Which Is Which? A Survey Of Artists From Lasalle & Nafa
Can you tell the difference between a visual artist who graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa) and one who studied at Lasalle College of the Arts?
Take your nerdy art friends to Gajah Gallery and quiz them on art history as curator John Tung has hid the names of the 15 artists and affiliations as you take in their works.
“There are a few contenders whom I think some people will get wrong – it’s a mix of educators and graduates,” says Tung. He points out that many would mistake Cultural Medallion recipient Chua Ek Kay as a Nafa graduate, when the Chinese ink painter graduated from Lasalle.
Nafa, founded in 1938, and Lasalle, in 1984, are regarded as leading art institutions with distinctive pedagogies. Approached by Gajah Gallery founder Jasdeep Sandhu to curate a show on the occasion of the formation of the University of the Arts – an alliance between Nafa and Lasalle – Tung says he has given the subject his own spin.
The exhibition plays on stereotypes that the two schools have, says Tung, such as Lasalle producing only conceptual artists and Nafa very traditional ones. These tropes might not be helpful in navigating this new exhibition.
Schools aside, other surprises are in store. There is a lovely, modest painting by Ng Eng Teng titled Still Life With Red Lilies (1961) on show – somewhat of a rarity for those accustomed to Ng’s enormous public art sculptures or his humorous sculptures of torso-faces.
Which Is Which? opens on the same weekend as Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen’s solo exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum – a perfect opportunity to make the trek to Tanjong Pagar Distripark worth your steps.
Where: Gajah Gallery, 03-04 Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road
MRT: Tanjong Pagar
When: Nov 24 to Dec 10; weekdays, 11am to 7pm; weekends, noon to 6pm
Admission: Free
Info: gajahgallery.com
