National Gallery Singapore launched its first international special exhibition, Reframing Modernism, co-curated and copresented with Centre Pompidou, Paris. This landmark exhibition is the inaugural exhibition at the Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery.

Reframing Modernism will showcase more than 200 works from about 50 artists, with approximately half from Centre Pompidou and the other half from Southeast Asia. This will also be the first time that an exhibition displays significant Southeast Asian and European artists in parallel through its study of one of the most influential artistic and intellectual drives of the 20th century – modernism – from the perspective of Southeast Asia.

Reframing Modernism challenges the existing paradigm of how modernist painting is presented. It brings to light previously unexplored perspectives which enrich the overall discourse. Taking a comparative approach, the exhibition reveals shared concerns between the artists and their bodies of work to create a new and different narrative of modernism.

Georgette Chen, Landscape, c. 1930s, Oil on canvas, 65 x 81 cm
Collection of Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI
© Dr Lee Seng Gee, Photo: © Centre Pompidou, MNAMCCI/Jim Purcell/Dist. RMN-GP

Throughout the exhibition, visitors are invited to draw their own connections and conclusions about the history of modernism and its relevance to the development of art in Southeast Asia. The unprecedented presentation includes works by Southeast Asian artists such as Le Pho (Vietnam), Nguyen Gia Tri (Vietnam), S Sudjojono (Indonesia), Affandi (Indonesia), Latiff Mohidin (Malaysia), Galo B Ocampo (Philippines), Georgette Chen (Singapore) and Tang Chang (Thailand), as well as European masters Vassily Kandinsky, Fernand Léger, Marc Chagall, Jean Dubuffet, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

Vassily Kandinsky, Impression V (Park), 1911, Oil on canvas, 106 x 157.5 cm
Donated by Mme Nina Kandinsky, 1976, Collection of Centre Pompidou, Paris, MNAM-CCI
Photo: © Centre Pompidou, MNAMCCI/Bertrand Prévost/Dist. RMN-GP

Reframing Modernism is co-curated by National Gallery Singapore Director Dr Eugene Tan, Senior Curator Lisa Horikawa and Curator Dr Phoebe Scott, together with the Deputy Director of Centre Pompidou’s National Museum of Modern Art – Industrial Design Centre, Catherine David and Curator Dr Nicolas Liucci-Goutnikov.

Exhibition Dates: 31 March – 17 July 2016
Venue: Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery, Level 3, City Hall Wing at National Gallery Singapore
Hours: 10am to 7pm from Monday to Thursday, and Sunday and public holidays,
from 10am to 10pm from Friday to Saturday, and the eves of public holidays.
Admission: $15 and $25 for Singaporeans and Non-Singaporeans respectively. Concessions apply.