Singapore gay art
Encyclopedia
Singapore gay art refers to homosexually themed art from Singapore
.
have to contend with many restrictions imposed by Singaporean law. One of these is the Undesirable Publications Act (Chapter 338) http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_retrieve.pl?actno=REVED-338&doctitle=UNDESIRABLE%20PUBLICATIONS%20ACT%0A&date=latest&method=part.
Amongst the various definitions of 'publication' are 'any picture or drawing, whether made by computer-graphics or otherwise howsoever' and 'any photograph, photographic negative, photographic plate or photographic slide'. A publication is deemed 'obscene' if 'its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.'
A publication is 'objectionable' if 'in the opinion of any controller, it describes, depicts, expresses or otherwise deals with - (a) matters such as sex, horror, crime, cruelty, violence or the consumption of drugs or other intoxicating substances in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to be injurious to the public good.' Also if it '(ii) exploits the nudity of persons or children or both' and contravenes '(d) the standards of morality, decency and propriety that are generally accepted by reasonable members of the community.'
The Offences section states, 'Any person who without reasonable excuse has in his possession any prohibited publication or any extract therefrom shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction for a first offence to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.'
Despite these caveats, local gay artists have, since the 1980s, been pushing at the boundaries to enable the general public to develop an appreciation for their emotional expression crafted through art.
They did not provoke any adverse reactions as any genitalia depicted were minuscule. However, when interviewed by the periodical, a male member of the general public remarked that artists should keep their sexuality
under wraps and not be so blatant about it.
From February 20–28, 1993, Tan Peng and American artist, John C. Goss
, held Singapore's first openly gay-themed art exhibition entitled Flowing Forest, Burning Hearts, at The Substation public gallery. This two-man show was Tan's third exhibition of homoerotic work, but the first in which he came out publicly in the press as a gay man. His large pastel drawings tackled issues of importance to local gays: oppression, pressure to marry, invisibility, repressive religions, safer sex and HIV caregiving, and police entrapment. Some of his works from this watershed exhibition are archived here.
artist, Martin Loh, discreetly displayed a series of nude male paintings at the upper levels of the John Erdos Gallery as part of his solo exhibition of largely Peranakan-themed artworks entitled 'Heightened Senses' http://www.peranakan.org.sg/Resources/newsletters/n20000406g.html http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=479&viewarticle=1&searchtype=all.
to exclusively showcase homoerotic art with many abstract pieces depicting oversized genitalia. They bore titillating titles such as 'Forbidden Kiss' (1999, pastel
on paper), 'The Nibble' (2001, mixed media on napkin) and 'Size Matters' (2000, mixed media on paper). The versatile artist also experimented with a diversity of media, displaying full-figure acrylic portraits
on canvas, riotously colourful male pairings in mixed media on paper and sensual traces of male outlines captured with felt pen or brush http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=479&viewarticle=1&searchtype=all.
In 2003, gay photographer Jason Wee held a joint exhibition, together with straight female artist Parvathi Nayar, entitled 'Celestial Encounters' at the Utterly Art exhibition space in South Bridge Road
http://biotechnics.org/2_jason_wee.html, http://www.biotechnics.org/Nexus/2003_05_18_nexusarchive.html.
He presented an intelligent inquiry into identity and its distortion as a consequence of misplaced notions of fashion, integration and ethnicity. Using the Chinese zodiac
as a case in point, he proposed that people follow astrological predictions as a predestined or predetermined mould for themselves, rather than chart the progress of their own lives empirically. The visual devices that Wee enlisted included 1) naked male models to represent man's essential selves, 2) tattoos, gestures and contortions to represent the adoption of foreign identities and 3) digital layering of ikat
images and text as garments to signify the complexity of the final self that man presents to the world.
and the around the region. The participating artists included Genevieve Chua, Tania de Rozario, Jane Porter, Aidah Dolrahim, Teng Nee Cheong, Martin Loh, Desmond Sim, Ernest Chan Tuck Yew, Justin Lee, Michael Lee Hong Hwee, Han Kiang Siew, Zulharli Adnan, Brian Gothong Tan, Lim Jit Hwang, Sazeli Jalal, Jason Wee, Daniel Poh, Wong Hong Weng, Nicholas Chai and Aiman Hakim.
, held a local installation art exhibition at The Substation
gallery entitled 'Bao Bei' http://www.substation.org/substation/now/current/0505-baobei.html which examined the ways through which identity is reconstructed through online personal ads. In particular, gay photographic self-portraits found online were scrutinised for their codes and tropes
, and how these tropes may reveal the affects and consequences of larger political forces. One of the ground-breaking features of this exhibition was the display of nude male photographs with erections pixelated, but still discernible if one looked closely enough. He also recreated as photographs cultural works that were previously censored, such as Justin Lee's flag painting, Royston Tan
's 15 and Ryan McGinley
liplocked with his boyfriend in i-D magazine, which was systemically sliced from every issue sold and repackaged by Singapore's Media Development Authority
(MDA), the guardian of public morality in the media.
(MITA) to exempt more 'innocuous' arts entertainment from licensing. Jason Wee's exhibition (see above) featuring pixelated erect male genitalia was mentioned in the press release and was finally deemed to be 'innocuous' by the Government.
An exhibition by openly-gay artist Martin Loh was opened in July 2005 at the Utterly Art exhibition space in South Bridge Road. It was entitled Cerita Budak-Budak, meaning "Children's Stories" in Peranakan
Malay
. It was Loh's maiden foray into the genre of book illustrations. His work - colourful, naive fantasies - was used to illustrate the book Malaysian Children's Favourite Stories http://kakiseni.com.my/events/exhibitions/NzM1Mw.html.
On Thursday, 4 August 2005, Singapore's first widely publicised and government-sanctioned gay poetry reading session entitled Contra/Diction– A Night With Gay Poets was held, also at Utterly Art. The gay community felt that it was time the mainstream public recognised that LGBT
people made significant contributions to life and society in Singapore. Much of the local arts scene would come to a standstill if not for these gay men and women. And yet many of Singapore's most talented performers had to remain closeted or ambiguous for fear of having their livelihoods threatened. As a sign of the changing times, an invitation was put out for a night of poetry where some of Singapore's openly gay and upcoming poets read the beautiful words they had penned, birthed from within the ecstatic, the agonies and even the mundanities of their lives and discussed how their sexual orientation impacted their works as poets. Wine and snacks were served. The Media Development Authority
were very helpful in facilitating the procurement of an Arts Entertainment Licence (R18) for this event within 24 hours. The event was given coverage by "Today" newspaper http://www.yawningbread.org/apdx_2005/imp-210.htm.
The second art exhibition of IndigNation was held from 10 August to 16 August 2005 at The Box. It was entitled Solitary Desire and featured pieces by Ong Jenn Long and Steve Chua, both young, emerging talents http://www.artseasons.com.sg/events/event.cfm?eventid=5B9671B5-E887-1901-F0673D405DCAB0B5.
Ong's works gave a sense of mystery, provoking the audience’s imagination through the clever execution of light and shadows. The seductive visual style of his works tempted the audience to examine the subject closer and left it entirely to their interpretation. Chua's graphic design background was significant in his pieces as they reflected modern day consumerism and the effect of commercials. His intention was, in his own words, to "focus and deal with the notion of desire / image / identity", and the effect of consumerism upon the self.
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
Restrictions
Practitioners of the visual artsVisual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
have to contend with many restrictions imposed by Singaporean law. One of these is the Undesirable Publications Act (Chapter 338) http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_retrieve.pl?actno=REVED-338&doctitle=UNDESIRABLE%20PUBLICATIONS%20ACT%0A&date=latest&method=part.
Amongst the various definitions of 'publication' are 'any picture or drawing, whether made by computer-graphics or otherwise howsoever' and 'any photograph, photographic negative, photographic plate or photographic slide'. A publication is deemed 'obscene' if 'its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.'
A publication is 'objectionable' if 'in the opinion of any controller, it describes, depicts, expresses or otherwise deals with - (a) matters such as sex, horror, crime, cruelty, violence or the consumption of drugs or other intoxicating substances in such a manner that the availability of the publication is likely to be injurious to the public good.' Also if it '(ii) exploits the nudity of persons or children or both' and contravenes '(d) the standards of morality, decency and propriety that are generally accepted by reasonable members of the community.'
The Offences section states, 'Any person who without reasonable excuse has in his possession any prohibited publication or any extract therefrom shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction for a first offence to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.'
Despite these caveats, local gay artists have, since the 1980s, been pushing at the boundaries to enable the general public to develop an appreciation for their emotional expression crafted through art.
1990s
The first openly gay artist,Ted, held a pioneering exhibition of homo-erotic art entitled "Out of the Closet" in the early 1990s http://www.yawningbread.org/guest_2001/guw-073.htm.They did not provoke any adverse reactions as any genitalia depicted were minuscule. However, when interviewed by the periodical, a male member of the general public remarked that artists should keep their sexuality
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
under wraps and not be so blatant about it.
From February 20–28, 1993, Tan Peng and American artist, John C. Goss
John C. Goss
John C. Goss is an American artist and author and has lived most of his life in the Asia/Pacific region ....
, held Singapore's first openly gay-themed art exhibition entitled Flowing Forest, Burning Hearts, at The Substation public gallery. This two-man show was Tan's third exhibition of homoerotic work, but the first in which he came out publicly in the press as a gay man. His large pastel drawings tackled issues of importance to local gays: oppression, pressure to marry, invisibility, repressive religions, safer sex and HIV caregiving, and police entrapment. Some of his works from this watershed exhibition are archived here.
2000
In 2000, Straitsborn Chinese or PeranakanPeranakan
Peranakan Chinese and Baba-Nyonya are terms used for the descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants to the Indonesian archipelago of Nusantara during the Colonial era....
artist, Martin Loh, discreetly displayed a series of nude male paintings at the upper levels of the John Erdos Gallery as part of his solo exhibition of largely Peranakan-themed artworks entitled 'Heightened Senses' http://www.peranakan.org.sg/Resources/newsletters/n20000406g.html http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=479&viewarticle=1&searchtype=all.
2003
Martin Loh's 'Men in the Raw' exhibition in January 2003 was the first in SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
to exclusively showcase homoerotic art with many abstract pieces depicting oversized genitalia. They bore titillating titles such as 'Forbidden Kiss' (1999, pastel
Pastel
Pastel is an art medium in the form of a stick, consisting of pure powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are the same as those used to produce all colored art media, including oil paints; the binder is of a neutral hue and low saturation....
on paper), 'The Nibble' (2001, mixed media on napkin) and 'Size Matters' (2000, mixed media on paper). The versatile artist also experimented with a diversity of media, displaying full-figure acrylic portraits
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry...
on canvas, riotously colourful male pairings in mixed media on paper and sensual traces of male outlines captured with felt pen or brush http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=479&viewarticle=1&searchtype=all.
In 2003, gay photographer Jason Wee held a joint exhibition, together with straight female artist Parvathi Nayar, entitled 'Celestial Encounters' at the Utterly Art exhibition space in South Bridge Road
South Bridge Road
South Bridge Road is a road south of Singapore River in Chinatown, Singapore which starts from Elgin Bridge and ends at the junction of Neil Road, Tanjong Pagar Road and Maxwell Road....
http://biotechnics.org/2_jason_wee.html, http://www.biotechnics.org/Nexus/2003_05_18_nexusarchive.html.
He presented an intelligent inquiry into identity and its distortion as a consequence of misplaced notions of fashion, integration and ethnicity. Using the Chinese zodiac
Chinese zodiac
The Shēngxiào , better known in English as the Chinese Zodiac, is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year mathematical cycle...
as a case in point, he proposed that people follow astrological predictions as a predestined or predetermined mould for themselves, rather than chart the progress of their own lives empirically. The visual devices that Wee enlisted included 1) naked male models to represent man's essential selves, 2) tattoos, gestures and contortions to represent the adoption of foreign identities and 3) digital layering of ikat
Ikat
Ikat, or Ikkat, is a dyeing technique used to pattern textiles that employs a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye on either the warp or weft fibres....
images and text as garments to signify the complexity of the final self that man presents to the world.
2004
In August 2004, 3 gay-themed art exhibitions were held at local galleries: 'Red + White = Pink' at Utterly Art), 'Erotica' at Art Seasons and 'Private Edge' at B2G Gallery. These featured the oeuvres of gay artists both from SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and the around the region. The participating artists included Genevieve Chua, Tania de Rozario, Jane Porter, Aidah Dolrahim, Teng Nee Cheong, Martin Loh, Desmond Sim, Ernest Chan Tuck Yew, Justin Lee, Michael Lee Hong Hwee, Han Kiang Siew, Zulharli Adnan, Brian Gothong Tan, Lim Jit Hwang, Sazeli Jalal, Jason Wee, Daniel Poh, Wong Hong Weng, Nicholas Chai and Aiman Hakim.
2005
In May 2005, artist-photographer Jason Wee, now based in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, held a local installation art exhibition at The Substation
The Substation
The Substation is Singapore's first and only independent contemporary arts centre. It was founded in 1990 by Kuo Pao Kun.The Substation is centrally located in the city's civic district. Venues at The Substation for hire include a black-box theatre, a gallery, a dance studio, the Random Room and...
gallery entitled 'Bao Bei' http://www.substation.org/substation/now/current/0505-baobei.html which examined the ways through which identity is reconstructed through online personal ads. In particular, gay photographic self-portraits found online were scrutinised for their codes and tropes
Trope (literature)
A literary trope is the usage of figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their literal meaning...
, and how these tropes may reveal the affects and consequences of larger political forces. One of the ground-breaking features of this exhibition was the display of nude male photographs with erections pixelated, but still discernible if one looked closely enough. He also recreated as photographs cultural works that were previously censored, such as Justin Lee's flag painting, Royston Tan
Royston Tan
Royston Tan is a Singaporean filmmaker.Tan is a graduate from Temasek Polytechnic, where he took a course in Visual Communication. He first came into prominence through his short films: Sons , Hock Hiap Leong , 48 on AIDS , Mother and 15...
's 15 and Ryan McGinley
Ryan McGinley
Ryan McGinley is an American photographer living in New York City who began making photographs in 1998. In 2003, at the age of 25, McGinley was one of the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He was also named Photographer of the Year in 2003 by American Photo...
liplocked with his boyfriend in i-D magazine, which was systemically sliced from every issue sold and repackaged by Singapore's Media Development Authority
Media Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
(MDA), the guardian of public morality in the media.
Change in regulation
At the end of May 2005, in an amendment to the Public Entertainment and Meetings Act (Chapter 257) http://www.mda.gov.sg/wms.ftp/arts_exemption_order.PDF, nine categories of arts entertainment events including 'displays or exhibitions of art objects or paintings' were exempted from having to apply for a Public Entertainment Licence from the Media Development Authority (MDA). The landmark decision was made after consultation with MDA's arts advisory groups, following the recommendations of the 2003 Censorship Review Committee appointed by the Government arts watchdog of the time, the Ministry of Information, Communications and the ArtsMinistry of Information, Communications and the Arts
The Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts is a ministry of the Government of Singapore...
(MITA) to exempt more 'innocuous' arts entertainment from licensing. Jason Wee's exhibition (see above) featuring pixelated erect male genitalia was mentioned in the press release and was finally deemed to be 'innocuous' by the Government.
IndigNation art events
In August 2005, gay activists, bolstered by broad-based grassroots support organised Singapore's first month-long gay pride celebration called IndigNation. The latter moniker was a clever play of words representing the gay community's displeasure at the unexpected official ban of the annual Nation mega-parties which had been approved and held without incident 4 years in a row prior to 2005 http://www.plu.sg/main/starter_more_1.htm.An exhibition by openly-gay artist Martin Loh was opened in July 2005 at the Utterly Art exhibition space in South Bridge Road. It was entitled Cerita Budak-Budak, meaning "Children's Stories" in Peranakan
Peranakan
Peranakan Chinese and Baba-Nyonya are terms used for the descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants to the Indonesian archipelago of Nusantara during the Colonial era....
Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
. It was Loh's maiden foray into the genre of book illustrations. His work - colourful, naive fantasies - was used to illustrate the book Malaysian Children's Favourite Stories http://kakiseni.com.my/events/exhibitions/NzM1Mw.html.
On Thursday, 4 August 2005, Singapore's first widely publicised and government-sanctioned gay poetry reading session entitled Contra/Diction– A Night With Gay Poets was held, also at Utterly Art. The gay community felt that it was time the mainstream public recognised that LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
people made significant contributions to life and society in Singapore. Much of the local arts scene would come to a standstill if not for these gay men and women. And yet many of Singapore's most talented performers had to remain closeted or ambiguous for fear of having their livelihoods threatened. As a sign of the changing times, an invitation was put out for a night of poetry where some of Singapore's openly gay and upcoming poets read the beautiful words they had penned, birthed from within the ecstatic, the agonies and even the mundanities of their lives and discussed how their sexual orientation impacted their works as poets. Wine and snacks were served. The Media Development Authority
Media Development Authority
The Media Development Authority is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts .-History:...
were very helpful in facilitating the procurement of an Arts Entertainment Licence (R18) for this event within 24 hours. The event was given coverage by "Today" newspaper http://www.yawningbread.org/apdx_2005/imp-210.htm.
The second art exhibition of IndigNation was held from 10 August to 16 August 2005 at The Box. It was entitled Solitary Desire and featured pieces by Ong Jenn Long and Steve Chua, both young, emerging talents http://www.artseasons.com.sg/events/event.cfm?eventid=5B9671B5-E887-1901-F0673D405DCAB0B5.
Ong's works gave a sense of mystery, provoking the audience’s imagination through the clever execution of light and shadows. The seductive visual style of his works tempted the audience to examine the subject closer and left it entirely to their interpretation. Chua's graphic design background was significant in his pieces as they reflected modern day consumerism and the effect of commercials. His intention was, in his own words, to "focus and deal with the notion of desire / image / identity", and the effect of consumerism upon the self.