The first major art fair in the global calendar Art Stage Singapore opens its 2015 edition on 22nd January, and will run through to the 25th. Since its establishment in 2010 by former Art Basel Director Lorenzo Rudolf, Art Stage Singapore has continued to spearhead the commercial exposition of contemporary art from South East Asia, placing its artists, collectors, audiences and institutions on a visible international platform. Art Stage is now the leading fair for Asian contemporary art, and this year will welcome some 135 galleries from 28 countries.
The annual Southeast Asia Platform is curated this year by the Singaporean curator Khim Ong, presenting works by emerging and established artists from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The exhibit, entitled “Eagles Fly, Sheep Flock: Biographical Imprints—Artistic Practices in Southeast Asia”, will include painting, installation, print, photography, video and performance. New special exhibitions for 2015 are a Russia Platform, Video Platform and Modern Platform. From Russia, and for the first time in Singapore, Olga Sviblova will present two extraordinary and fascinating video works by feted Russian art collective AES+F: “Allegoria Sacra” and “The Feast of Trimalchio”. Video Stage recognizes the importance of this contemporary medium and will showcase more than 60 video works from the region and around the globe, with the main section curated by Paul Greenaway (Australia) and additional selections by Chi-Wen Huang (Taiwan) and Ute Meta Bauer (Germany/Singapore). In the Modern Platform, “Andre Masson—Metamorphosis” will be the largest retrospective in Asia devoted to the French surrealist. Over 50 works will be presented in a museum-like environment. Two further special exhibitions will be “Looking Out/Looking In”, curated by Hongchul Byun, in cooperation with Art Council Korea, and “Being Human”—a show of 16 Malaysian artists devoted to figurative painting.
Completing the visual panoply, large-scale public works will also be installed around the fair. Suspended from the ceiling, “Contours of a Rich Manoeuvre” is by the Singaporean artist Suzann Victor. British duo Gilbert & George have been commissioned to create a new work for the VIP lounge. Colombian artist Fernando Botero’s monumental sculpture “Standing Woman” will welcome visitors at the entrance hall, close to Mike Chang’s entrance art work. Inside the fair, look out for pieces by Zulkifle Mahmod, Titarubi, Joana Vasconcelos and Paresh Maity. With such diverse and up-to-the-minute art on show, this fair will again conjure a visual world of its own.
