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Lot Essay
A first-generation Chinese who migrated to Singapore, and became firmly entrenched within what is now known as the 'Nanyang' style—or school—of Singapore art, Cheong Soo Pieng has been widely acclaimed as an artist whose personal career has undergone a myriad of transformations: stylistically ranging from the experimental to the traditional; with motifs drawn from the warmly local to elegantly abstract. Though the artist often associated with his stylistic figurative works of Balinese women, he has produced numerous abstract works that are often attributed to concepts and themes of a transcendental or spiritual nature.
Executed in 1972, Vision (Lot 353), is a painting of unique quality, a meditative exploration of the relationship between geometric forms (squares and rectangles), with fields of colour bearing a centre of interest or focus. In this case, an amorphous form layered with shades of muted gold, its softly feathered edges ensconced within thin geometric frames that hover above a sea of undulating brushstrokes rendered in deeper strokes of brown. An ethereal core that pulsates with a surface of painterly energy, Soo Pieng's specific style of Sino-Western abstract painting is profoundly present in his dense interwoven strokes of black ink-wash, executed with a calligraphic intensity.
The work also takes on an almost tribal aspect, its gold and earthy expanse starkly contrasted with an intense cerulean passage inscribed with linear forms reminiscent of an ancient lingua franca. Flanked by squares on either side filled with a rhythmic order of symbolic etchings, Soo Pieng's experimentation of mixed media elements and a strong tactile language in Vision provides an intriguing multisensory experience to viewers.
While the artist's work is strongly influenced by the movements of modern Western art, particularly in the aftermath of his seminal year-long European sojourn in 1962, it is by no means an imitation of it. Rather, Soo Pieng's abstract expressions are reflections of the artist's personality and emotions that are drawn from the world he lives in. While certainly challenging the norms of his artistic oeuvre, Vision is not beyond the understanding of the viewer, but rather, encourages new directions of perception that find balance and meaning in layers of contemplation and emotional sensation.
Executed in 1972, Vision (Lot 353), is a painting of unique quality, a meditative exploration of the relationship between geometric forms (squares and rectangles), with fields of colour bearing a centre of interest or focus. In this case, an amorphous form layered with shades of muted gold, its softly feathered edges ensconced within thin geometric frames that hover above a sea of undulating brushstrokes rendered in deeper strokes of brown. An ethereal core that pulsates with a surface of painterly energy, Soo Pieng's specific style of Sino-Western abstract painting is profoundly present in his dense interwoven strokes of black ink-wash, executed with a calligraphic intensity.
The work also takes on an almost tribal aspect, its gold and earthy expanse starkly contrasted with an intense cerulean passage inscribed with linear forms reminiscent of an ancient lingua franca. Flanked by squares on either side filled with a rhythmic order of symbolic etchings, Soo Pieng's experimentation of mixed media elements and a strong tactile language in Vision provides an intriguing multisensory experience to viewers.
While the artist's work is strongly influenced by the movements of modern Western art, particularly in the aftermath of his seminal year-long European sojourn in 1962, it is by no means an imitation of it. Rather, Soo Pieng's abstract expressions are reflections of the artist's personality and emotions that are drawn from the world he lives in. While certainly challenging the norms of his artistic oeuvre, Vision is not beyond the understanding of the viewer, but rather, encourages new directions of perception that find balance and meaning in layers of contemplation and emotional sensation.