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THE PHILIPPINE STAR

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2003

Arts & Culture, page E-8

A Podium launch for Singaporean art doyenne

Singaporean art collector and gallery owner Marjorie Chu will launch her book Understanding Contemporary Southeast Asian Art on Wednesday on Nov. 5 at The Podium in Ortigas Center. The book launch and exhibit is currently on a road show around other Southeast Asian countries.

Organized by the Finale Art File and The Podium, in cooperation with Smart Communications, the book launching will also mark the opening of an exhibit of selected works from her book. The exhibition will run through Nov. 11, while the author will sign her books on Nov. 8 and 9.

Considered the doyenne of Singaporean art, Marjorie Chu is a founder-member of the Art Gallery Association of Singapore; lecturer to friends of the Singapore Art Museum; and external lecturer at Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore. She established the National Museum Shops in Singapore and Thailand.

Chu says, "During the 1970s, I realized that I am more than a Singaporean, I am a Southeast Asian." She then followed the travel trail of the so-called Singapore Pioneer Artists (Goh Beng Kwan, Khoo Sui Ho, Thomas Yeo, Anthony Poon, and Choy Weng Yang), and went to the Asean countries to see for herself.

In her search for artists in Southeast Asia, "I used exactly the same technique I used in Singapore: I went to museums, exhibitions, arts, colleges, and I spent as much time as possible meeting and talking with local artists." She also began long friendships with dealers in the region, especially Arturo Luz in the Philippines and Hendra Hadiprana in Jakarta, both of whom were important mentors for the young gallerist.

After many years of collecting art, is Marjorie realized that it was important to document her collection so that others might be able to understand its scope and meaning, hence the book Understanding Contemporary Southeast Asian Art.

Rather than dividing the book into chapters about artists classified by country, Marjorie instead focuses on genres like life drawing, still life, figurative paintings, landscapes/ sculpture, and abstract art. In this way, it was possible for Marjorie to compare the differences between artistic styles and concepts in the various countries of Southeast Asia.

She could also make cross-references between art and craft. Her interest in Southeast Asian art has led her to study woven textiles, wax resistant batik techniques, lacquer, ceramics, and bronze castings. One chapter focuses on field trips with artists to Bali, Australia, China, India, and Scotland. There are also three chapters focused on individual artists: Srihadi Soedarsono, Goh Beng Kwan, and Chua Ek Kay.

Among the Filipino artists featured in the book are Ang Kiu Kok, Manuel Baldemor, Malang, Juvenal Sanso, Romulo Olazo and Danilo Dalenn, prominent artists from the other Asean countries, like Singapore (Earl Lu, Goh Beng Kwan), Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

During the process of documenting her collection, Marjorie realized that she had discovered important elements in the language of Southeast Asian art:
- Chinese brush techniques have transcended ink on paper.
- The influence of craft, ritual, and folk colors on art
- Black and white are accepted colors in Southeast Asian art.
- The preference for vertical and horizontal position
- Paper and canvas are equally important media in art.

Born in Shanghai/ China, Marjorie Chu is now a Singaporean citizen. Interestingly enough, Marjorie was an accountant for 10 years before she opened her first gallery. She was, however, very interested in art, and she often visited the Singapore Art Museum. Dr. Earl Lu was instrumental in introducing her to Chinese brush painting at the extra-mural lectures at the University of Singapore. She also attended a course on contemporary painting in London.

Marjorie opened her Raya Gallery in the 1970s, renamed it Art Forum in the 1980s, and the latter is now located in a 1920s terrace house, which was brilliantly converted into an exhibition space. She has also exhibited at the 1999 International Art Fair in New York, taken part in the Melbourne 2000 Art Fair, and participated in ARTSingapore 2001 and 2002.

The launching of Understanding Contemporary Southeast Asian Art and exhibition of selected works from the book will be held from Nov. 5-11 at the second floor activity center of The Podium.

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