AN unexpected generational chasm has just opened in Singapore's most august art institution. After five years of showcasing blue-chip art by the region's most established artists, National Gallery Singapore is devoting its latest exhibitions to art by young, untested artists instead.

Originally, the gallery had planned to run an exhibition of Matisse and Picasso from May to August of this year. But the pandemic impacted the loans and transportation of many key artworks for the exhibition. So the gallery looked to home instead and settled on two showcases of mostly young Singapore-based artists curated by two equally young independent curators.

Suddenly, National Gallery Singapore doesn't look so serious anymore - or, for that matter, so bluechip. Some of these young artists prove themselves to be promising talents to watch. But a few have delivered underwhelming, unconvincing works that make you shake your head in despair.