This March, SBin Art Plus will be holding its first photography exhibition – TOP POP, a digital image showcase of “Singapore Idealism” as interpreted by one of Indonesia’s most significant visual artists – Yogyakarta-based Angki Purbandono.
Using a technique known as scannography, Purbandono explores the dichotomy of Singapore, in a journey of self-discovery as to whether a country that is held up as a model of modernisation and globalisation, is as sterile and boring as its critics make out to be.
Featuring 22 works, TOP POP is Purbandono’s first solo exhibition in Singapore, and is based on observations made during a 15-day residency from January to February this year. His art resists categorization and appears to exist outside any specific culture, yet draws on the revolutionary energies that appear in ‘ordinary objects’ that are often unnoticed to conjure a world of unseen wonders and astounding aesthetic spectacles.
Purbandono employs and explores different images of discarded Barbie dolls – a symbol of popular culture that everyone can relate to – with local elements to portray the nation’s history, postmodern concepts and cultures. He encapsulates the essence of Singapore as an unusual dynamism of monumentalism and claustrophobic close-up, reflecting his increasing familiarity of the country in the progression of his works.
These are exemplified in works such as Little India and Ancestors, where he utilized flowers bought in Little India and jade skulls purchased from Chinatown to depict the Indian and Chinese heritages present in Singapore; Orchard Road which describes the fast-paced movement of Singaporeans depicted through a metal dishwasher scrub; and Phenomenal Mustafa – where dolls are enclosed within plastic bags to depict the popular culture of shopping malls and the plastic age we live in.
TOP POP showcases 22 digital images and runs from 10 March till 10 April 2011. The gallery is open from 11.00am to 7.00pm from Tuesdays to Saturdays, 11.00am to 5.00pm on Sundays and public holidays and is closed on Mondays. The exhibition is held at SBin Art Plus gallery, at 140 Hill St. MICA Building #01-10/11/12 Singapore 179369. Contact number: 68832001. http://www.sbinartplus.com
