The Private Museum (TPM) Singapore is pleased to present I am a CON artist: Continuous Contemplations of Justin Lee. The exhibition is a special collaboration between artist, collector and space, locating itself in two spaces with a main exhibition and special showcase happening in conjunction with Singapore Art Week 2021.
Alongside a selection of past works from The Teng Collection, a new body of works will also be exhibited, building upon Justin Lee’s continuous contemplations on his identity as an artist and member of civil society. The artist employs visual and cultural references to provide social commentary on the perennial issues of consumerism and individualism, which in today’s digital age of instant gratifications and everyday glorifications become exponentially magnified.
Composed of paintings, text-based artefacts, performance and interactive art installation, the exhibition confronts its audience not only with the ceaseless forces of rapid globalisation and hyper digitalisation, but also challenges them to examine their individual complicity in glorifying and immortalising one’s self in the everyday.
Through this special collaboration, TPM expands beyond its scope as a home for private collectors by merging its artist and collector platforms to present the interconnectedness and intimate relationships that form between artists, collectors, art spaces, and their audiences.
Featuring Justin Lee’s monumental installations from The Teng Collection, the one-week special showcase reflects the artist’s expanding oeuvre that explores the themes of identity and socio-cultural norms in Singapore across a variety of mediums. The showcase forms part of the exhibition I am a CON artist: Continuous Contemplations of Justin Lee, happening in conjunction with Singapore Art Week 2021.
The Private Museum (TPM) Singapore presents Mediations: A Selection of Works by Ulrich Sante, a digitised exhibition experience in collaboration with the German Ambassador to Singapore Dr Ulrich Sante. Building on our mission to bridge the private and public by facilitation an exchange of ideas across cultures, Mediations celebrates the bilateral ties forged between Singapore and Germany, and importantly offers a glimpse into the converging worlds of art and diplomacy.
This digital project emerged as a result of the COVID-19 crisis which prompted us to rethink how we engage with our audiences and adapt to new norms of virtual experiences. Bringing the exhibition experience to the residence of the German Ambassador, this short film will feature a rarely-seen body of selected artworks by Dr Sante, who, beyond his diplomatic duties, is not only a keen appreciator of the arts, but a passionate contemporary visual artist at heart. Viewers will also be able to witness Dr Sante in conversation with Singapore Ambassador-at-Large Professor Tommy Koh.
Since his inaugural exhibition 18 years ago in Brussels, Dr Sante’s artistic practice focuses primarily on working with everyday found materials such as wood, metal and bricks in creating sculptural works. Throughout his practice, the artist explores mankind’s relationship with nature, which, on one hand may seem at odds with each other, but can also be complementary and in harmony. His works can be found in private collections in Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Lithuania, Austria and the United States.
“Building, structure, edifice. Home, office, organisation. Community, city, country. Shelter, safety, comfort. Identity, memory, history. 99-year lease, freehold, 3+3+3, Master Plan.”
The Private Museum Singapore (TPM) is pleased to present 3+3+3: On Condition—a group exhibition curated by Andrea Fam. This marks the third edition of TPM’s Guest Curator Platform—collaborating with guest curators to support and experiment with independent curatorial practice through the presentation of different perspectives of our world. This interdisciplinary exhibition will feature both new and ongoing works by five artists and architects including artist duo Finbarr Fallon & Claire Goh, Geraldine Kang, Michael Lee, Mervin Loh and Isabella Teng Yen Lin.
Our governing bodies, architects, invisible labour, civilians, new and temporary residents have seamlessly infused their own histories and intimate memories into the foundational and poignant blueprints of our small island nation. Borrowing its namesake from the commercial lease agreement under the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), 3+3+3 explores these unseen psycho-spatial associations and the complexities of our urban planning while musing on the ephemeral nature of space and place-making in our land-scarce city.
Through preparatory sketches, utopian models, performative engagements and satirical ‘white papers’, this exhibition is an open-ended invitation to reflect on our ever-evolving relationships with our urban environment. Engaging our different senses, these works contemplate notions of nostalgia and transience while considering the overlooked inhabitants of Singapore.
Having served as an independent arts platform for the past 11 years, 3+3+3 marks TPM’s last exhibition in our home at 51 Waterloo Street. Such is the life of built spaces in our metropolis—though they bestow us with character, identity and heritage, we confer them with impermanence and dispensability, provocating the question, “If buildings retain the lived histories imbued into them, shouldn’t we consider their embodied human spirit?”