Top 14 books on Southeast Asian art by Adeline Ooi

ART BOOKS INDONESIA MALAYSIA SINGAPORE PHILIPPINES THAILAND

This primer reading list has been selected by Adeline Ooi of Kuala Lumpur-based Rogue Art, an art consultancy group specialising in the management of art projects, exhibitions, collections and publications. Adeline will be speaking about Southeast Asian art at the Asia Art Forum to be held in Hong Kong in May 2009.

This list was first published on Arteri, a new and what looks to be a very promising blog on Malaysian and Southeast Asian art and is republished with permission from Adeline here. As Arteri explains, so much of what curators and experts know

“is acquired through fieldwork, contacts, long hours spent talking to artists, curators, historians, critics. So little of this knowledge (gossips, legends, histories, theories) has yet to be documented and written down, analysed and most importantly shared. Yet, what little that’s already published out there is really worth looking at.”

Books available on Amazon are linked. The list in chronological order:

Indonesian Contemporary Art Now
By Marc Bollansee and Enin Supriyanto
SNP Editions, 2007
ISBN-13: 9789812481429

Between Generations: 50 Years Across Modern Art in Malaysia
Beverly Yong and Hasnul J Saidon (editors)
Universiti Malaya Press, Universiti Sains Malaya Press & Valentine Willie Fine Art, 2007
ISBN: 983861348

Contemporary Art in Singapore
With Essays by Russell Storer, Gunalan Nadarajan and Eugene Tan
Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) Singapore, 2007
ISBN-13: 9789810564612
(Note: ICA Singapore is a part of LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts)

Telah Terbit (Out Now): Southeast Asian Contemporary Art Practices during the 1970s
Ahmad Mashadi
Singapore Art Museum, 2006
(Note: This is an exhibition guide and does not qualify as a book but the introduction essay for this show is insightful and really worth the read)

Art and Social Change: Contemporary Art in Asia and the Pacific
Caroline Turner (editor)
Pandanus Press, 2005
ISBN-10: 1740760468

Protest: Revolutionary Art in the Philippines, 1970-1990
By Alice Guillermo
University of Philippines Press, 2005
ISBN-10: 9715421679

Exploring Modern Indonesian Art: The Collection of Dr. Oei Hong Djien
By Helena Spanjaard & Oei Hong Djien
SNP Editions, 2004
ISBN-13: 9789812480101

Flavours Thai Contemporary Art

 

Flavours: Thai Contemporary Art
By Steven Pettifor
Thavibu Gallery, 2003
ISBN-10: 9749173767

Image to Meaning: essays on Philippine Art
By Alice Guillermo
Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2001
ISBN: 9715503764

Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions, Tensions
Essays by by Apinan Poshyananda, Thomas McEveilley, Geeta Kapur, Jim Supangkat, Marian Pastor Roces, Jae-Ryung Roe
Asia Society, 1997
ISBN-10: 0878480838

Modern Asian Art
By John Clark
University of Hawaii Press, 1998
ISBN-10: 9057040417

Southeast Asian Art Today

 

Southeast Asian Art Today
Joyce Fenema (editor)
Roeder Publications, 1996
ISBN-10: 9810060025

Modern Art in Thailand: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
By Apinan Poshyananda
Oxford University Press, 1992
ISBN-13: 9780195885620

Vision and Idea – Relooking Modern Malaysian Art

T.K Sabapathy (editor)

National Art Gallery (Malaysia) 1994

ISBN: 983957201

(out of print)

Related posts:

• Overview Indonesian art – Mar 2009
• Who are the emerging generation Y artists from Asia? The New Museum selects – Mar 2009
• 5 Contemporary Cambodian artists in historic show Forever Until Now – Mar 2009
• Book: Chinese contemporary art: 7 Things you should know – Melissa Chiu - Oct 2008
• Top 5 books on Chinese art by Pippa Dennis – Oct 2008

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Singapore artist Yeo Chee Kiong’s installation wins ‘richest’ Asian art prize – Bloomberg

INSTALLATION ART PRIZE

Yeo Chee Kiong won the S$45,000 ($30,793) inaugural APB Foundation Signature Art Prize (images on website) for his installation “A Day Without a Tree,” originally shown last year at Singapore’s National Museum.

Yeo’s mixed-media work greeted visitors to the building, built in 1887, with what looked like a large puddle of white paint dripping from the walls as the columns of the four-story- high atrium melted. Yeo won the grand prize, the richest in Southeast Asia, sponsored by the Singapore Art Museum and Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd., maker of Tiger beer.

Yeo, born in 1970, said he decided to create a work based on the classical architecture because the museum was celebrating its 120th anniversary at the time of his installation.

“I tried to present something that you are not sure of,” he said in an interview at the Singapore Art Museum.

He declined to explain the work or its title.

“My position is not to tell you what it is. You have to figure that out for yourself,” he said.

Yeo was chosen from a shortlist of 12 artists from the region, including Malaysian Ahmad Fuad B. Osman, China’s Zheng Bo and India’s G.R. Iranna, who all won S$10,000 jurors’ choice awards. Mongolia’s Davaa Dorjderem won S$10,000 for the people’s choice, selected by online voters.

The award is part of a 15-year partnership between APB and the Singapore Art Museum signed a year ago. The APB Foundation has committed S$2.25 million in funding for the prize, which will be awarded every three years.

The 10 shortlisted works are on view at the Singapore Art Museum until Nov. 16.

See

• images and coverage by Bloomberg, Asia One Plush
• more on Asian art prizes
• latest reports from Singapore

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Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2008 emerging artists on show in Hong Kong

ASIAN ART PRIZE

The Sovereign Asian Art Prize carries a first prize of US$25,000 and is in its 5th edition. This time the acceptance criteria have been broadened from all forms of painting to all forms of 2D media. Thirty finalists have been selected by a panel of experts from 1000 entries. A public prize is also awarded to the painting which receives the most votes from the public who attended the exhibition or cast their votes on the website.

The culmination of the prize is a public auction where it is hoped that funds will be raised to support charities and a ‘first of its kind in Hong Kong’ three year residency programme for international artists.

Judges are Uli Sigg (collector) Peter Aspden (Financial Times critic) Pamela Kember (art historian and critic) Victoria Lu(musem consultant) Pooja Sood(Director of Khoj Foundation) and Xu Bing (artist).

Finalists

Australia: Bundit Puangthong, Chris Wake, China: Collette Fu, Hou Yan Yan Hong Kong: Caroline Chiu, Chow Chun Fai, Man Fung-Yi, Gretchen So, Peter Steinhauer, Angela Su, Anothermountainman India:Seema Kohli, Indonesia:Terra Bajraghosa, Suroso Isur, Saputro Uji Handoko Eko, Japan: Yu Hara, Maiko Sugano, Noriko Yamaguchi Korea: Dongi Lee, Lim Taek Malaysia: Chan Kok Hooi, Hoo Kiew Hang, Myanmar: Mor Mor Philippines: Robert Langenegger Singapore: Mee Ai Om Taiwan: Chiu Chien-Jen Thailand: Jaratsri Prasongdee, Laura Spector, Sirat Ubolyeam Vietnam: Le Thiet Cuong

Radar’s picks

Lim Taek

Korean artist Lim Taek’s work is inspired by 18th century traditional Korean black and white ink drawings. Tael transforms these into 3D sculptures made of plastic and Korean traditional paper which he installs in a gallery.  He then photographs animals trees rocks and people and places these images into the installation. His intention is to create a dreamlike sensation for viewers as they gaze at his imaginary world.

Maiko Sugano

Japanese artist Maiko Suganowas nominated by Asia Art Archive. She is interested in bridging barriers and misunderstandings by seeking common ground across cultures. In 2002 Sugano was presented with the Jack and Gertrude Murphy Fine Arts Fellowship sponsored by San Francisco foundation. She also runs an artist residency house called ‘YomoYama House’.

Angela Su

This work ‘Amorpha Juglandis’ is part of a series and drawings and embroideries in a project entitled ‘Paracelsus Garden’ – an imaginary location inhabited by insects and plants which on closer inspection reveal themselves to be a bizarre juxtaposition of bones muscles and organs. This work takes the form of a moth which uses the cochlear (part of the human inner ear) and scapulas(shoulder blades) as wings. The entire work is embroidered with fine polyester filament on silk.

Noriko Yamaguchi

Noriko Yamaguchi was born in 1983 and her work crosses over the mediums of photography and performance art. In the ‘Ketai Girl’ series Yamaguchi wears a bodysuit made of cellphone keypads a comment on today’s society where people are in constant telephonic touch but ache for physical connection. In 2004 she received the Panel of Judges Award at the 21st Century Asia Design Competition held by Kyoto University of Art and Design.

See

• larger images and more information about all the artists see Sovereign website.
• more posts on prizes and awards for Asian art

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Indonesian, Filipino prices rise at Sotheby’s despite meltdown

I Nyoman Masriadi The Final Round

 

AUCTION SOUTH EAST ASIAN ART 2008

Sotheby’s autumn sales in Hong Kong were grim apart from the South East Asian sale which provided some much needed relief. The success of the sale prompted an ebullient quip from Sotheby’s entertaining auctioneer Chin Yeow : “Is there a financial meltdown out there because I am not feeling it. The banks should ask our bidders if they need money!”

The sale included Malaysian, Filipino, Singaporean and Vietnamese art but was dominated by Indonesian works. Bidding was thin for Vietnamese lots and these attracted interest mainly from Paris. In contrast the Filipino and in particular the Indonesian lots attracted fierce bidding wars from bidders on all continents.

The works which attracted most interest included those by I Nyoman Masriadi, Agus Suwage, Rudy Mantofani and FX Harsano.

Two Indonesian markets: modern/colonial and contemporary/popular

Information about Indonesian art is notoriously difficult to come by. Helen Spanjaard, a Dutch art academic specialising in Indonesian art (one of only two in the world who speak English she says), explains that there are two distinct markets for Indonesian works – the colonial/Dutch influenced body of works eg Affandi and the new generation mostly born in the seventies.

“There is established buying support for the colonial works mostly from Chinese Indonesian collectors who compete with one another to drive up prices”. There is a second much more international market for the seventies generation artists. Dr Spanjaard notes that those works which are particularly popular are reminiscent of Chinese pop art or refer to popular cultural influences such as cartoons, superheros, flat stylisation, fantasy.

This was certainly borne out in the sale. Indonesian artist I Nyoman Masriadi’s The Man From Bantul (The Final Round), 2000, lot 838, an impressive triptych of a fight painted in a flat stylised manner sold for HK$7,820,000 (US$1,000,725) after lively bidding, five times its high estimate of HK$1-1.5 million.

A number of other works by Masriadi fetched impressive prices  including Petualanganku Berakhir Setelah Ketemu Ibumu (My Adventure Ended After I Met Your Mother), which sold for HK$2,900,000 (US$371,113) (lot 895, est. HK$250/350,000), and Too Small, which achieved HK$1,820,000 (US$232,905) (lot 808, est. HK$250/350,000), both bringing many times their high estimates. These works featured flat images with cartoon-style poses and speech bubbles.

Sotheby’s again set a record for the work of Rudi Mantofani (b. 1973) following the record price achieved
in its series of spring 2008 sales last season. Pohon-Pohon Langit (Sky Trees) sold for HK$3,020,000
(US$386,469), bringing almost eight times its high estimate (lot 868, est. HK$280,000 – $380,000). Mantofani is known for his surreal fantasy landscapes in which for example trees are clouds and shadows are holes.

Artist records were also broken for Dipo Andy and Jumaldi Alfi. More abstract contemporary works and by for example Yunizar, Putu Satawijaya and the moderns also attracted interest but to a lesser extent.

Filipino artists

Filipino artists who did well in this sale included Geraldine Javier, Ronald Ventura, Annie Cabigting, Yasmin Sison and Lirio Salvador.

Why is South East Asian art so popular now?

Some commentators note that there is a structural issue which is affecting the art market. Today’s buyers are more speculative than at any time in the history of art buying and that the interest in South East Asian works is coming from former buyers of Chinese art who are looking for the next hot trend. Others note that the sale was a success because prices of South East Asian art are relatively cheap compared with other markets.

See:

• Sotheby’s site for images
• more on Indonesian , Filipino art
• more reports from Hong Kong
• market watch updates

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Video Art Weekend at Mori Art Museum Tokyo August 2008

JAPAN MUSEUM VIDEO ART SHOW August 1-3 2008 An exciting three days of video art works from Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand is promised by the Mori Art Museum.

As a part of the ASIAN Summer In Roppongi Hills celebration of Roppongi Hills’ 5th anniversary, the Mori Art Museum will hold a special screening of video art from Asia. “In-Between: Asian Video Art Weekend” will be held on the first weekend of August.

The use of moving pictures in artistic expression gained popularity in the 1970s with the development of video technology. Since then, each new technological breakthrough has seen moving pictures utilized in new and exciting ways.

In recent days, video art comes in the forms of long and short films, documentaries, home-videos, road movies, interviews and animations.

The “In-Between” event will consist of screenings of single-channel works by 11 artists from Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. Exploring a range of dichotomies relevant to Asia’s rapidly hybridizing cultures – life and death, reality and fantasy, memory and truth, local and global, conscious and subconscious, old and new – the works illuminate problems and issues that have arisen, and also depict visions of new futures unlike the past.

Participating Artists:
Cao Fei (China), Chen Chieh-Jen (Taiwan), Kondoh Akino (Japan),
Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba (Vietnam), Sherman Ong (Malaysia), Peng Hung-Chih (Taiwan), Araya Rasdjarmreamsook (Thailand), Sawa Hiraki (Japan), Sun Xun (China),
Tanaka Koki (Japan), Yuan Goang-Ming (Taiwan)

 Dates:  1 August (Fri) – 3 August (Sun) 2008
 
Source: http://www.mori.art.museum/html/english/contents/in-between/index.html

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Larasati is Asia’s first auction house to hold sale outside Asia

AMSTERDAM MARKET WATCH Larasati makes history as Asia’s first auction house to hold an international art sale outside the region.

The passion for contemporary Southeast Asian art has hit Europe as the world’s first auction outside of Asia by an Asian-based auction house, Lasarati Auctioneers was held in Amsterdam June 2 2008 featuring a diverse collection of European artworks, Asian and Southeast Asian contemporary art paintings.

Close to 80% of the 22 lots of Asian and Southeast Asian artworks were sold out at the Amsterdam auction, most of them by up-and-coming artists from the region.

Of this, 40% went to European collectors, proving that there is a growing interest in contemporary Asian and Southeast Asian art and increased support for work by new and emerging artists. Over 20% of total sales came from the Asian collection, which amounted to €120,000 as numerous lots were bidding at prices significantly above their estimates.

Top performing Asian artists at the auction include Indonesian Tommy Wondra whose artwork “Yearning for Answer 3 (no. 9) – Imbalance”, sold at €8,750, 219% above estimates; Vietnamese Dang Xuan Hoa’s “My Family” fetched €6,875, 172% over estimate; Indonesian Ugy Sugiarto’s “Mystery” sold for €9,375, 156% over estimate and Indonesian Saftari’s “Natural Room I” fetched €11,875, 148% over estimate.

The auction set another ‘high’ for Ugy Sugiarto, after a series of record prices achieved at Larasati auctions in Singapore, confirming the artist’s status as a new rising star.

Highest bids went to Malaysian artists – Ahmad Zakii Anwar’s “Seated Figure 6”, at €13,750 and Chang Fee Ming’s “September 27th” at €13,750.  (All prices include premium).

Daniel Komala, CEO of Larasati Auctioneers said, “More and more international art collectors are falling under the spell of the mystical charms of Asian art. I am very proud to say that we are breaking new ground here with Larasati’s inaugural show outside of Asia. Although this is the first international show for an Asian auction house, response has been very encouraging with most of the Asian artworks on display sold. Southeast Asian art, in particular, is growing in popularity and influence as the artworks by artists in this region exceeded sales estimates and secured very high bids.”

To sustain and promote the interest in Asian contemporary art, Larasati plans to hold more auctions in Hong Kong and Singapore later this year.

Source: www.larasati.com