PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: TAN TECK HENG PAINTINGS & SCULPTURES @ LIM HAK TAI GALLERY, NAFA / Part 1

TRANSIENT JOURNEYS:

TAN TECK HENG'S

PAINTINGS & SCULPTURES

Lim Hak Tai Gallery,

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, besides being a great piece of music has also encouraged me to visit art galleries all over the world. However, I must admit to being somewhat indifferent to modern art in Singapore, but that had to change sometime. Nowadays, I have tried to open my eyes more, and to imbibe what I see and also to document them with my trusty camera. The result has been the recent additions to Pianomania of various art exhibitions in Singapore. 

Whether I understand or enjoy modern art or not is not so important. What I hope to do is to record what I see, to be viewed again at a later date under different circumstances. Perspectives may change, and what I may have liked (or disliked) earlier may elicit a different response the next time I view it. 

The artist himself was spotted in the background.

I had the fortune of visiting Singapore artist Tan Teck Heng's exhibition on two different days at the Lim Hak Tai Gallery of NAFA. Tan Teck Heng was born in 1958 and graduated from NAFA in 1981. What an interesting artist he is, with his paintings and sculptures (all crafted from wood) bring about various different responses in me. Art pieces are meant to challenge, to provoke and sometimes to disturb, and those responses were all present. Is he an impressionist, a surrealist, or does that even matter at all?

Dream of Home, 2019

Landscape Upon Her Body, 2018

Home Amongst the Lotus, 2019

All I can say is my mind is refreshed by asking "What is this all about?" For that matter, "What is life all about?" These questions should regularly be asked, and modern art is what should spark those questions and debates. In the meantime, just enjoy the colours and shades.

Orchard & Scream, 2025

My favourite painting:
River of Time, 2018

Echoes of Salvador Dali:
Rare Earth and Roses Communicate, 2025

Adam and Eve, 2024

Eve is listening to God
 (or Satan?) via a smart-phone.

Philosopher, 2024 & Meet, 2022

Continued in Part 2: 

pianomania: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: TAN TECK HENG'S PAINTINGS & SCULPTURES @ LIM HAK TAI GALLERY, NAFA / Part 2

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: TAN TECK HENG'S PAINTINGS & SCULPTURES @ LIM HAK TAI GALLERY, NAFA / Part 2

 

TRANSIENT JOURNEYS

TAN TECK HENG 

PAINTINGS & SCULPTURES

Lim Hak Tai Gallery

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Continued from Part 1:pianomania: PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION: TAN TECK HENG PAINTINGS & SCULPTURES @ LIM HAK TAI GALLERY, NAFA / Part 1

This was such an interesting free exhibition that I had to stop by a second time. That is what art does to you, and when you return to gawk and ponder, new reactions come forth. What looked weird at first take on new perspectives, and your views and opinions change yet again.

Post-diluvian, 2025 &
Moonlight Dolphin,2024

Wuzhi Mountain, 2014

Seven Fairies Mountain, 2015

Where Continents Meet The Sea, 2024

Busy Session, 2024 & Sea-Gazing

Great Arch, 2023

Chief, 2022

Amazon Meets Shan-haiJing, 2019

Spreads, 2025

Transient Journeys: Tan Teck Heng<br /> 忽然而已: 陈得兴 | NAFA

This exhibition has ended.

I just happened to catch its tail end. 

Sorry about that.

MUSIC RESIDENCY SHARING CONCERT / Chamber Music & Arts Singapore / Review

 

MUSIC RESIDENCY 

SHARING CONCERTS

Chamber Music & Arts 

Homegrown Artists

Objectifs Chapel, Middle Road

Sunday (21 June 2026)

The final day of Chamber Music & Arts’ (CMAS) Chamber Music Residency programme yielded one last concert by four of its Homegrown Artists, whom over a two-week course were mentored by three established international artists. Their Sharing Concert, just like the formal evening concerts, focused on all-French repertoire.

Titled The Conclusion of the War, it opened with Claude Debussy’s late Violin Sonata in G minor (1917) with violinist Isabelle Ong and pianist Tian KeXin. This was the terminally-ill composer’s attempt to relive Gallic characteristics and sensibilities in music, moving away from the German model that had influenced composers like Franck and Chausson. 

Penchant for melody and lightness in textures were key, which informed Ong’s perceptive playing and Tian’s fluid accompaniment. This was a performance strong in flavour and sensitive to nuance, not least in the middle movement’s subtle humour and the finale’s scintillating caprices.

This was followed by Gabriel Faure’s Cello Sonata No.1 in D minor (Op.109, 1917) performed by Singapore-based Korean cellist Cho Hang-oh with Tian again on piano. This underrated gem should be as popular and often played as Debussy’s late Cello Sonata, which remains a mystery. An elusiveness in melodiousness may be a reason, the lyrical glories of the Belle Epoque being well left behind by the horrors of war. 

Still, the duo mastered the opening movement’s rhythmic quirkiness and the finale’s emotional vagaries. However, the tender beauty of the slow movement’s plaint remains the abiding memory of this reading. Cho’s tone is simply gorgeous, and the outpouring of emotion by both players totally palpable. Bravo!

The matinee concluded tumultuously with Maurice Ravel’s La Valse (1919-20), in the version for piano four hands by Lucien Garban. Here, young pianist Tay Shu Wen was partnered by mentoring Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson. The duo could not completely escape the Yamaha’s tendency for percussiveness, but Beatson’s ever-steady waltz rhythm in the secondo part was met with alacrity by Tay’s flashily swooning primo role. 

Before long, both musicians were waltzing on their seats, while busily avoiding collisions of bodily parts. A sense of danger was ever present, and one was almost half-expecting the piano to collapse in the heap. The reality was that both pianists were on top of their game, and the message of societal decadence and collapse was well and truly received.

This Sharing Concert was more than a show-and-tell session after two weeks of music professionals working today. It was a clear indication that thanks to CMAS, chamber music performance in Singapore is heading in the right direction.

RANDOM HEARTLAND EATS: S11 FOOD HOUSE @ BUKIT BATOK CENTRAL

This is an eating place so random that it was totally unknown to us, until now. However, thanks to the regular patronage of Phan Ming Yen and Amy, we became their guests for Indian Muslim food not for the first time. Ming Yen swears by the vegetarian curries served here, and we were the happy beneficiaries.

This typically HDB food-court also serves the usually non-vegetarian meals, but somehow we kept to the script. Popiah and Singapore Chinese rojak are also vegetarian! So, this was a vegetarian meal all round, and being healthy does not equate to not eating well. We were very well-filled and can scarcely wait for the next time.

Chinese rojak

Traditional popiah

Indian puris and side dishes

Everything you see is vegetarian!

This food is best eaten with bare hands.

S11 FOOD HOUSE

Block 640 Bukit Batok Central

First floor

S.650640

(Walking distance from 

Bukit Batok MRT)