Lim Tze Peng

Portrait of the Heart is one of the most expansive solo exhibitions of 98-year-old Singaporean veteran artist Lim Tze Peng. A living legend and one of Singapore’s most significant artists, Lim Tze Peng is also the most senior of the four Meritorious Service Medal recipients in 2016. A special curation of over 80 works will be showcased in honour of the Cultural Medallion awardee and Singapore’s oldest living artist. Members of the public will be able to view his art calligraphy works as well as his iconic Singapore River and Chinatown works.

Included in the exhibition will be Lim Tze Peng’s art calligraphy works, featuring the artist’s renowned ‘hutuzi’. With fresh usage of colours and telling abstractions, these calligraphy works reflect the 98-year-old’s dedication and passion to the practice of calligraphy. Chameleon-like, Lim managed to, again, evolve his trademark style to create a series of works that are classical yet contemporary and relevant in today’s age. With gold filling the background and in some pieces, with splashes of blue, green, and yellow, Lim continues to interpret his favourite phrases, poems and extracts with vigour and unrelenting zest.

Renowned for his Chinese ink drawings and paintings of post-independence Singapore, Lim also practices Chinese calligraphy. He has been pursuing art for the past six decades and his paintings of old Singapore landmarks, notably Singapore River, Chinatown, and kampong scenes have signified and reflected the change these prime locations were undergoing during the modernization of Singapore.

In 2003, Lim was awarded the prestigious Cultural Medallion in Singapore in recognition of his contribution to the country’s art and culture. He also broke records with the sale of his work at a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong in 2012.

Lim Tze Peng achieved a stylistic breakthrough with the development of a new style of abstract calligraphy or 糊涂字 (known as hu tu zi). Emphasizing expressiveness and elegance of strokes instead of the actual meaning of the words, some of the works have layers written atop each other with words appearing so cursive and abstract that it is difficult to decipher the characters present.

Venue: Ode to Art Gallery, 252 North Bridge Road #01- 36E/F Raffles City Shopping Centre Singapore 17910

When: 26 Jul - 12 Aug 2018, 11am - 9pm daily

By: ODE TO ART