Historical Projects

REMEMBERING A LOCAL PIONEER: SOLAMALAY NAMASIVAYAM EXHIBITION

In November 2019, Yeo Workshop presented Solamalay Namasivayam’s first major retrospective, Points of Articulation, which brought his works and life as an artist-educator to light. It pays tribute to his legacy as a pioneering artist in Singapore since his passing in 2013.

The exhibition showcased more than 30 works across a variety of mediums to render the human figure; ranging from monochromatic charcoal or ink on paper, to vibrantly coloured pastels or gouache on paper. These works were carefully selected from his extensive oeuvre, and were featured alongside extracts of his own writings about art from Namasivayam’s personal notebooks and lecture notes, providing valuable insights into his life and practice as both an artist and art educator.

POINTS OF ARTICULATION: NAMASIVAYAM MONOGRAPH LAUNCH

COMING SOON

As part of Yeo Workshop’s continued dedication to the Singapore art scene, the gallery is proud to support the launch of Points of Articulation, a 200-page monograph honouring the late artist Solamalay Namasivayam. A key figure in Singapore's figurative art scene, Namasivayam co-founded Group 90 and played a pivotal role in shaping the nation's artistic landscape. Despite being one of the earliest Colombo scholars and introducing the life drawing curriculum to schools nationwide, his contributions were often overlooked and very little is documented in literature. With unwavering dedication to his art, he spent the final two decades of his life fervently studying the human form and producing hundreds of dynamic portraits, many of which have not been exhibited to the public. This publication is, to some extent, a catalogue raisonne for the artist, illuminating his legacy as an artist and educator through a comprehensive survey of his drawings, writings and archival materials.

A SOCIAL PORTRAIT OF SINGAPORE, THROUGH THE LENS OF LOKE HONG SENG

EXHIBITION AND CATALOGUE

One of the pioneers of street photography in Singapore, Loke Hong Seng’s black and white images offer a critical view on the country’s nation-building era in the 1960-70s. Through his depictions of industrialisation and urban transformation, Loke captures the city’s critical years of growth where yesteryear tableaus of everyday life including kampungs, bumboat coolies and samsui women eventually give way to the contours of newly-built HDB housing estates and skyscrapers.

To celebrate Loke’s seminal work and its deep relevance to Singaporean history, Yeo Workshop organised his first ever solo exhibition A Social Portrait of Singapore: The Critical Years in 2015, coinciding with Singapore’s SG50 celebrations.A catalogue was published on occasion of the exhibition, with an additional exhibition held at the UOB Art Gallery in UOB Plaza in partnership with UOB . As with several artists of the pioneer generation, Loke had encountered difficulties finding gallery representation or even an audience for his photographs in the past. Today, as art appreciation continues to grow and mature in Singapore, Loke’s photographs have found an audience in both old and young generations – the older generation who wish to preserve their past and the younger generation who are eager to learn more about their nation’s history.

Read the E-Book Here

Curator’s Cut Publication and Exhibition

“Curators' Cut” is an esteemed publication by Yeo Workshop, spotlighting a curated selection of iconic Singaporean exhibitions from 1953 to 2014. The five distinguished Singapore-based curators: Savita Apte, Louis Ho, Ho Rui An, Seng Yu Jin, and Charmaine Toh, were chosen for their dedicated research in the arts and the unique perspectives they bring to their curatorial practices. Each curator was asked to choose ten seminal exhibition catalogs that encapsulate their insights into Singapore's exhibition history and lay a foundation for future scholarly research. Complementing the publication, Yeo Workshop also hosted an exhibition of Curators' Cut in May 2014, celebrating this significant endeavor.

Read the E-Book Here

Historical Projects

REMEMBERING A LOCAL PIONEER: SOLAMALAY NAMASIVAYAM EXHIBITION

POINTS OF ARTICULATION: NAMASIVAYAM MONOGRAPH LAUNCH

A SOCIAL PORTRAIT OF SINGAPORE, THROUGH THE LENS OF LOKE HONG SENG

Featured Artists

Solamalay Namasivayam

Loke Hong Seng

Curator’s Cut Publication and Exhibition

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