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.
Chen Shitong
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Born 1985 in Singapore
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Graduated with Diploma in Fine Arts (Western Painting), Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, 2006
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Graduated with Bachelor of Art (Honours) in Fine Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts, 2013
Utilising the printmaking medium, Chen Shitong weaves subtle narratives that explore the intersection between people and places. Much of his work features the motif of a weathered rock formation – its form and texture inspired by the artist’s daily observations of natural found objects. Vast, solid yet ethereal in presence, the rock formation – created through an exquisite print method – reveals both weight and weightlessness. The tiny, delicate human figures portrayed in various states and postures generate a vibrant sense of life and motion, pointing to the interconnectedness between people and places, and the multitude of stories unveiled through the most ordinary of interactions.
Though Shitong employs printmaking extensively in his aesthetic expressions, his work consists only of unique original editions.
Awards & Notable Commissions
2014 Commission for Farrer Park Medical Centre
2013 Commission for Art in Transit for Downtown Line - Roch0r Station
2012 Winston Oh Travel Award, Practice Award Recipient
2011 LASALLE Scholarship
2009 NAFA Fine Arts Award, Wood Award
Selected Solo & Group Exhibitions
2018 BON á TIRER: Original Prints by Chen Shitong, April Ng, Tan Seow Wei & Zhang Fuming, AC43 Gallery, Singapore
2018 Shop Mix, Tamarind Institute Gallery, Albuquerque, USA
2017 On Common Ground, Mulan Gallery, Singapore
2017 Contemporary Printmaking Festival, Capitol Piazza, Singapore
2016 Locals Only, TAKSU, Singapore
2015 This is Utopia, LWH Gallery, Shanghai
2015 Phrase, Rephrase. Galerie Steph, Singapore
2014 My Dreams. Our Hopes. LWH Gallery, Shanghai, China
2014 Other Nature 2, Art Forum, Singapore
2013 Spot Art 2013, Singaore ARTrium, Singapore
2013 Hospice is..., Project Space Institue of Contemporary Art, Lasalle, Singapore
2013 Georgetown Festival 2013, Georgetown Penang, Malaysia
