French artist Sébastien Marc (AKA Colorz) will be holding an exhibition in Singapore at Cyril Kongo’s studio located at The Mill 03-03 this Saturday, 13 May 2023. The eclectic urban artist has over 25 years of experience and his works are found across the major cities like Paris, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

The exhibition, “Urban Domain” showcases Colorz’s unique artistic style that is known to be expressive yet controlled. Just like his longtime friend and fellow street artist Cyril Kongo, Colorz takes inspiration from the city’s streets. For Colorz, the streets of New York, Paris and many more are where sub-cultures are born and its rich social mores are encapsulated in his artworks. Acquainted with a host of mediums like canvas, aluminium and Plexiglass, the artist’s own brand of abstraction calls to mind great artists like Jackson Pollock and Gerhard Richter.

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There is a contradiction in art. It is a form of expression yet it is being pigeonholed into set categories and even nationalities. Such is the case for contemporary abstract ink art; those from the West see this art form as originating in China. However, China does not classify contemporary abstract ink art as Chinese or Western because this painting style deviates from the mainstream of ink painting.

This is an ongoing conversation and the through line of “Black / White Quotes”, an art exhibition which features the collaborative efforts of artists Zhang Zhao Hui and Hélène Le Chatelier. This coming together is a showcase where oriental aesthetics meets contemporary abstract art, and visitors are encouraged to ponder and interact with the works of art.

In this infinite journey of exploration, both artists have chosen to express themselves in colours of black, white, grey and others. The colour black carries with it various meanings and associations; more often it has the connotation of being bold and symbolises traditionality.

On the other hand, white is the culmination of all chromatic colours and is often thought to represent purity or a new start and endeavour. While grey, the mix of black and white, stands for the inherent ambiguity in this world.

Nothing is strictly dichotomous, and the “mixture” of these two hues encapsulates the ephemeral and constant transformation of objects, thoughts, and the self in the light and shadow of time.

Zhang Zhaohui sees traditional Chinese ink painting’s agility and adaptable brushwork as a potential focal point in contemporary art. He adeptly reconciles seeming contradictions of eternity and ephemerality, tradition and modernity in his artwork by skillfully employing fluid lines that constantly transform.

Through this artistic approach, Zhang simplifies and clarifies the complexities of reality such as international politics and socio-economic issues more palatable for understanding by making them accessible for everyday use. His works are even compared to principles of optics and atomic physics, particularly the periodic structure produced by light waves or photons during filtered movement, which aligns with Zhang’s unique ink rhythm. 

In comparison, Hélène Le Chatelier’s artwork delves into the intriguing interplay between memory, social context, and intimate spaces. Through her inked human landscapes, paper works, and abstract landscapes, she explores the body as both a physical and metaphorical landscape, challenging conventional notions of representation and reality.

Her art invites viewers to rue retrospectively, prompting questions about the boundaries between inner and outer spaces and the complex relationships among memory, emotion, and our physical environment.

Head over to www.olalaworks.com for information or please contact: [email protected].

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With a career spanning over six decades, photographer James Barnor is a renowned figure in the history of photography. The Ghanian creative’s lenses have witnessed and immortalised important societal events. In his home country, Ghana, his studio in Accra was where black and white portraits were taken against the backdrop of a nation preparing to claim its sovereignty. 

Besides being a portraitist, Barnor was a photojournalist and photographed prominent figures such as Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first leader following its independence; Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent; and Vice-President Richard Nixon among others. In the 1960s, Barnor relocated to London, where he pursued future studies in photography and settled down, and during this period, he was also contributing to Drum magazine. His contribution to the magazine helped to reconceive the standard for the delicate representation of Black beauty, grace and style.

• READ MORE: Marcelo Martin Burgos: Sculpture of the Golden Age

At 93, he’s still young at heart and is involved in photography. For the new exhibition of Saint Laurent Rive Droite stores in Paris and Los Angeles, creative director Anthony Vaccarello invites Barnor to showcase a selection of photographs with the support of Galerie Clémentine de La Féronnière. 

These images, in black and white and colours, serve as symbols of a vivid and fascinating Afro-modernism and offer an unexpected window into a strikingly contemporary and beautiful visual world. About 20 photographs will be exhibited in either of the Saint Laurent Droite locations such as “RUM MODEL”, “LONDON, C.1965-1966” or “DRUM COVER GIRL ERLIN IBRECK”, “KILBURN, LONDON,1966”. A catalogue of the exhibition will be available in the stores as well.

In addition to the exhibition, Barnor will be joined by fellow photographer Campbell Addy, and they will discuss various topics. From the former’s first steps into photography, his take on fashion imaging, his approach to black and white versus colour film, and the importance of passing knowledge to future generations, the duo’s conversation can be watched below.

Like Barnor, Addy is a Ghanaian-born British photographer. Addy, born in 1999, acknowledged James as his moral and artistic role model. Their connection is mutually enriching, and a beautiful example of the generational dialogue Barnor so poetically describes.

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Argentinian artist Marcelo Martin Burgos now lives and works between Buenos Aires and Madrid. He has been practising sculpture for some thirty years, while also pursuing a career as a filmmaker. He finds his equilibrium through this alternation between immobility and movement, solitary work and teamwork, gesture and speech.

His artistic world is deeply rooted in childhood. The artist spent his early years in an orphanage where his father was the director and he was in contact with the children who lived there, who were also his friends. He remembers: “The place was on a hill, surrounded by trees but far from idyllic; it was eternally overcast by a heavy atmosphere of sadness. I’ve always remembered those kids with admiration. The way they would seek refuge in fantasy. The same way I found solace in art when just a few years later I lost my own father. Those children were the most resilient and brave of all the people I have met in my life.” Marcelo Martin Burgos continues to be fascinated by the imagination of children, which “helps them to make sense of the enormous, mysterious and overwhelming world they are thrown into.”

• READ MORE: Romain Langlois: Artist and Alchemist

To rekindle the power of that imagination and to recapture the joy and freedom he felt in creating as a child, the artist has spent years shedding the academic baggage he received as an art student. A path which is not as easy as it seems: “it takes years to “unlearn” an education in the Fine Arts. The hand and the eyes are trained in a certain tradition, we are taught art history, we learn to imitate. Even worse, we are taught art is a struggle, and that to be a good artist means to cut an ear or drink oneself to death. I spent years trying to be a “serious” artist, I grew tired and bored. Until one day I stumbled upon some chalk drawings a kid had made on the floor of a park, and it struck me. Like a Proust’s Madelaine moment, I went back to the years I would draw just to amuse myself or to escape a reality that was too difficult to comprehend for a child. I had a voice, but for years I was trained to ignore it, to dismiss it.”

His sculptures are crafted in bronze, a noble metal that he values for its versatility and above all, for its golden, mirror-like appearance once it is polished. Long before the invention of glass, the Etruscans were already using polished bronze to create mirrors. The reflective aspect of his creations is a way of inviting his viewers into his works and transforming his sculptures into sensory cues that trigger a memory. “My aim is to elicit images and feelings that will take those who observe my art back to the most creative, awe-inspiring, and frightening time of their lives: the golden age of childhood.”

• READ MORE: The Extravagant Minimalism of Tom Price

This “golden age” is interpreted literally in his sculptures, which resemble statuettes in gold, a material traditionally associated with spirituality and the sacred. This dimension is particularly evident in his latest series, entitled “Monsters.” Although they evoke the spontaneity of children’s drawings, the pieces in this series are also reminiscent of the votive statues of ancient civilisations, which were meant to provide protection and comfort. The art of Marcelo Martin Burgos draws from multiple sources: manga and pop culture, dinosaurs, Toltec and African art. This power of evocation is precisely what gives his sculptures their capacity to resonate in everyone who views them: the sculptures become the means of escape into the memories, the dreams and the meanderings of our inner world.

Marcelo Martin Burgos does not worry about the common critique expressed by viewers of contemporary art: “A kid could have done that”. “I would like them to know that that is the greatest compliment that you could ever give an artist, especially me”.

Marcelo Martin Burgos is represented by Artistics contemporary art gallery in Paris.

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To mark the inaugural Art Basel Paris +, Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello has invited artist Elladj Lincy Deloumeaus to exhibit a series of specially commissioned artworks at the brand’s Rive Droite stores in Paris and Los Angeles. About 30 artworks will be shown in Paris, and two unique and large pieces in the Los Angeles store. The exhibition will run from 18 October 2022.

Exploring the relationship between people and imaginaries, the artist takes an open and vibrant approach to his artworks. Deloumeaus focuses on Afro-Caribbean images that depict “everyday life, mythologies, iconography, beliefs, and religious heritage” as stated in the press release. His pictorial narratives are a recount of his personal experiences and an examination of the pluralist world he inhabits. 

Visitors to the exhibition will find a mixture of still life and painting series where the common thread is the use of the colour black. To the artist, the colour holds symbolic meanings of creation and destruction. In Afro-Caribbean and Indian communities, black is also the divine colour.

• READ MORE: Saint Laurent FW22 Collection is Quietly Elegant and Sophisticated

His creative endeavours take the form of an initiatory trip, the reappropriation of one’s past self that has to reconcile with its own shadow before discovering its own light. The transition towards enlightenment calls for the realisation of the illusory through understanding oneself.

This exhibition is a collaboration between Saint Laurent and Cècile Fakhoury Gallery. With an emphasis on promoting contemporary art across the African continent, the gallery cultivates awareness, creativity and diversity. Many of the artists that are represented by the gallery have the ability to break down geographical barriers and connect with their audience through the common language of art.

Paris has been in the spotlight recently as more art exhibitions and fairs are being held in the “City of Light”. Apart from Saint Laurent, other luxury houses like Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Guerlain and Lalique are also participating in the art fair and so far the reception has been encouraging. The Art Basel Paris+ replaces the former FIAC contemporary art fair and is held at the Grand Palais Éphémère temporary structure, which is just around the Eiffel Tower.

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“Plastiglomerate” is the name for an unnatural stone that appeared in the south of the island of Hawaii, made up of volcanic rock, sand, shell debris and plastic. Some scientists have identified this rock as a marker of the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch characterised by the irreversible impact of human activity on the planet.

The evidence of this era can be found all around us, from deforested areas to illegal dumps and quarries. These sombre sites provide Romain Langlois with the inspiration for his sculptures: an abandoned beam on a demolition site, a tree trunk found in a wasteland, a chunk of stone used to block off a road… a plethora of “objects” torn from nature and discarded after use.

• READ MORE: The Extravagant Minimalism of Tom Price

The artist appropriates this “cultural sediment”, transforms it, and presents it to us in a museum or exhibition space, as if to say: “And now, what do you see?”

Like a true alchemist, he has transmuted the ordinary into something extraordinary. The rock that sits before you is not stone: it’s bronze. That tree trunk is not wood but calcite, created by crystallising calcium carbonate, a process that has been mastered by just a handful of artisans. The resemblance is striking, but the artist does not restrict himself to this trompe l’oeil effect.

His rocks are broken apart to reveal their contents — a radiant liquid resembling magma— while the rafter seems to be lifting itself into a vertical position, with folds forming on its surface much like human skin. The inert materials seem to come alive before your eyes, exposing their latent life force.

• READ MORE: Cyril Kongo: The Man of Letters Returns to Singapore

According to the artist, “everything is alive, everything is in motion, everything is in a process of transformation. There is life below the surface, just waiting to be unleashed. Through my sculptures, I am able to tap into this innate force and reveal it to the world.” Romain Langlois has drawn on this intuition of an ubiquitous life throughout his career as a sculptor.

The 43-year-old French artist is entirely self-taught, driven by passion, a thirst for knowledge, and a desire to make his own way and become one of the great names in this art. For 12 years, surrounded by anatomy references, he sculpted human faces and bodies, striving to master each technique according to his own high standards. From white bronze to bismuth, crystal, silver and stone, the artist has tried his hand at a whole range of materials, gaining an intimate knowledge of every medium. “Working with a material is the only way to truly understand it,” he explains, “the touch of your hands creates a unique bond.”

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In the world of contemporary art, where concepts take precedence over execution and where know-how and craftsmanship are often considered secondary, Romain Langlois chose to put materials at the very heart of his artistic approach. Although he has moved away from depictions of people, his work continues to explore the human condition from an environmental angle, scrutinising humanity’s profound impact on our surroundings.

His sculptures capture a nameless truth about life itself: something that binds us to the wood and the rocks, and raises questions about the place we occupy in this natural order.

Born in Saint-Etienne (France) in 1977, Romain Langlois turned to sculpture after completing his design studies and spending several years working in an architecture firm. His works have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Saint-Etienne and at the MAD in Paris. They are also found in several prestigious private collections.

Romain Langlois is represented by Paris–based Artistics contemporary art gallery.

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Malaysian artist Chok Yue Zan is back with another solo exhibition with Art Porters, titled “Throughout”, the art showcase centres on the idea of nature’s transitory nature. This idea is reflected in the array of artworks that Chok has painted. One would be able to view a “remarkable collection of mystical and ethereal paintings, reminiscent of lush greenery and littoral landscapes”.

Since the start of his career, Chok has made landscapes of forests and oceans his forte. His admiration for nature stemmed from his upbringing in Borneo, Sabah. From an early age and growing up under the care of his grandparents, the artist enjoyed being outdoors and affectionately calls the place “paradise”. Chok recalls his time being filled with “happiness and joyful moments”, and he tries to encapsulate this in his artworks.

• READ MORE: Chok Yue Zan Divulges The Memories of His Childhood’s Lost Paradise

However, in this series of paintings for “Throughout”, Chok recalls the images he has in mind from his younger days at the different stages and transposes it through different colours. Each piece illustrates a different story that harkens back to his life experience at that particular time and its links to his memories. To him, memories are how people’s original stories are spun and each experience is unique. Through art as the medium of expression, Chok welcomes viewers to learn more about him albeit in a more abstract way — colours, styles and even brush strokes.

Just like how life is filled with a myriad of different emotions, the exhibition is what the artist calls a “voyage full of joy and sorrow, reminiscing life and death.” Chok’s raw emotions are on full display through his body of works and he invites viewers to join him in this retrospective journey. 

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Wars, famines and civil unrest are some of the reasons why people are displaced from their motherland and take refuge in other countries. To honour the sacrifices of refugees around the globe, the United Nations has designated 20 June as World Refugee Day. More than just a stark reminder of the atrocities these people face, this is a day where strength, courage and tenacity are celebrated in the teeth of persecution and harm.

Embodying these traits is Chuu Wai Nyein, an artist who has fled her home country in Myanmar after the February 2021 military coup. She was involved in a peaceful protest through her artistic group, “Write for Right” in Yangon, which later caused her to be exiled. The artworks Chuu Wai Nyein created proved to be too controversial, and her family had to leave the country for their safety.

• READ MORE: Ko Z, The Man Behind Myanmar’s Unique Enviroformance Art

After leaving Myanmar, the artist travelled to Kyiv, Ukraine, and decided to settle in the new country. Being in a different country provided Chuu Wai Nyein with fresh perspectives on how to create more unique artworks that are an amalgamation of cultures of Myanmar and Ukraine. The central idea theme of the female identity remains to be the focal point of Chuu Wai Nyein’s paintings. To her, the artworks are created against an awareness of the many ways society controls and scrutinises women more than men. Furthermore, it also chronicles the ways women fought to resist this unjust treatment and how the culture has grown to become intolerant of such prejudices. 

To fully grasp the intention of Chuu Wai Nyein’s body of works, one has to look at her artwork as a whole and peel off the many layers before laying naked the hidden meanings the artist wishes to put forth. The artworks, which often depict women who look to be in their 20s, are seen to be carefree and sexy. It is as though these women are smirking at the viewers for holding archaic views. Moreover, to drive the point that society needs to move on from these traditional notions, some of her paintings even show women with their legs spread and showing their underwear. 

• READ MORE: 10 Creative Ground Breakers of Asia

Chuu Wai Nyein’s artistic foray does not just stop at paintings. She has also ventured into other mediums such as traditional fabrics and even performances — all to show her solidarity with the plight of women worldwide.

For more information about Intersection Gallery, click here.

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