Singapore: Justin Lee, Iggy's
Another action-packed day: breakfast at P.S. Cafe (my fave breakfast hangout in town), speaker sessions at INSEAD on Women in Management and Partnerships between Business and NGOs, checked out some of the Singapore Biennale exhibits at Tanglin Camp, met artist Justin Lee, dinner at Iggy's, then checked out Butter Factory and Hacienda.
Old army barracks were converted into exhibition spaces.
My favourite installation was Takashi Kuribayashi's "Sometimes I feel like I'm in an aquarium". Located in Block 73A. It occupied the ground floor and the lower floor. I walked into the ground floor and saw only an aquarium in the middle of the room. Two Japanese women were staring at it. Disappointed, I walked out and ventured downstairs. On entering, all I saw was a black, plastic, blow-up seal. Nearby was a sign politely asking visitors not to physically abuse the seal. I was ready to leave when I notived a ladder in the middle of the room. Funny, I hadn't recalled an opening in the ground floor. Where did the ladder lead? I walked over, looked up and saw a hole in the ceiling, so i climbed up the ladder and realized I had climbed up through the ceiling and into the aquarium! Too bad the two Japanese women weren't still there. It would have been funny to see their reaction to me popping up into the aquarium. When I descended, I noticed another ladder at the far end of the room. This one led up to a jungle environment.
Next art stop of the day was Asian Art Options' office where I met up with Audrey Phng and Justin Lee to see my first art acquisition! I met AP earlier this year in Singapore and we really hit it off. While browsing her site's list of artists, I came across Justin Lee and really took a liking to his whimsical, kitschy work appropriating and re-interpreting Asian motifs and icons. So when I found out that Justin had designed several of the rooms at New Majestic Hotel, I made sure to request his rooms for my stay. I loved the rooms so much that I ended up commissiong a piece from Justin. And here are the fruits of his labours, which I absolutely adore. Many thanks to AP for making my first art aquisition happen! We celebrated the event with a bottle of VCP Rose and a box of Springli Grand Cru truffles (fresh from Zurich) courtesy of EO and Triple Chocolate Brownie from The Brownie Factory (at Takashimaya) courtesy of Justin. I was trying very hard not to ruin my appetite for dinner at Iggy's, but the truffles and brownies were just too tempting...
There are a lot of Justin Lee motifs here: paper-cut, double happiness, lightbulbs, the powerful female figure (in this case, guanyin dressed up in a super-hero cape). There was one new element that I hadn't seen before, but it also happened to be the first thing that caught my eye -- a tiny, little sheep on the bottom right corner of the canvas. A lot of Justin's art work deals with themes about Asia's place in the world, it's struggle to embrace Western culture and brands of status while trying not to turn its back on its own past. He asks questions about the power of brands and consumerism, women's role in society (are they goddesses, Wonder Woman or prey (the antelope headdress) or both?), are we free-thinking and acting or or we slaves to our ambitions to keep up with the Joneses?
On the way to Iggy's, we popped into Ambush (not knowing that it was a shop), a couple shops down from AP's office and ran into another one of AP's artists: Miguel Chew shopping for a new shirt (he also designed rooms at New Majestic)!
We arrived iggy's late and found Chubby Hubby and his S as well as AP's D had been waiting for us for half an hour (I had mis-read the email. So, so sorry guys!!). It is always a treat to dine with Chubby Hubby and his S, because they are like walking food and wine encyclopedias, not to mention that they know the chefs and get extra good service. To say the least, our 10-course tasting menu was nothing short of fabulous. Highlights were: Onion gratin with 2g of Alba white truffle, Crispy roasted suckling pig with apple puree and tumeric oil, Cappellini with ssakura ebi and home-made scampi oil (AP actually asked for and got seconds!!) and a panna cotta (at least I think that's what it was) with candied tomatoes and basil ice cream (meant to be a reinterpretation of a caprese salad). But the food adventure of the night was one of the canapes. On the menu, it said: Pan-fried shirako with green curry foam. Shirako, a beautiful sounding name, is actually sperm of whale!!!
Old army barracks were converted into exhibition spaces.
My favourite installation was Takashi Kuribayashi's "Sometimes I feel like I'm in an aquarium". Located in Block 73A. It occupied the ground floor and the lower floor. I walked into the ground floor and saw only an aquarium in the middle of the room. Two Japanese women were staring at it. Disappointed, I walked out and ventured downstairs. On entering, all I saw was a black, plastic, blow-up seal. Nearby was a sign politely asking visitors not to physically abuse the seal. I was ready to leave when I notived a ladder in the middle of the room. Funny, I hadn't recalled an opening in the ground floor. Where did the ladder lead? I walked over, looked up and saw a hole in the ceiling, so i climbed up the ladder and realized I had climbed up through the ceiling and into the aquarium! Too bad the two Japanese women weren't still there. It would have been funny to see their reaction to me popping up into the aquarium. When I descended, I noticed another ladder at the far end of the room. This one led up to a jungle environment.
Next art stop of the day was Asian Art Options' office where I met up with Audrey Phng and Justin Lee to see my first art acquisition! I met AP earlier this year in Singapore and we really hit it off. While browsing her site's list of artists, I came across Justin Lee and really took a liking to his whimsical, kitschy work appropriating and re-interpreting Asian motifs and icons. So when I found out that Justin had designed several of the rooms at New Majestic Hotel, I made sure to request his rooms for my stay. I loved the rooms so much that I ended up commissiong a piece from Justin. And here are the fruits of his labours, which I absolutely adore. Many thanks to AP for making my first art aquisition happen! We celebrated the event with a bottle of VCP Rose and a box of Springli Grand Cru truffles (fresh from Zurich) courtesy of EO and Triple Chocolate Brownie from The Brownie Factory (at Takashimaya) courtesy of Justin. I was trying very hard not to ruin my appetite for dinner at Iggy's, but the truffles and brownies were just too tempting...
There are a lot of Justin Lee motifs here: paper-cut, double happiness, lightbulbs, the powerful female figure (in this case, guanyin dressed up in a super-hero cape). There was one new element that I hadn't seen before, but it also happened to be the first thing that caught my eye -- a tiny, little sheep on the bottom right corner of the canvas. A lot of Justin's art work deals with themes about Asia's place in the world, it's struggle to embrace Western culture and brands of status while trying not to turn its back on its own past. He asks questions about the power of brands and consumerism, women's role in society (are they goddesses, Wonder Woman or prey (the antelope headdress) or both?), are we free-thinking and acting or or we slaves to our ambitions to keep up with the Joneses?
On the way to Iggy's, we popped into Ambush (not knowing that it was a shop), a couple shops down from AP's office and ran into another one of AP's artists: Miguel Chew shopping for a new shirt (he also designed rooms at New Majestic)!
We arrived iggy's late and found Chubby Hubby and his S as well as AP's D had been waiting for us for half an hour (I had mis-read the email. So, so sorry guys!!). It is always a treat to dine with Chubby Hubby and his S, because they are like walking food and wine encyclopedias, not to mention that they know the chefs and get extra good service. To say the least, our 10-course tasting menu was nothing short of fabulous. Highlights were: Onion gratin with 2g of Alba white truffle, Crispy roasted suckling pig with apple puree and tumeric oil, Cappellini with ssakura ebi and home-made scampi oil (AP actually asked for and got seconds!!) and a panna cotta (at least I think that's what it was) with candied tomatoes and basil ice cream (meant to be a reinterpretation of a caprese salad). But the food adventure of the night was one of the canapes. On the menu, it said: Pan-fried shirako with green curry foam. Shirako, a beautiful sounding name, is actually sperm of whale!!!
Labels: artists, restaurants, Singapore
posted by 10000miles at 17:57
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