Something New Must Turn Up is a series of six catalogues comparing the practices of artistic forerunners in post-independence Singapore. Through their groundbreaking explorations of media, ranging from collage and printmaking to installation and digital art, these six artists actively expanded the boundaries of art.0Each standalone catalogue traces the individual journeys that these artists undertook as they strove to be continuously "new." By bringing together essays, interviews, full-coloured plates and archival material, the series offers a comparative perspective of how artists critically engaged with the conditions of multiculturalism, developmentalism and modernisation in post-independence Singapore.00Goh Beng Kwan (1937?) was one of the earliest post-war artists in Singapore to travel to the United States to pursue an art education at the Arts Students League of New York. Today, Goh is recognised for his contributions in collage, particularly for his incorporation of a wide range of cultural materials and motifs used to explore issues around cultural representation, urbanism, and identity.0Goh Beng Kwan?s artistic practice developed under the twin developments of urbanisation and industrialisation that transformed cities throughout the mid-20th century. Nervous City traces key moments in Goh?s artmaking from the 1950s to the 1980s, shuttling between different locales and times, and deliberating on the specific connections between the artist?s experiments in collage, the changing urban environment, and the broader art world.00Exhibition: National Gallery Singapore (07.05-22.08.2021)

Goh Beng Kwan : nervous city

Goh, Beng Kwan, 1937-; Loh, Joleen, contributor; Ee, Elaine, editor; National Gallery Singapore, publisher, organizer

Joleen Loh; Beng Kwan Goh; National Gallery Singapore

Author-publishers (miscellaneous)

WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUB

Singapore, Singapore

S.l, 2021

"Goh Beng Kwan is recognised for his masterful use of collage to explore issues around identity, cultural representation, and urban life. 'Nervous City' is a phrase Goh often uses to describe New York, where he lived in the 1960's, to allude to its frenetic pace, high stress level and polluted atmosphere. It may also express his sentiments towards the rapidly industrialising cityscape of Singapore upon his return in 1966. Featuring essays, interviews, and the artist's photographs alongside his artworks, this catalogue explores how the urban environment has shaped the material and cultural basis for Goh's artmaking from the 1950s to the 1990s." -- Page 4 of cover

113 pages : 25 cm
Published in conjunction with Something new must turn up : six Singaporean artists after 1965 (7 May-22 August 2021), an exhibition organised by National Gallery Singapore
Cover title
Includes bibliographical references
Foreword / Eugene Tan -- Something New Must Turn Up: Does Independence Make Art? / Seng Yu Jin -- Goh Beng Kwan: Nervous City / Joleen Loh -- Photographs by Goh Beng Kwan -- An Eyewitness' Account of a Bygone Era: In conversation with Goh Beng Kwan / Joleen Loh, Jennifer K.Y. Lam -- Interview with Constance Sheares / Joanna Lee -- Plates -- Biodata -- Acknowledgements

2024-07-01