The Affordable Art Fair Singapore 2011

The Affordable Art Fair Singapore edition 2011 featured contemporary art for sale with a ceiling price of S$10,000 – an opportunity for the middle-class masses to buy wall pieces and for investors to place their bets.

As kids, we were quite immersed in the Singapore art scene because one of the parents was. Weekends were spent at art exhibitions, or competitions, or listening to the latest goss. There were Chen Wen Hsis and Georgette Chens on the walls at home but we never knew that they were special (apparently we tried to correct their work with our crayons); we didn’t realise that “art” (or what might now be termed “visual arts”) was generally thought to be the preserve of the rich and/or a status symbol. To us, it was always all about technique and at the same time about the expression of the emotion or the objective of someone’s life – “You can see here that he lost control of his brush because…”, “Uncle X was bored with always doing the same thing, no more inspiration, so when he visited…he saw…and decided why not just try mixing that with his previous technique and …”, “Uncle Y painted this when he found out his wife…”, “Aunty A needed money for her mother’s…that’s why she sculpted…”.

Don’t know much about what is called “contemporary art” but from observation, it seems to fall into two categories: statement pieces and wall fillers (not much emphasis on technique because there isn’t a standardised, err, standard for this sort of art). Not in the market for either but these stood out for me (and was pleasantly surprised to be informed that photography was “of course! can!” welcome at the event):

especially Hiroshi Shinno‘s fantastical insects

 

PS: Map of the exhibitors and booths: