New exclusive art club targets the well-heeled

LAUNCHED at a chic masquerade party in a black-and-white bungalow, a new art collectors’ club is so new, it doesn’t even have a name yet. “To be honest, I haven’t thought much about it,” deadpans Jie Li-Elbraechter, the club’s founder. But if its name is still pending, its mission is set: To raise the level of hype around art collecting in Singapore so that more people would get into it. 

Dr Li-Elbraechter notes – as many other art observers have – that Singaporean art collectors tend to be reticent about their collections and reluctant to reveal to the world what they have. The reasons are unclear since most Singaporeans don’t think twice about showing their cars, watches and handbags.

But whatever the reasons may be, Dr Li-Elbraechter is having none of it. The China-born Singapore-based artist and curator spent months persuading various art collectors to come forward. So the recent masquerade party in Mount Pleasant was a metaphorical “unmasking” of both the club as well as some under-the-radar collectors.

“I look at places like Taipei and Hong Kong, which have strong collector communities and a real buzz around art collecting – and I don’t see why we can’t replicate some of those formulas here,” she says. “I think there’s a lot of undiscovered possibilities in this country.”

At the party where over 100 guests either dressed to the nines in beautiful gowns and jackets – or didn’t bother dressing up at all (another puzzling Singaporean trait) – a group of collectors gave individual presentations on why they collect art.

Relatively new collector Lulu Sun spoke eloquently of her interest in materiality even though she and her husband have been collecting art for only 6 years. Their collection of unusual works includes a classical bust by artist Li Hongbo which looks like it’s carved out of marble, but could be stretched like an accordion because it is actually made from interconnected paper. They also have a video work by Dawn Ng of coloured ice melting as well as a rat sculpture by Lionel Sabatte made out of dust collected from Paris subways.

Sun says: “We like materials that are largely neglected by people, such as dust, which have been transformed through the creativity of artists into something amazing. When some people see the rat-dust sculpture, they can’t believe that such a thing can exist.”

Roberto Fabbri, an Italy-born Singapore-based entrepreneur, showed his collection of “functional art” (a term used for purposeful objects such as furniture and cutleries which are designed by famous artists). They included a teapot by Kazimir Malevich (who famously inspired the minimalist art movement across the world) and 2 cabinets designed by Mimmo Paladino and Cleto Munari.

Fabbri, who’s been collecting works for 50 years, says: “Functional art collecting is relatively new in Asia, whereas in Europe it’s been a tradition for about 100 years. I hope in time, more people in this part of the world will see the value of functional art, because it showcases the confluence of art, design and technology.”  

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Allison Liu, an artist and curator, displayed her collection of works by Nanyang artists Cheong Soo Pieng and Chen Wen Hsi. Established collector Chong Huai Seng spoke of his passion for Wong Keen, Nan Qi and other artists. Simon Sun, a fifth collector, was not present to speak.

The well-heeled crowd was then invited to roam around the bungalow which had been decorated with beautiful artworks, while they sipped champagne and ate canapes. Some professed to having an interest in art collecting, but felt intimidated by what they perceived as a closed-door society. Others were more interested in newer forms such as NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and video art, but wondered about the state of the market. 

Dr Li-Elbraechter says these are precisely the kinds of questions she welcomes: “Many of the people I’ve invited here are those with the means and taste to collect art, but who simply need a bit of a push to get them started. The whole point of these parties is to warm people up to the idea of art collecting... Artists are some of the most daring and original thinkers and they need our support.”

So how does one get an invite to these parties she throws?

“We’re not quite open to public. So right now we rely on our networks of friends who know people who might be interested in the subject, and we’ll slowly expand our network from there. But people are welcome to contact us if they share our passion and interests.”