2019 UNTAPPED

Group exhibition featuring: Divaagar, Adar Ng, Fyon Cheong, Ivan Ong, Geraldine Lim, Rifqi Amirul bin Rosli, Muhammad Masuri bin Mazlan and Keith Teo

Curated by Deborah Lim

Exhibition Dates: 22 November – 24 November 2019

Exhibition Venue: Affordable Art Fair, F1 Pit Building, 1 Republic Boulevard, Singapore 038975

UNTAPPED is an annual series presented by the not-for-profit Visual Arts Development Association, Singapore (VADA), that invites artists to submit artwork proposals for participation in a group exhibition.

The goal of UNTAPPED is to establish support networks and offer a platform for local artists at the crucial early stages of their careers. Artists with up to four years of experience and practice were invited to apply and a jury selected eight artists for the exhibition. What has emerged is sensitive to constructions and assertions of spaces, inward and outward states of the body and material layers or assemblages; reflecting the concerns and thought processes of a new generation of local artists.

For 2019, the UNTAPPED Advisory committee comprised:

Michelle Ho, Curator, ADM Gallery & Assistant Director, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Martin Constable, Assistant Professor, The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Vietnam
Adeline Kueh, Senior Lecturer, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore

About VADA

The Visual Arts Development Association (Singapore) (VADA) was conceived in response to the growing need for an independent, not-for-profit arts organisation to service the needs of the burgeoning Singapore visual arts industry. VADA's in-built capability allows it to take the lead in developing platforms and opportunities for those individuals who will represent Singapore nationally and internationally in the visual arts.

VADA programmes are intended as “incubator initiatives” designed to identify and cultivate artistic and curatorial talent by providing developing arts practitioners both the exposure and practical experience required to establish sustainable careers in the arts. All programmes include presentation and sharing components, from exhibition and blogs, to publications and talks, artists and curators have opportunities to present their work to private and industry audiences as well as the community-at-large. For more information on VADA or UNTAPPED visit: www.vada.org.sg.

About the Artists

Divaagar (b. 1992, Singapore) examines the relationships between desires and environments through installations and performance. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1st Class Honours) in Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts and has held two solo exhibitions - Between a rock and a hard place at Untitled Space in Shanghai, China (2018) and The Soul Lounge at soft/WALL/studs in Singapore (2018). His group exhibitions include Coming Between: Becoming at PLOT Space in Singapore (2019) and The Lands Of at The Reef in Los Angeles, U.S.A. (2019).

Adar Ng (b. 1994, Singapore) primarily adopts the mediums of photography and video, creating works that question reality and its impermanence. She graduated from the school of Art, Design and Media at Nanyang Technological University and has participated in exhibitions including Undescribed #04 at DECK in Singapore (2019) and Adaptations by Supernormal in Singapore (2019). She qualified as one of the Top 10 Finalists at the Belgrade Photo Month New Talents Awards in 2019.

Fyon Cheong (b. 1994, Singapore) addresses the senses through her expressive sculptures. She graduated from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and her works have been featured in the Affordable Art Fair in Hong Kong (2019); Singaplural in Singapore (2015 - 2017) and Future Imperfect at The Printmaking Festival in Singapore (2016).

Ivan Ong (b. 1994, Singapore) creates opportunities for the convergence of reality and the imaginary, depicting mundane views of daily commutes and living spaces. He is currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts. Selected group exhibitions include 2nd Tracking Status: Expedited at Alliance Française de Singapour in Singapore (2019) and McNally School of Fine Arts: Impressions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in Singapore (2018).

Geraldine Lim (b. 1996, Singapore) produces work which addresses the psychological effects of alienation in society and the threats of not conforming. She graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts/Goldsmiths University with a Master of Arts in Fine Arts. Selected group exhibitions include I.D. (The Body’s Still Warm) at 42 Cambridge Road in Singapore (2018) and the Art Apart Fair Singapore 7th Edition at Parkroyal Hotel on Pickering in Singapore (2016). She received the People’s Choice Award for the Cliftons Art Prize in 2016.

Rifqi Amirul bin Rosli (b. 1994, Singapore) explores ideas relating to transitional spaces and the boundaries that define one’s emotions and sensitivities towards locations. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore. He won the Winston Oh Travelogue Award in 2014 and selected group exhibitions include Exit, Pursued by a Bear at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore (2019) and Opening 2020: The Substation at the NUS Tun Tan Cheng Lok Centre for Architecture in Malacca, Malaysia (2019)

Muhammad Masuri bin Mazlan (b. 1990, Singapore) is concerned with the affect of materiality and blurs the distinctions between painting and sculpture. He graduated with a Bachelor of Art (First Class Honours) in Fine Art from LASALLE College of the Arts/Goldsmiths, University of London. He was a recipient of the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award in 2016 and the International TAKIFUJI Art Award by the Japan Traffic Culture Association in 2017. Selected group exhibitions in The New Now II, Vivid & Veiled at Gajah Gallery (2018).

Keith Teo (1992, Singapore) explores sensations through colour and materiality, with an acceptance of chance and subconscious influences that seep into the process of painting. He graduated from the LASALLE College of the Arts in 2015 and was one of the finalists for the 2017 Clifton Art Prize. Selected group exhibitions include This is Dope at Taksu Gallery in Singapore (2019) and Art Expo Malaysia at Taksu Gallery in Malaysia (2018).