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National Gallery Singapore launches special exhibition "Reframing Modernism"

Xinhua, March 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan on Wednesday launched an international special exhibition "Reframing Modernism" at National Gallery Singapore, which offers fresh perspectives about modern arts from Southeast Asia, Europe and beyond.

The special exhibition is co-curated and co-presented by National Gallery Singapore and Center Pompidou, Paris, and it's also the inaugural exhibition at Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery of National Gallery Singapore, which opened to the public last November.

Entitled "Reframing Modernism: Painting from Southeast Asia, Europe and Beyond", the exhibition showcases 217 works by 51 artists, with approximately half from Center Pompidou. This is also 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.

"Our exhibition will exam how artists in Southeast Asia responded to local specific conditions of modernity, thinking about how they can best present these changes, thinking about the role of arts, as well as the new forms of arts and new styles of arts to their expressions," said Eugene Tan, director at National Gallery Singapore.

Tan added that the exhibition helps people understand Southeast Asia in global context and also allows people to better understand the development of modern arts.

Throughout the exhibition, visitors can draw their own connections and conclusions about the history of modernism and its relevance to the development of arts in Southeast Asia. The unprecedented presentation includes works by Southeast Asian artists such as Georgette Chen, Le Pho, Nguyen Gia Tri, Affandi, Latiff Mohidin, as well as European masters Vassily Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

The exhibition will open to the public from Thursday until July 17, 2016. Endit