June is the month for emerging artists

Yeo Tze Yang

At Fost Gallery

Yeo Tze Yang is the fastest-rising figurative artist of his generation. A self-taught painter, he is able to convey the private interiority of the people he paints, even though they’re almost always depicted in public places. 

Yeo typically hones in on the most trenchant aspects of the subjects he’s painting, letting all the background noise gently subside. The smallest details of the subject – the patterns of a woman’s skirt, the hair on a man’s arm – come to the fore as emotional notes. 

Whether they’re crossing the road or chugging down a mug of beer in a food court, his subjects look like they’re lost in thought, an intimate moment that stands in sharp contrast to their busy environments.  

The show titled Truth Be Told: Recent thotz abt painting ppl represents Yeo’s first outing with the local gallery Fost. It comprises several paintings, drawings and watercolours in different sizes, capturing a veritable cross-section of people in Singapore. It runs from now till Jul 23.

Priyageetha Dia

At Yeo Workshop 

Priyageetha Dia’s Forget Me, Forget Me Not is another solid debut show by a young artist in a Singapore gallery. Dia first drew media attention in 2017 when she lined the staircase outside her HDB flat with golden foil – without HDB permission – in an act of beautifying the mundane and recalling her family history in gold trade.

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Her new show is also an excavation of history: It’s inspired by a 1923 booklet on Indian labour migration to Malaya to work on rubber plantations. Although the booklet lays out a narrative of acceptable working conditions, Dia’s own research attests to the exploitative nature of these colonial enterprises.

In this show curated by Anca Rujoiu, Dia has channelled her feelings into works that offer a counter-narrative involving the women of the Indian diaspora. Through an animated video that highlights the voices of labourers and the appropriation of stock images of plantation workers, Dia forces us to remember the forgotten labour of Indian women and acknowledge their presence and contribution.   

Forget Me, Forget Me Not is a powerful show that forces the viewer to pause and pay attention. It runs from now till Jun 26.

Masuri Mazlan and Johann M Fauzi

At Art Porters

Masuri Mazlan is inspired by Lora Mathis’ notion of “radical softness as a weapon” as a counter-reaction to patriarchal rules and expectations that have not worked for all members of society. In these series of wall sculptures, Masuri riffs off the embroidery objects and colourful Hari Raya kuehs made by Malay women at home.

By turning soft or edible objects into tough durable sculptures, he celebrates the vulnerability and openness of feminine culture. These works are simultaneously delicate and hard, masculine and feminine, playful and serious.

Showcased alongside Masuri’s sculptures are Johann M Fauzi’s 5 oil paintings, which cheekily subvert classical depictions of Singapore objects and landscapes by Western artists: Here is standard still life using a selection of tropical fruits; there is a sweeping pastoral landscape with a view of Singapore skyscrapers in the background. The 5 paintings attempt to reclaim the romantic past as depicted by colonial painters.

The exhibition titled Mum Said Don’t Be An Artist runs from now till Jul 17.

Luke Heng and Liu Liling

At Mizuma Gallery

Abstract artist Luke Heng continues to dissect the practice of painting in exciting ways. His latest set of works comprise once again metal frames of paintings being foregrounded as the work themselves – as well as a new series of oil paintings that depict repetitive lattice-like structures that echo the metal frames.

What’s impressive about the latter is that they show what an immensely gifted painter Heng is, capable of creating anything between realistic three-dimensional images and flat minimalist abstracts.    

Meanwhile, Liu Liling is a young abstractionist using the photographic medium in surprising ways. Her wall sculptures and floor installations are made of painstakingly printed colour fields affixed to lightbox sculptures that look almost like real lamps. 

Curated by Tan Siuli, the show titled simply LHLLL (the initials of the two artists) runs from now till Jun 26.