artcommune and AC43 Gallery are pleased to present The Story of Two Presses, which delves into the little-known history and collaborative culture of contemporary printmaking in Singapore. Featuring works by Chen Cheng Mei, Chng Seok Tin, Chen Shitong, Chiew Sien Kuan, Chua Chon Hee, Ho E Moi, Nhawfal Juma’at, Nyan Soe, Oh Chai Hoo and Tan Sock Fong, this multi-generational showcase centres on the developments of two specific printmaking workshops helmed by local artists in Singapore - the LASALLE Printing Workshop (in LASALLE College of the Arts) led by Chen Cheng Mei and Chng Seok Tin between the mid-1980s and 1990s, and Pulp Editions founded by Chen Shitong in 2017.
Though operating over 30 years apart, both printers embody the fervent ground-up initiative of local artists whose passion and sacrifices became instrumental in developing the contemporary printmaking scene in Singapore. The Story of Two Presses presents around 30 fine art prints spanning the period of 1980s to 2022, with almost all being produced in these two workshops.
Celebration of Chng Seok Tin’s birthday, circa 1992.
Artists Ho E Moi, Chen Cheng Mei, and Chng Seok Tin (from left to right in the foreground) with students at the LASALLE Printing Workshop in Telok Kurau. Photograph courtesy of Dahlia Osman (2nd from right in the background), student of Chng Seok Tin.
More often than not, a series of small, thoughtful gestures from one or two individuals is all it takes to set forth a course of meaningful developments for an entire community. In 1985, the dedication of Brother Joseph McNally, who founded LASALLE College of the Arts in 1984, was met with an equal measure of selflessness from artist Chen Cheng Mei, who readily helped facilitate the inception of the school’s printmaking department by placing her own newly imported English etching press and print materials in the school’s printing workshop for all students and interested artists to use.
Chen Cheng Mei (b. 1927, Singapore - d. 2020, Singapore) herself was primarily an oil painter who had trained at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (1949-54). While visiting Paris in 1980, she hung out at the renowned Atelier 17 printer owned by Stanley William Hayter and was determined to experiment further with press techniques. This prompted her purchase of an expensive English etching press in 1985 for her personal use. In the early years of the newly-opened LASALLE, Brother McNally had had to contend with limited funds and resources, and Chen Cheng Mei’s generous gestures had allowed the school to run its printmaking department with verve and aptitude. Her informal gifting of the etching press and materials enabled LASALLE to hire Chng Seok Tin (b. 1946, Singapore - d. 2019, Singapore), who had just returned to Singapore after many years of training and experimenting with print techniques in the US, to helm the department in 1985. In the late 80s, Chen Cheng Mei also added an imported German lithograph press to the workshop. Over the years, she continued to donate many print materials including paper, imported plates and acids to the workshop.
As a teacher and mentor, Chng Seok Tin was instrumental in fostering the first of print majors amongst art students in Singapore. For up until the late 80s, printmaking was offered only as an exposure module at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and the lessons focused more on woodcut and silkscreen printing. LASALLE was effectively the first art school in Singapore to offer a degree majoring in Print, encouraging a more specialised interest in etching and lithography.
Between 1985 and up till the 2000s, Chen Cheng Mei, Chng Seok Tin and Ho E Moi (also Chen’s sister-in-law) worked often at the LASALLE Printing Workshop to produce their own etchings and lithographs. Several students and graduates from LASALLE who were active members of the Contemporary Printmaking Association, Singapore, such as Tan Sock Fong (b. 1966, Singapore, who was amongst LASALLE’s first batch of print majors), also produced many of their works here. In an informal and organic manner, the LASALLE printing workshop functioned as a fecund space where artists of different backgrounds and styles came together to learn and transfer knowledge, bonded by a common interest to pursue contemporary printmaking as an avenue of expression.
The Story of Two Presses aims to celebrate this uniqueness and spirit embodied by the LASALLE printing workshop with a selection of prints completed by Chen Cheng Mei, Chng Seok Tin, Ho E Moi and Tan Sock Fong in this very space.
Wong Shih Yaw: Between the Parallels
18–31 May 2019
AC43 Gallery was delighted to present Wong Shih Yaw: Between the Parallels, an exhibition of new and existing works which opened on 18 May 2019 and ran through 31 May 2019. Addressing the perilous boundaries between fantasy and reality, life and death, dreams and horrors, Wong has boldly developed a unique visual contemporary language that seeks to confront the dualities that define Modern Man’s state of existence. The artist’s autobiographical approach to art also sees him openly mediating on the Christian experience with reverence and technicolour optimism in his invention, revealing the frailty of being all too human.
Featuring over 40 paintings and sketches rendered in oil, acrylic and ink, the exhibition offered a broad survey of Wong Shih Yaw’s oeuvre. From his depiction of still life objects at their rawest forms – ironically suggesting the life that once was – to the devotional stance adopted by humanoid characters existing in a world that is part cyber-futuristic and part rooted in reality, Wong has always been unabashed about projecting the inherent dualities of everyday life onto his art. “I hope my works can awaken the viewers’ sleeping consciences,” the artist once declared. “This is my responsibility as an artist!”
Artist Profile
Wong Shih Yaw (b. 1967 - , Singapore) received his formal art education at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). As one of the founding members of The Artists Village established in 1988, Wong was part of an important assembling of artists who had gathered in support of fundamental principles in contemporary art practices, among which was the championing of a collaborative process and an openness to experimental art forms.
Unhinged, at times dripping with emotional quality, Wong Shih Yaw’s brand of infusing magical realism into everyday life is a curious study on the artistic milieu of Singapore’s emerging visual artists in the late 1980s, who called for newer artistic strategies to represent reality beyond figuration. His work can be found in the collections of the Singapore Art Museum, National Gallery Singapore, United Overseas Bank and private collectors in Singapore and overseas.
Press
