Reorientation

We are pleased to present an exhibition of paintings, sculpture and photography by gallery artists whose work embodies the concept of third culture, a unique liminal space where traditions mingle, borders dissolve and ideas surrounding identity are continually redefined.

These artists draw from their experiences living between cultures, for their homes were never rooted in geography. Whether they live far from their place of origin or have returned home with an expanded world view, their artistic expressions are Venn diagrams where meaning and memory converge to create a new language or identity beyond conventional socio-geographic norms. 

Reorientation reflects the gallery’s long-standing mission to champion work by artists who cross cultural and national boundaries, synthesizing Western visual language with forms, techniques and philosophies from Asia, the Subcontinent and the Middle East. It’s a concept that particularly resonates in Singapore, where people from all over the world come together, ideas flourish and evolution is constant.

Exhibition Highlights

Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha (b. 1965), known for immersive large-scale light installations, presents embordered drawings and an intricate resin painting. The elaborate patterns that define all her works are modern reinterpretations of motifs found in Islamic art and architecture.

From New York-based Japanese artist Hiroshi Senju, (b. 1958), sublime cliff and waterfall paintings. Senju draws on imagery from Zen Buddhism and traditional East Asian landscape painting yet articulates his concepts in a modernist visual language rooted in Abstract Expressionism, graffiti and drip painting.

Tehran-based painter Golnaz Fathi (b. 1972), one of the few women in Iran to excel at Persian calligraphy, is deeply inspired by Abstract Expressionism. By layering thousands of inscribed marks on gessoed canvas using archival ballpoint pen, she skillfully transforms language into pure form.

Chun Kwang Young (b. 1944) shows tactile assemblages made from thousands of triangular forms wrapped in antique mulberry paper. Although imbued with the spirit of Korean tradition and history, Chun’s otherworldly abstractions are grounded in a purely contemporary context.

London-based artist Karen Knorr (b. 1954) presents sumptuous, conceptually driven photographs. Knorr, who was born to American parents in Frankfurt, Germany, and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, attributes her passion for exploring societal hierarchies to her multicultural upbringing and experience as an outsider.

The exhibition also includes work by Miya Ando, Tayeba Begum Lipi, Neha Vedpathak, Lalla Essaydi, and Zheng Lu.