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.
Feels Like Home: Watercolour Paintings by Tam Kwan Yuen
12–31 December 2020
AC43 Gallery proudly presents Tam Kwan Yuen’s latest solo exhibition Feels Like Home. The show features 20 watercolour works completed in the recent period 2018 – 20, with a new repertoire of contemporary urban scenes inspired by his travels and discoveries in America, Europe and South Asia, and of Singapore skylines and metropolitanism. Having travelled to many countries and terrains over the years, Kwan Yuen realises that notions of home always permeates his interpretations of new places and cultures.
His watercolours capture the spatial-temporal rhythm of city life, portraying in detail ubiquitous neon signs, larger-than-life billboards, sleepless city streets and glitzy interiors. The artist also juxtaposes scenes of cosmopolitan city culture with close-up vignettes of the everyday working man, and paintings like the Seller in Varanasi Alley, The Old Man of Udaipur, and Turkish Delights reveals his sensitive handling of the human subject and his surroundings.
Artist Profile
Born in Hong Kong in 1986, Tam Kwan Yuen grew up in Singapore where he has been active in the local art scene since his youth. Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Nanyang Technological University in 2012, he made the bold decision to embark on a full-time art career. His preference for ultra-realistic detailing of metropolitan landscapes and culture sets him apart from most local watercolourists in terms of subject matter and technical treatment. Currently a member of the Singapore Watercolour Society and a Signature Member of the American Watercolour Society (AWS), his paintings have been featured regularly in group shows around the world and international juried exhibitions.
In 2014, Kwan Yuen won ‘Third Place Award’ in the 34th International Exhibition of Pennsylvania Watercolor Society, and the ‘Award of Distinction’ in the Watermedia Showcase of the Missouri Watercolor Society. In April 2016, his painting, "Good Morning, NYC!" has won the JAN GARY and WILLIAM D. GORMAN MEMORIAL AWARD in the prestigious 149th Annual International Exhibition of American Watercolor Society (AWS). His works have been featured in art publications, including the 17th Issue of the Art of Watercolor Magazine, and selected as Winner in North Light Books' Splash 18: Value | Light + Dark Issue edited by Rachel Rubin Wolf. He has also been recently awarded the Nanyang Outstanding Young Alumni Award by his alma mater, Nanyang Technological University, for his outstanding achievements in art.
