Credit: Casey TanEmerging artist Casey Tan nabbed UOB’s Most Promising Artist of the Year award in 2019 with his work The Water Is Wide, and now he’s back with a solo show titled Night Call.Known for infusing a sense of surrealism into everyday settings, his new show explores notions of desire – desire cleverly disguised in expressions of sorrow, the clenching of a fist, the promising glow of a sunrise and a gaze filled with yearning. One could say it’s the desire for the artist’s idealized way of living – though the challenges of the real world threaten to destabilize that. Through his art, Tan contemplates his role as a product of his environment and the pressure to conform to societal norms; expectations regarding romantic relationships, an ‘ideal’ career trajectory and the inevitable influence of societal benchmarks.
Credit: The ProjectorDid you miss out on the sold-out screening of Poor Things during last December’s Singapore International Film Festival? Well, here’s your second – and only – chance to catch the buzzy gothic comedy (and potential Oscar nominee) headlined by Emma Stone. The film has been described as a feminist take of sorts on Frankenstein, in which Stone plays a young woman brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist (Willem Dafoe) and starts to hunger for life experiences she’s never had. There will only be four screenings for the film and it’s part of The Projector’s new showcase dedicated to Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, who’s known for his weird, quirky characters (think Olivia Colman in The Favourite). Don’t miss out.”
Jan 5-30, various times, at The Projector Golden Mile, #05-00 Golden Mile Tower and Golden Village x The Projector at Cineleisure, #05-01 Cineleisure
Credit: Do Ho Suh, Stove, Unit 2, 348 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011, USA, 2015; polyester fabric, stainless steel wire and glass display case with LED lighting. Photo by Taegsu Jeon.Image courtesy of the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul and London
The show will be hosted across multiple venues, including the Michelin-starred restaurant Nouri, which will be showcasing a selection of works from Translations: Afro-Asian Poetics. In a nod to the exhibition, owner/chef Ivan Brehm from Nouri is set to collaborate with the celebrated Ghanaian chef Selassie Atadika for a series of thematic dining experiences (available only on Jan 18 and 19). The dinners are priced at $348++, and reservations are open online now.
Jan 3-Feb 18, 12pm-2.30pm and 6pm-12am (closed on Mondays and Tuesdays), at Nouri, 72 Amoy Street
Credit: Wawi Navarroza La Bruja (All the Places She's Gone, Self - Portrait) 2019 And while you’re at Nouri, why not head upstairs to its sister restaurant, Appetite? Known for its experimental, cross-disciplinary ethos, the space is concurrently hosting a small but tightly curated show titled ‘New Tropics.’
The show delves into the concept of the tropical as interpreted by contemporary artists hailing from Southeast Asia. Across diverse mediums and artistic approaches, these creators examine the evolving meanings and connotations associated with ‘the tropics,’ challenging and overturning established tropes and assumptions.
Filipino visual artist and photographer Wawi Navarroza (pictured), for example, portrays herself as a contemporary odalisque (an enslaved woman), evoking the imagery of the exotic ‘other’ historically colonised by the Western perspective. However, in this portrayal, the reclining female figure holds authority with her direct gaze. The intentional abundance of colour and objects overflowing in the composition is a nod to tropical stereotypes like ripe, swollen fruit, plants, and patterned textiles.
On now till Feb 18, 2024, 6pm-12am daily (closed on Sundays and Mondays) at Appetite, 72A Amoy Street
