5 Galleries to Know in Singapore

Audrey Yeo started her profession as a gallerist in London earlier than returning residence to Singapore in 2013, when she opened Yeo Workshop at Gillman Barracks, which had not too long ago been transformed into an arts complicated. Over the previous decade, she has constructed a gallery identified for representing Southeast Asian artists whose work “combines sturdy craftsmanship with compelling human tales,” she mentioned. Amongst them are Balinese artist Citra Sasmita, Malaysian painter Anum, Indonesian artist Maryanto, and Singapore’s Wei Leng Tay.

Yeo Workshop has additionally earned a status for initiatives past merely mounting exhibitions, from publishing the first-ever monograph on pioneering Singaporean artist Solamalay Namasivayam to internet hosting intimate life drawing periods, panel discussions, artwork appreciation brunches, and collector gatherings geared toward connecting with the local people. The gallery is presently marking its twelfth anniversary with “Holding (Area),” a bunch exhibition that includes Aki Hassan, Justin Loke, Marcin Dudek, and others. 

As president of the Artwork Galleries Affiliation Singapore, Yeo additionally leads Singapore Gallery Month, and he or she was instrumental within the launch of Singapore’s S.E.A Focus artwork honest and the Julius Baer Subsequent Era Artwork Prize for Southeast Asian digital artists. “Singapore’s artwork scene continues to be rising, so there may be ample room for all gamers to develop and develop demand,” Yeo mentioned. “Each gallery has an necessary position to play in constructing a stronger, extra vibrant artwork ecosystem.”

Educated as a lawyer earlier than following her true calling within the arts, Stephanie Fong established FOST Gallery in 2006 when Singapore’s arts scene was nonetheless nascent. What started in a shophouse close to the Singapore River has since grown into certainly one of Southeast Asia’s most progressive up to date artwork areas, now primarily based in Gillman Barracks. From the outset, Fong’s imaginative and prescient has been artist-driven. “We do not need any restrictions on mediums, types, themes. What’s extra necessary is that we work with artists who’re dedicated to creating artwork a profession and who use their very own genuine visible language as a way of expression,” she mentioned.

FOST champions main Singaporean voices reminiscent of John Clang, Grace Tan, Wyn-Lyn Tan, Donna Ong, and Ian Woo, whereas additionally nurturing rising names like Jon Chan and Lavender Chang. Worldwide artists, like Phi Phi Oanh from Vietnam and Adeel uz Zafar from Pakistan, enrich the gallery’s numerous roster. Past exhibitions, FOST is understood for its artist talks, scholarly publications, and emphasis on long-lasting relationships. As Fong put it, “Discovering which means in what I do is essential to me.”

Based in 2023 by seasoned Singaporean gallerist Christiaan Haridas, Haridas Up to date has swiftly change into a significant springboard for rising and mid-career Singaporean and Singapore-based artists, alongside artists from elsewhere in Southeast Asia. With almost twenty years of expertise at main establishments like STPI, Gajah Gallery, and Richard Koh Superb Artwork, Haridas brings each in depth market information and a private dedication to nurturing expertise. The gallery’s roster consists of artists Melissa Tan, Jeremy Sharma, Esmond Loh, and John Marie Andrada.

Haridas mentioned the gallery’s artist-development mannequin is intentionally long-term, scouting promising graduates from the Lasalle Faculty of the Arts and the Nanyang Academy of Superb Arts, Singapore’s high artwork faculties. The gallery then sometimes affords them a spot in a bunch present, which might progress to a solo exhibition and potential illustration. Haridas Up to date additionally affords artists steerage on balancing profession aspirations with the monetary realities of life in Singapore. Haridas mentioned, “I really feel a way of non-public duty to leverage my ability set and assist Singaporean artists navigate the industrial facet of the visible arts—particularly recent graduates.”

Now primarily based within the Tanjong Pagar Distripark artwork hub, Haridas Up to date, which participated in ART SG for the primary time earlier this 12 months, is on a mission to develop in keeping with Singapore’s younger up to date artwork scene and to “create a way of perception” in Singapore’s artwork market, Haridas mentioned.

Regardless of holding a grasp’s in physics and constructing a profession in know-how, together with a stint at Amazon, Spanish artwork collector Kevin Troyano Cuturi pivoted to the artwork world in 2019, when he opened his namesake gallery. “I had no prior expertise and discovered on the job. To this present day, we’re nonetheless studying,” he instructed ARTnews. Now identified for displaying a brand new era of Singaporean and worldwide artists alike, Cuturi Gallery represents the likes of Aisha Rosli, Khairulddin Wahab, and Shen Jiaqi. The gallery has additionally labored to boost the profile of its artists internationally, because it did when it collaborated in 2023 with Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles to present Singaporean painter Faris Heizer his first solo present within the US.

Housed in a conservation shophouse in Kampong Glam arts precinct, Cuturi Gallery additionally runs an in-house residency for native and abroad artists culminating in a solo presentation. Moreover, it staged a collection of satellite tv for pc exhibitions in London in 2022, with plans for a everlasting European outpost by 2026. The residency program is accompanied by an initiative modeled after tech incubators by which the gallery’s artists obtain mentorship and sources, like arts supplies.

“I like to consider the connection with an artist like a partnership,” Cuturi mentioned. “There needs to be a typical imaginative and prescient working in an surroundings of belief and complicity. If each events are in sync, it’s a really highly effective association. The bottom line is to have a long-term strategy.”

This 12 months, Sullivan+Strumpf is celebrating its twentieth anniversary—a milestone that underscores its affect as one of many Asia-Pacific’s main up to date artwork galleries. Based in Sydney in 2005 by Ursula Sullivan and Joanna Strumpf, it expanded to Singapore in 2016, opening in Gillman Barracks and changing into the primary Australian gallery to ascertain a everlasting presence in Asia. The gallery now hosts 30 exhibitions yearly throughout its areas in Singapore, Sydney, and Melbourne and represents almost 50 artists at numerous levels of their careers, together with Daybreak Ng, Irfan Hendrian, Kanchana Gupta, and Lindy Lee. It additionally hosts online-only exhibitions and publishes a quarterly journal. Final July, it relocated to the Tiong Bahru neighborhood, a residential space identified for its Artwork Deco structure, avenue artwork, unbiased bookstores, and classy cafes.

“In all areas of our operation, we search to foster an inclusive and alluring ambiance,” Strumpf instructed ARTnews. “In the long run, it’s merely about being welcoming, sustaining relationships, and good communication.”