Singapore street artist Yip Yew Chong’s first series of nostalgic paintings sells out in a flash
Cats may be the Internet'due south favourite animal, but that is not why artist Yip Yew Chong paints them into his hugely popular murals that depict his nostalgic memories of Singapore.
The 52-twelvemonth-quondam, whose oftentimes-photographed life-sized murals can be found on the walls of buildings all around Singapore, including Chinatown, Tiong Bahru and even Woodlands, says he began painting moggies for historical accuracy.
"In the sometime days, cats roamed the streets and were everywhere. My family unit even kept cats – non every bit pets merely for catching rats," said the youthful-looking Yip, who as well depicts other commonly institute domestic animals of early Singapore, such equally dogs, chickens and ducks in his murals.
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"Only afterward a while, I noticed that the people who enjoyed the murals specifically looked out for cats, then sometimes I even hibernate them in my paintings," the self-taught artist added with a laugh.
This popular need is one of the reasons why these cute felines tin can be spotted in five paintings in Yip's first solo gallery show Something Somewhere Somewhen at Art Porters Gallery.
The ongoing exhibition, which opened on Jan 12 and runs till Mar 14, features vignettes inspired past his street fine art such as a sleeping cat painted directly onto a vintage wooden chair, a "flatlay" of a Chinese reunion dinner on a laminated table meridian as well as sheet paintings of traditional masks and lanterns.
All of these images – spanning 27 canvases and 15 sets of quondam-schoolhouse objects like enamel plates and wooden washing boards – will certainly strike a chord among those who are familiar with Yip's work. The paintings, which ranged in price from S$600 to South$eleven,000, accept since sold out equally collectors snapped upwardly the opportunity to ain a slice of nostalgia.
"Yew Chong is a popular artist whose piece of work has touched almost anybody, even in a urban center as diverse every bit Singapore, from locals and expats to the tourists who visit. Yous can enjoy the murals for free but they may disappear from the buildings some day and may somewhen become very rare," said Guillaume Levy-Lambert, co-founder of Art Porters Gallery.
"Yew Chong is a popular creative person whose work has touched almost anybody… You can enjoy the murals for free but they may disappear from the buildings some mean solar day and may eventually get very rare." – Guillaume Levy-Lambert
The duo struck upwardly a friendship after Yip began painting in the Spottiswoode and Everton Park neighbourhoods, where the gallery is as well located. During Singapore's circuit breaker flow last year, Levy-Lambert approached Yip with the idea to concur a solo show – something that the latter had always dreamt of doing.
"Because of the absence of tourists, we decided to focus on a theme that would resonate with locals. Plus, I wanted my showtime solo exhibition to be associated with how I became an creative person – which is through my murals," said Yip, who took about 4 months to paint the series.
A former accountant, Yip began painting murals in 2022 as a hobby before leaving his job in 2022 to become a total-time artist. With his fourth dimension freed upward every bit he could not go out to paint murals during the circuit breaker, he jumped at the chance to take his piece of work from the great outdoors to the comforts of a studio, he added with a laugh.
Interestingly, while his works have a sense of familiarity about them – Yip says he often meets people who tell him that he has captured scenes straight out of their childhoods – they are all a production of his memories and imagination.
"Most of the time, I draw inspiration from my memories, childhood and travels. To prepare for a painting, I sometimes look at Google for images to get the details of a specific item. But what I retrieve conspicuously and try to convey are the ambiance and mood of the scenes that I paint, such every bit evoking the sound of dripping water or the smell of the cloth that my grandmother used to sew together," he said.
This elusive "cornball spirit" is precisely why Levy-Lambert believes Yip'south work is worth investing in.
"What I find exceptional nigh his piece of work is that it is popular. I immensely respect the fact that everybody likes his art. Some may think it is simple just simplicity is a quality – it talks about the everyday in an authentic style and this exhibition likewise showcases the depth of his practise," he said.
The championship of the exhibition draws attention to this sense of capturing a moment in time. Yip added, "I would like people to come and view the paintings and ponder how and why they look familiar. Have yous seen them somewhere and somehow from your grandmother's stories? With Singapore developing so rapidly, I wanted to bring back that kind of poignant feeling that people have when thinking nigh the past."
There is more upwards this painter'southward sleeve. "Yew Chong wanted to offer a slice of what people know about him, but this is not the finish point, it is his starting indicate and there is much more to expect forward to," said Levy-Lambert.
Yip is slated to launch some other exhibition in February which will feature larger panoramic scenes of people.
"I am an explorer and I similar to travel, detour and get off course. It is the aforementioned with my art," he said. Already a sought after mural artist – in pre-pandemic times, he travelled to countries like Malaysia, Cambodia and India to paint – he hopes to have function in more fine art exhibitions overseas in the futurity.
"I would like to devote more than time to painting canvases and installations and I may consider making videos. But the aim of my fine art is to relate to people and to explore local life. So I won't become more abstruse anytime before long merely I'll never say never!"
"I would similar people to come and view the paintings and ponder how and why they await familiar. Have you lot seen them somewhere and somehow from your grandmother's stories?" – Yip Yew Chong
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/people/singapore-street-artist-yip-yew-chong-paintings-246701
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