exhibition
OFF THE WALL
Transforming Live Murals into Custom Fine Art Prints, Empowering Artists and Non-Profit Initiatives
7 September – 1 November 2023, 11am – 7pm
5 Lock Road, #01-06, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108933
OFF OUR WALLS
AND ONTO YOURS
Off the Wall is a sustainable art exhibition series, featuring artists live-painting wall murals in Art Outreach's gallery space over a period of two months. During this time, the public is invited to visit and witness the creative process firsthand!
The site-specific murals will then be photographed in
high-resolution, and made into prints for public purchase in support of the artists and Art Outreach.
Support Emerging
Local Artists
We provide a platform for talented artists to execute and showcase large-scale works, while ensuring a fair and equitable profit-sharing arrangement.
Support Art Outreach
Off the Wall presents a sustainable revenue stream which mutually benefits the artists involved and Art Outreach, allowing the organisation to continue supporting, inspiring, and fostering artistic endeavours through its various programmes.
Own A Site-specific Mural
We offer exclusive, limited-edition prints of the murals that will not be replicated elsewhere. There is a variety of crops and sizes for you to choose from, and to add onto your walls!
EXPLORING CHINESE FOLKLORE
The inaugural edition "Modern Wisdoms" presents original works by ANTZ, Chris Chai, and Lewis Choo. Mostly urban street artists by nature, they boldly step into a contemporary white cube space to present imaginative interpretations of Chinese folklore, popular literature, and iconography, while inviting new perspectives on cultural motifs and narratives that have been transmitted through generations.
Exploring themes of journeying, (ir)reverence, (dis)obedience, play, and transcendence, this immersive exhibition is presented as a stage in which audiences are invited to traverse shapeshifting landscapes, anachronistic timelines, and celestial planes alongside colourful, spirited creatures, and mythic figures. The rich narratives contain multitudes. Each artist adeptly draws on the rich tradition of epic storytelling while exploring visual language and issues that resonate across their practice.
Through reflecting on the belief and value systems we live with, each artist examines our encounters and relationships with these timeless narratives and asks: What modern wisdoms can these stories hold?
MEET THE PRACTITIONERS
Anthony Chong a.k.a. ANTZ (Artist)
As one of Singapore’s pioneer street artists, ANTZ is the co-founder of graffiti crew RSCLS. Born and raised in the cultural melting point that is Singapore, ANTZ has been exposed to a variety of unique artistic influences over his 17 years in the game. He is known for his distinctive style that draws deeply from classic Chinese culture, identity, and dialect, and often incorporates mythology and stories with urban mixes into his work.
Chris Chai (Artist)
A full-time practising illustrator and artist whose works delve into the exploration of stories from antiquity to modern times and the ones that have yet to be told. Often incorporating geometric shapes, ornamentation, and patterned elements into his imagery, Chai hopes to expand both his awareness and imagination by creating fictional worlds where gods, men, monsters, and all manner of being exist on a unified plane of existence, reflecting the artist’s perpetual investigation of spirituality.
Lewis Choo (Artist)
A visual artist whose practice is focused on hyperlocal experiences that are a precipitation of careful introspection in his immediate day-to-day environment. Often working with traditional techniques like woodblock printing, Choo’s practice references Chinese and Japanese folklore extensively in the attempt to question the contemporary perspective toward societal issues. His artworks introduce a whimsical reinterpretation of traditional ideals, offering a unique twist that reflects our localised environment.
Zarina Muhammad (Curator)
An artist, educator, and researcher whose practice is deeply entwined with a critical re-examination of oral histories, ethnographic literature, and other historiographic accounts about Southeast Asia. Through a multidisciplinary approach encompassing performance, text, installation, ritual, sound, moving image, and participatory practices, Muhammad investigates the intricate connections between ecocultural and ecological histories, myth creation, haunted historical narratives, water cosmologies, and underground realms.
Our Cultural Partner:
Say Tian Hng
A 4th-generation heritage workshop established in 1896 that hand-crafts Taoist & Buddhist wooden effigies. Their cultural education workshops introduce adults and kids to the ancient legends, literature and philosophies of Chinese heritage and culture, and by extension imparting life values that will anchor them for the future.
OFF THE WALL PROGRAMMES
ABOUT ART OUTREACH
Established in 2003, Art Outreach is a non-profit arts intermediary with IPC status that is dedicated to promoting art appreciation in Singapore and strengthening networks in the local art ecosystem.
We enable practitioners to sustain careers in the arts by offering financial support, professional development opportunities, and an independent and free space to nurture and incubate their work, as well as through facilitating dialogues with collectors and industry leaders.
