Chua Ek Kay
Introduction
Born in Guangdong, Chua Ek Kay migrated to Singapore in the 1950s where he pioneered a signature style of spontaneous modernist brushwork, derived from the traditional Shanghai school ink painting of his teacher Fan Chang Tien. Chua is best known for his Lotus Pond Series, where he renders the impression and essence of the lotus flowers within quick, truncated calligraphic strokes. He essentially became to Chinese ink painting what Monet was to European Impressionism, by capturing the spirit and vitality of abundant nature and infusing it with a meditative, minimalistic quality. The artist grasped through a viewer’s intuition rather than by full physical definition.
BIOGRAPHY
1947 Born in Chenghai, Guangdong, China
1953 Moved to Singapore with family when six years old
Studied in Chinese school and learned Chinese calligraphy
1975-1987 Studied Chinese ink painting under Fan Chang Tien (1907-1987, Chinese ink painter in Singapore)
1989 Advanced Diploma, Lasalle College of Arts, Singapore
1993 Guest Curator, Journey of Ink, Ink Paintings in Singapore, National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore
1994 Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Tasmania, Australia
1995 Master of Arts (Hons) Visual Arts, University of Western Sydney, Australia
1998 Guest Curator, Art of Fan Chang Tien and His Students, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
1999 Member of Curatorial Committee, Nokia Singapore Art, Singapore
2001 Member of Curatorial Committee, Nokia Singapore Art, Singapore
2003 President, Young Talent Exhibition 2003, Singapore
2008 Passed away in Singapore
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016
- Chua Ek Kay: After the Rain, National Gallery Museum, Singapore
- Chua Ek Kay’s Works in Chinese Ink, Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Singapore
- Remembering Chua Ek Kay: One year on..., Gallery School of Economics/School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore
- Yixi, Recent Work, Shanghai Art Museum, China
- Being & Becoming, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore
- Street Scenes Revisited, Soobin Gallery, Singapore
- Lyrical Spaces, Wetterling Teo Gallery, Singapore
- Hunter of the Wilderness, Art Forum, Singapore
- Colour of Infinity, CHIJMES, Singapore
- Recent Works by Chua Ek Kay, University of Western Sydney, Australia
- Duality and Tension, National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore
- Street Scene by Chua Ek Kay, Art Affair at Duxton Road, Singapore
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
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Ink Dreams: Selections from the Fondation INK Collection, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
2017
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Nanyang Expressions, Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery, Singapore
2014
- Fine Art Asia, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
- Singapore Art Fair, Singapore
- Summer Festival of New Ink Art, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
- 3rd Shanghai Ink Biennial, Exploration: New Ink Art Shanghai, Zhu Qizhan Art Museum, Shanghai, China
- Exhibition Celebrating 10th Anniversary of Hong Kong’s Return to China 2007, Hong Kong Central Library, Hong Kong
- Art Festival Visual Art Exhibition, Singapore Management University, Singapore
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Timeless Space Damask Asia, London, UK
- Ink & Colour, 2 Singaporean Artists, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Asian Art Today 2001, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
- Nokia Singapore Art 2001, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
- Ambulation, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
- Beyond Tradition: Art of the New Migrant Chinese, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
- Power and Poetry, Monuments and Mediations in Chinese Ink Painting, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
- CRISP, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
- Philip Morris ASEAN Art Exhibition, Hanoi, Vietnam
- Nine Artists in Bali, Fort Canning Hill, Singapore
- A Century of Art in Singapore, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
- 3rd ASEAN Art Exhibition, Art Symposium & Workshop, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Singapore
- Singapore Art Festival, Tai-Ku Sheng, Hong Kong
- 25 Years of Art from Singapore, Meridian House International Washington DC, Indianapolis, Dallas, Los Angeles, Honolulu, USA
SELECTED AWARDS
2002 Lasalle College of Arts Fellowship, Singapore
1999 Cultural Medallion Award, Government of Singapore
1998 Juror’s Choice, Philip Morris ASEAN Art Award, Singapore
1991 Grand Prize, United Overseas Bank 10th Painting of the Year Award, Singapore
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Merrill Lynch International Bank, New York, USA
Rhone-Poulenc, New York, USA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, USA
National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore
National Library, Singapore
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore
Ministry of Information and the Arts, Singapore
Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore
United Overseas Bank Group, Singapore
Raffles Hotel, Singapore
Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir, Malaysia
Hotel Grand Plaza, India
