And so Biennale fever continues…

On Wednesday, a few of the TOS crew ventured out to Collectors Contemporary for
Confabulation…which was a breath of fresh air. It was liberating being able to enjoy pieces that didn’t look like blobular animals or children.

Note: [I’m not thinking Fernando Botero more like, Qi Yuwu’s ‘Beary Ambitious’ exhibition in June 2008 when he basically made the toy Be@rbrick look Asianised]

Take for instance the naked torso of the ‘man-made-from-yarn’, sticking out in the middle of the room unabashedly. Or the male mannequins wearing their masks and capes (designed by David Gremard Romero and inspired by ancient Roman poet Ovid, made relevant by Wonderwoman, Mexican pro wrestler Mil Máscaras and magician Houdini), looking haute and sexy…and don’t be shy, it’s just 3-D portraits of Queen Elizabeth II, who’s obviously having fun hanging by the wall with her doppelgangers.

Note: [It was if the queen was there herself]

And don’t get me started by the one-off site-specific light installation by artist Chris Levine, an engineer’s wet dream come true.

Note: [While having a cigarette outside, a friend of mine explained to me that the light installation is programmed to work like an optical trick. An ‘object’ appears and reappears when you’re not looking. This programmer does this through trail and error]

Said hello to Eunjong Park again, the petite Korean was her usual jovial self and jovial she should be with the apparent success of the exhibition. Had a chat with creative consultant Steve Lawler (kult.com.sg) and started talking about how Collectors sets itself apart from the other galleries in Singapore with the kind of art on show.

With artists like Levine, Romero, Jim Christensen, Kevin Bourgeois and Derek Boshier, gallery owners and collectors Dr Alvin Koh and Gary Sng feed our need for provocative, and at times, dark pieces.

Note: [I’ve noticed their art collection to be quite ‘homoerotic’, but otherwise beautiful. Sometimes I wonder whether you really are what you swallow]