woman to represent Singapore at the Venice Biennale, uses these distortions to ensure viewers truly “see” what they are looking at, so they pay heed to each disparate narrative and note how each makes up the bigger picture.

Tay said: “The Morgan Stanley Art collection in Singapore is a celebration of the South-east Asian diaspora, bringing together artists whose work fosters belonging, encourages cultural understanding and reflects the diversity of our clients and colleagues.

“By highlighting regional voices, we aim to create an inclusive, inspiring workspace while contributing meaningfully to the local arts ecosystem.”

Tay is vocal about the role of these works in a high-pressure environment: “Art is great; there’s no right or wrong… It’s a way to allow people to stimulate conversations and express themselves.”

On how the bank picks pieces for its collection, she said: “We want to make sure that we have as many mediums as possible… but of course, we also want to be good stewards.

“One important question we often ask ourselves is ‘What can we have in the office that we can take good care of for decades to come?’”

Ultimately, art serves a functional wellness purpose. “There’s plenty of research showing that art can reduce stress and boost productivity and creativity. We want to be part of that equation… It’s all about people.”

A bridge to history

While UBS and Morgan Stanley lean into contemporary and regional pieces, OCBC uses art as a bridge to its own history.

Prominently framed at the entrance of the OCBC Centre are stained glass works brought over from the original OCBC building, and which depict the history of the bank.

In the bank itself, the premier private client lounge holds a collection of nearly 600 artworks by artists from South-east Asia and China.

The bank’s latest private instalment features contemporary Singaporean artist Jahan Loh, whose collection is a reinterpretation of the Fivefold Astral Theory (福禄寿喜财). 

This series draws direct inspiration from three jade-green vinyl OCBC coin banks given to him by his grandmother in the early 1980s.

The foundations of a good life – fu (fortune), lu (prosperity) and shou (longevity) – are reinterpreted as “spacemen” that carry family memory and heritage into a future world.

Other regional works fit into themed rooms – from Chinese calligraphy pieces to paintings that provide a contemporary energy. 

An OCBC spokesperson said: “The way we integrate art with our spatial design reflects who we are as a forward-looking bank with a strong regional footprint.

“This is reflected in the design of our meeting rooms, which are named after key cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Shanghai. Each room features artistic elements inspired by the culture and heritage of its namesake location.”

For example, the Shanghai room features traditional Chinese decorative elements, including period-inspired vases and a calligraphy artwork bearing the phrase 厚德载物, which translates roughly to “Great virtue allows the nurturing of all things and reflects our philosophy towards wealth management”.

The spokesperson said: “The art not only enriches the environment, but also serves as a conversation opener. Beyond enhancing the client experience, we also aim to champion diverse local and regional artists by collaborating with them and hosting exclusive private viewing experiences.

“These sessions offer our clients opportunities to connect directly with artists and their stories, creating distinctive moments of engagement that go beyond traditional banking interactions.”

*Amendment note: The article has been edited to reflect the correct designation of the newsmaker.