Non Western Blog

  Hello! All of the art I chose today is from Singapore. I have always wanted to visit Singapore, and I  adore the film Crazy Rich Asians. The movie's plot is based in Singapore, inspiring me to present art from this country. 





 Drying Salted Fish by Cheong Soo Pieng: This painting depicts a group of Malay villagers processing and drying salted fish. It was completed in 1978 using  Chinese ink and color on cloth, rendered in the region’s unique Nanyang style, which blends Chinese and Western artistic traditions. Cheong Soo Pieng pioneered the Nanyang style and is considered one of Singapore’s most important artists. He was awarded the Cultural  Medallion in 1982 

Nationl Language Class is an oil painting by Chua Mia Tee, completed in 1959. It depicts a group of Chinese students learning Malay, Singapore's newly designated national language. The painting is charged with nationalist sentiment and commmorates Singapore’s long-awaited attainment of self-governance in the same year. The painting is rendered in a realist style and features a group of students sitting in a classroom, with the teacher standing at the front of the room. The students are dressed in traditional Chinese clothing, and the classroom is sparsely furnished, with a blackboard and a few chairs. The painting is notable for using light and shadow, creating depth and dimensionality.


Life by the River is an oil painting by Liu Kang that was completed in 1975. It depicts a bucolic scene of daily life in a traditional kampung or village in 1970s Singapore. life By The River bustles with human activity – there are people chatting along the wooden walkway, a pair of women feeding ducks, and another pair washing clothes in the river while a man pushes a perahu or boat to the river bank. In the foreground, a group of children are engrossed in a game while an adult is carrying a baby on his hips. The painting’s compositional style is more akin to the Chinese landscape pictorial scroll tradition, with the impression of depth created by the arrangement of shapes rather than by a Western-style vanishing point perspective.Overall, I love how each piece brings a unique sense of Singaporean culture and history to life. Each of these paintings invokes powerful emotions that show the people of Singapore's pride for their country. 



Cited works 

Plural Art Mag. “Kampung Idyll: Liu Kang’s Life By The River.” 9 Nov. 2018, https://pluralartmag.com/2018/11/09/kampung-idyll/. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.


Roots. “National Language Class.” The Singapore Story Through 60 Objects, 2023, https://www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/the-singapore-story-through-60-objects/art-historical/national-language-class/story. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.

The Culture Trip. “6 Paintings You Must See at the National Gallery Singapore.” The Culture Trip, 23 Jan. 2017, https://theculturetrip.com/asia/singapore/articles/6-paintings-you-must-see-at-the-national-gallery-singapore/ Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.

Comments

  1. AnnaLayne UlroanDecember 4, 2023 at 3:05 PM

    Beautifully done. I, too, adore the movie "Crazy Rich Asians." Out of all three works of art, I especially admire the last painting. For the first one by Pieng, you can easily see how busy the people are; I think the two girls in the middle stand out because of the colors in their clothing. The second painting by Tee is amazing because of the lighting and shadow used in it. I like how the detail presented in this piece. Now the third painting by Kang is so mesmerizing because of how vibrant it is. I admire painting that are so vibrant and full of color. This piece actually is not in much detail, for example their faces are not painted. Did you know that the artist of the first painting was born in 1917?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shannon HolanDecember 4, 2023 at 8:34 PM

    Hi Bel, I love the film Crazy Rich Asians! I like the second painting you have selected for this project. I learned that Singapore art perfectly represents the country; it shows the traditions very well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MGallagherDecember 4, 2023 at 9:56 PM

    I like how Drying Salted Fish is so detailed and yet left up for interpretation. The grass is just lines and dots, and the leaves are just circles, but nothing sticks out as wrong. It looks flat but in a purposeful, stylistic way.
    The language class painting is my favorite. The lighting and posing are so realistic. It makes me feel as if I just turned the corner into the room myself. I also love the painterly style and how you can see brushstrokes and blocks of color.
    It's pretty cool how life on the river has people without much detail but it doesn't look out of place. It has some elements of the first two paintings: both the flat shapes of Drying Salted Fish and the perspective of National Language class. I find it interesting how you can make art that all fits together so it doesn't matter how it's rendered.

    ReplyDelete
  4. CC_ravenDecember 4, 2023 at 11:16 PM

    I thought your works of art were very interesting; the art is very colorful, which is an aspect that I like a lot. Also, your first painting seemed to be like a family setting, which I thought was very nice to see. I agree with the elements you have listed for the pieces of art. Would you ever put these works of art in your home? Why did you use this county and what piece was your favorite?

    ReplyDelete

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