Past Exhibition

Korean

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Choy Weng Yang

(b. 1930, Singapore)

Choy has made important contributions to the progress of Singapore Art Scene as an educator, art curator, art writer and as a creative visionary. Instrumental in the development of museology in Singapore since the 1970s, Choy is renowned for his groundbreaking approach of combining various contemporary Western art styles. Inspired by his predecessors like Paul Klee and Josef Albers, Choy imbues his own artistic expression that bridges instinctual and intellectual responses to colours. His work ruminates on the theories and practices of these colour theorists, who used colours and composition as a springboard for conveying complex ideas, while activating a flurry of emotional reactions.

Having graduated from the Hornsey College of Art in London in 1962, Choy was largely exposed to interdisciplinary modern art movements of his time which advanced his artistic development. He absorbed the revolutionary ideas and techniques that defined European art in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly relating to the manipulation of light and colours like Turner, Monet, Matisse, Cezanne and Mondrian.

In 1973, Choy was awarded a 6-month UNESCO Fellowship where he was mentored by the Bauhaus artist and educator György Kepes. He experimented with environmental design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS). During their exchanges, Choy excelled in assimilating the concepts of transient light and color interaction into his understanding of abstract expressionism and ventured deeper into the modern art landscape of the US. This marked a pivotal point in his career, broadening his horizons as a cutting-edge painter and furthered his experiments with form, space and seeing colours beyond the visual, as a cognitive medium. Choy's dedication and proliferation of artistic ideas led him to helm the Head of the Exhibition & Design at National Museum Art Gallery (NMAG) in 1975, and was subsequently promoted to Curator of Art from 1978 to 1985. During this time, Choy promoted museum cultures and practices in Singapore, and implemented ingenious museum designs he learnt while residing overseas.

Choy played an active part in forming a community of artists to search for the identity of Singaporean Art and in pushing boundaries of traditional art movements. Like fellow second-generation artists Teo Eng Seng (1938- and Anthony Poon (1945-2006), Choy introduced and brought the focus of abstract art to avid audiences. He gained recognition for the non-conventional methods of conveying unrestrained artistic expressions that redefined modernity of art, and laid the groundwork for nurturing new generations of artists in Singapore.
EDUCATION
1963Art Teachers' Certificate (U.K), University of London Institute of Education
1962Graduate, Hornsey College of Art, London, U.K.
AWARDS
1985Cultural tour of France by invitation of the Government of France
1979Cultural tour of India by invitation of the Government of India
1973UNESCO Fellowship in Creative Arts - Survey of Contemporary America Art and Research on Environment Arts, at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies, USA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2008Vivid and Profound, Cape of Good Hope Gallery, Singapore
2000Ambience, Theme and Variations, DP Space, Singapore
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017Transcend: 50 Years of Singapore Modern Art, Singapore; Singapore Artists in the States: Wong Keen, Goh Beng Kwan, Zhuang Sheng Tao and Choy Weng Yang, Singapore
2015Legacy Progression: Singapore-China Art Exhibition, Beijing, China, and Singapore
2014A Changed World: Singapore Art 1950s-1970s, Singapore; New Works - Choy Weng Yang, Tan Teo Kwang, Yeo Hoe Koon, Singapore
2011Exchange 2011: Singapore-China Art Show, Singapore
2010Choy Weng Yang and Jolly Koh: Master Works from 2 Modern Painters, Singapore
2009Exploring the Boundary, Malaysia and Singapore
2007ARTSingapore 2007 - The Contemporary Asian Art Fair, Singapore; Unique 9,Singapore
2006ARTSingapore 2006 - The Contemporary Asian Art Fair, Singapore
2005ARTSingapore 2005 - The Contemporary Asian Art Fair, Singapore
2004City Inspirations, Singapore
2002The Contemporary Asian Art Fair, Singapore
1998Windows - Recent Paintings by 3 Singapore Artists, Singapore
1996Line Perceptions - Recent Drawings by 6 Artists, Singapore
1994Art of the Nude, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Singapore
1985Singapore Artist - Salon des Artistes Francais, Paris, France
1972Singapore Art - Adelaide Festival of Arts, Adelaide, Australia