Post Art Fair: Maria Farrar, Chris Huen, Hilmi Johandi, Yayoi Kusama, Nobuaki Takekawa, Guo-Liang Tan

Ota Fine Arts Singapore is delighted to present "Post Art Fair", a group exhibition featuring a robust selection of our represented artists. In response to the cancellation of Art Basel Hong Kong 2020, Ota Fine Arts invites audiences to experience our presentations alternatively at our gallery spaces in Singapore and Tokyo. We see this as an opportunity for all in Asia to react positively and overcome the situation as one.

This exhibition features Nobuaki Takekawa's (b. 1977, Japan) most recent painting, Cat's Water Work Site (February 2020, Tokyo) (2020), where he depicts a frenzy of cats in plumber outfits attempting to fix bursting water pipes. The water leaks are a metaphor for the deterioration of our social system and the cats can be regarded as people in society have to deal with such deficiencies in everyday life. Takekawa often employs such accessible and light-hearted motifs to discuss underlying issues in our contemporary society. On the other hand, Maria Farrar (b. 1988, Philippines) intrigues us with her paintings which exude a strong sense of narration. She paints scenes derived from her everyday life or from fragments of memories. Farrar's paintings often feature a suggestion of a female character, through objects such as high heels, earrings or a dressing table as seen in the painting Athens (2020) presented in this exhibition.

Chris Huen (b. 1991, Hong Kong), also mainly depicts his everyday environments, with a focus on how people understand objects through 'seeing'. Presented in this exhibition are his latest paintings Joel and Haze (2019) and Muimui and Doodood (2019) which feature his son and wife, and his two dogs, respectively. Huen paints entirely from memory and it reflects his attempt to capture time and space on the two-dimensional canvas. The distorted shapes and the contrast between light and shadow invites viewers to experience the ethereal yet profound world view of the artist. Hilmi Johandi's (b. 1987, Singapore) new painting Landscapes and Paradise V (Poolscapes) (2020), takes inspiration from an old postcard of a local hotel as the artist expands on his exploration on stagecraft. Spaces are altered, partitioned, and collaged, leading one to question if the scene portrayed could be an imaginary one, or part of a staged narrative. The figure at the pool side and tropical greenery which appear to be stage props intrigues the viewer into deciphering the reconstructed world of the artist that hints at the social effects of rapid development.

Guo-Liang Tan's (b. 1980, Singapore) new painting, Amphibian Wisps (2020), introduces an abstract visual to this exhibition. In his work, figurative elements are decidedly absent and instead of direct mark-making, paint is thinned down and allowed to flow across the surface of stretched fabric. The translucency of the ground effects Tan's capturing of a subtle, fleeting contact, which draws one's attention to the paintings' materially sensuous yet fragile surface, charging the imaginary space between touch and non-touch. Last but not least, the exhibition presents a painting from Yayoi Kusama's (b. 1929, Japan) prominent Infinity Nets series. In her painting INFINITY NETS (BLJFS) (2020), the entire canvas is covered in small curved brush strokes that appear to repeat infinitely - a cathartic process for the artist as she overcomes hallucinations of her surroundings being covered completely with the pattern of polka-dots or nets. There is a calm rhythm amidst the waves of curved strokes that is channeled from the artist to the viewer, generating a serenity within.

Ota Fine Arts invites all to experience our special presentation of selected works at our galleries and to enjoy the processes and creations of our artists.