Artist: Zhu Hong (b. 1969)
Mr Zhu Hong immigrated to Singapore from China in 1997, where he practiced as an architect and interior designer before becoming a full-time artist. His knowledge and passion for architecture is evident in his artworks of cosmopolitan life. Mr Zhu Hong captures the spirit of buildings, of the city and suburbs, with energetic calligraphic brushstrokes. He also utilizes dynamic lines and angles that playfully distort architectural elements, which along with vibrant colours, reflect the lively atmosphere of Singapore.
Tiong Bahru
Mr Zhu Hong has a trademark pop art, animated style with flamboyant colours that is evident across his art pieces. The resplendent white, red, blue, and greys used in Tiong Bahru reproduce the gaiety of the neighbourhood, while the attention to lines and planes reflect the fusion of imported European and local architectural styles used in designing the flats that resemble public housing in British New Towns.
By making HDB flats the subject of his artwork, Mr Zhu Hong’s pieces may have been inspired by the pop art movement that emerged in the 1950s, in which ordinary objects like household items and popular culture figures were incorporated into art. Mr Zhu Hong’s lively and theatrical piece proves that creativity may be drawn from any source including commonplace residential areas and that the boundaries that guard the hierarchy of culture may be more fluid than previously thought.
Wedding at CHIJ
The church bells chime
For a wedding ceremony
The couple kiss at noon
In happy matrimony
The clement climate and the pea green trees of Mr Zhu Hong’s Wedding at CHIJ evoke feelings of bliss. Mr Zhu Hong’s intentional semi-abstract art style is aimed at expressing emotions and thoughts beyond the realistic depiction of the subject. The unstructured lines that detail the church and the flora combined with the vivid colours give the piece fictive and romantic qualities.
With the average age of marriage getting pushed back and fewer people being interested in matrimony, Wedding at CHIJ offers a glimpse of the possibilities of lifelong commitment, both good and bad. Even so, the beauty of the art piece tempts the bachelor and the bachelorette who reconsider, albeit for a brief second, about their romantic future. The floating red balloons set off to commemorate the special occasion add to the festive atmosphere as art appreciators fantasize the joyous couple releasing the balloons at the end of the ceremony. As the balloons rise and disappear from sight, it carries their well wishes towards the heavens for divine blessings.
Little India
Buzzing with people and activity in the afternoon, Little India is one of the most colourful districts in Singapore, as illustrated by Mr Zhu Hong’s piece. Roaming through these streets, one may see yellow-and-red flags drift in the wind and eye-catching characters engaged in their craft. The tradesmen and street vendors who hustle around the mixture of old-fashioned shophouses, religious temples, and contemporary cafes enrich the cultural landscape. Smells of flowers, food, and incense may flood the noses of visitors, and scents seem to emanate from Little India’s alluring likeness to the landmark.
Mr Zhu Hong places less emphasis on depicting the cultural aspect of Little India than its thronging events. Without the street signs, art viewers may assume the art piece to be of any location in Singapore. After all, happy faces, bright smiles, and twinkling eyes transcend race, ethnicity, and religion.
Public Swimming Pool
The carefree children and adults splash about in the turquoise waters, cooling themselves from the sunlit sapphire skies. Public Swimming Pool’s theme is about community, with neighbours and non-residents enjoying the chilly pool waters in the public space. With the scattered human figure, the artist’s focus is mainly on the public facility and partly on the residential blocks in the background. With his background in architecture, Mr Zhu Hong presents the symbiotic relationship between public and private spaces. The former enriches us with social connection that we lack in our place of dwelling, while the latter nourishes us with solitude that is sometimes antithetical to outside spaces. As a whole, public and private spaces balance the multiplicity of needs that individuals have, a fact keenly observable from Mr Zhu Hong’s Public Swimming Pool.
“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” (Pablo Picasso) As a prominent member of the Singapore Watercolour Society and active figure in the local art scene, Mr Zhu Hong’s signature free-flowing brush strokes create watery colours that depict Singapore’s past and present in a vibrant manner. It is only through reinventing the future that we can improve from the past, through remembering the past that we remain grounded in the present, and through being present that we really live. Mr Zhu Hong’s series of limited edition of playful print works sold at $1900 and above are most suited more young and entry collectors.
