Ong Kim Seng, Lorong 34 Geylang, 2021, Watercolour on paper, 36 x 54 cm
Ong Kim Seng’s latest solo exhibition features 20 half-sheet watercolours (approx. 36 x 54 cm in size) of local and foreign landscapes completed en plein air by the artist between 2018 and 2022. A celebrated maestro of light and shade, Ong Kim Seng (b. 1945, Singapore), BBM. A.W.S. DF. N.W.S is amongst the most acclaimed watercolour artists in Asia. He rose to international prominence in the 1980s, and has continued to be one of Singapore’s most important and successful artists.
Plein-air painting has been integral to Ong Kim Seng’s practice in as early as the 1960s, when as a youth he began participating in outdoor painting with the Sunday Group. Led by pioneer watercolourist Lim Cheng Hoe, the Sunday Group comprised an informal gathering of professional and amateur artists who embarked on outdoor painting at selected local landmarks almost every Sunday. Ong Kim Seng’s early experimentation with the watercolour medium was distinctly shaped by these outdoor experiences with the Sunday Group. Over the decades, even as he continued to develop new techniques and strategies in expressing landscapes, plein-air painting has remained one of his essential modes of engagement with the watercolour medium.
In the artist’s own words:
“When painting on site, things change with the passage of time. One is affected by the shift in light and shadow, as well as other changes in the environment. Interacting with all these factors on site allows an actual experience of the atmosphere, which is crucial to developing a lively and engaging painting.”
Venue: artcommune gallery, 76 Bras Basah Road, #01-01 Singapore 189558
When: 16 - 31 Jul 2022, 12noon - 7pm
