The best art exhibitions in Singapore

Whitestone Gallery presents Chinese artist duo Li Wei & Liu Zhiyin’s largest and first-ever solo exhibition in Southeast Asia, Whispers of the Wind. Find over 50 sculptures made from a range of materials such as bronze, stainless steel, to whiten marble. 10 of which are creations shown for the first time. This includes a 250-cm-tall monumental piece titled Soar to the Skies. All of the sculptures exhibit a serene hue, almost fairy-tale-like, with their agile forms providing a striking contrast to the sense of peace they initially evoke.

Known as the father of Impressionism, Claude Monet's loose and fleeting painting style continues to resonate today. Gardens by the Bay brings his work and inspirations to vivid life at a new Impressions of Monet two-part exhibition, consisting of a floral display and multi-sensory experience.

Frida Kahlo, the world-renowned Mexican artist and cultural icon, needs no introduction. Regarded as one of the most influential female artists of the 20th century, she is celebrated for her impactful self-portraits that delve into themes of identity and the human body, as well as her inherent resilience against the hardships she faced in life.

Honouring the legend herself is ArtScience Museum’s upcoming exhibition, Frida Forever. The show will open on May 4, and run till September 1, 2024. This exhibition is part of the museum’s year-long celebration, ‘Year of Extraordinary Women’. 

Art is said to have the ability to transport minds elsewhere and challenge perception, Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson undoubtedly stands on top among those who do. And for all of us right here in Singapore, you’ll be glad to know that our very own Singapore Art Museum (SAM) is now home to the Southeast Asian debut of his survey exhibition. 

At Olafur Eliasson: Your curious journey, uncover 17 main works on display that provide an overview on the themes and environmental concerns explored throughout the artist’s three-decade-long practice. There will also be never-before-seen works and Singapore-exclusive installations only available at this leg of the travelling show.

Discover the brilliance of Helen Frankenthaler, one of the most influential American abstract expressionist artists of her time, at STPI’s annual special exhibition, Helen Frankenthaler: Prints 1977–2004, from June 29 to August 25, 2024. Featuring close to 40 of her prints from the National Collection of Singapore and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, as well as spotlighting her exceptional woodcuts, this exhibition will be the largest display of her works in Singapore yet. To top it off, the show will also explore her influential partnership with master printer Kenneth Tyler. 

Explore a curated selection of 30 paintings by artist Cheong Soo Pieng, completed from the 1950s to the 1980s. Visitors can venture through the space segmented into three sections that will answer the following questions: “What makes a painting?”, “When is a painting complete?”, and “What is painting?”.

This exhibition is a special one as it is the first in Southeast Asia to utilise material analysis such as x-ray scans and infrared photography to unveil fresh insights into Cheong’s artistic processes. Visitors will be able to dive into Cheong Soo Pieng’s art journey and learn more about the ins and outs of his practice such as materials used, art approaches, and untold stories and ideas.

Film fanatics, don’t miss out on ArtScience Museum’s upcoming exhibition Goddess: Brave. Bold. Beautiful. Curated by ACMI (Australia’s national museum of screen culture), Goddess is set to debut in Asia at the ArtScience Museum on April 6, 2024. Get ready to uncover 120 years of moving image history featuring stories, costumes, sketches, interactive experiences, as well as the pillars behind these wonderful masterpieces. 

It will also shine a spotlight on Asian film stars from Hong Kong, Japan, India, and Singapore, alongside other countries such as America, Australia and Europe. Other notable film icons to expect are, the one and only Marilyn Monroe, equal rights activist Laverne Cox, and Chinese American Hollywood star Anna May Wong. All of them are influential female figures in the film and television industry that have transcended stereotypes and influenced ideas of femininity through their representation on screen.

If your kids are digital natives whose playtime involves devices, prepare to snatch them away from their tech and bring them for a playful romp around town. Centred around elements of play, the National Museum of Singapore’s newest exhibition, Play:Date – Unlocking Cabinets of Play, features over 250 locally and globally recognisable toys spanning the eras. Running from now until January 5, 2025, the free showcase promises to be eye-opening for both children and adults.

Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of Chinese Shen Zi Yao's Chinese ink landscapes, where every painting raises the question: does nature inspire the artist, or does the artist inspire nature?

Shen Zi Yao finds inspiration in the beauty of the natural world, selecting elements that resonate with his current mood to create stunning paintings. Each of the paintings found in the exhibition is also thoughtfully paired with a Chinese nature poem, highlighting the profound bond between nature and artistic expression. 

If you’re interested in a mix of both traditional and modern media but are not sure where to start, pay this exhibition a visit. In Timeless Masterpieces: Contemporary Chinese Art Through the Ages, eight Chinese artists across different generations working with different mediums are invited to showcase their paintings and sculptures, alongside the addition of digital media. To name a few – Jiang Miao will bring her multidimensional graphic creations created over the years to the table, while Yang Yongliang, known for his usage of mountains and urban architecture in his works, will exhibit his latest narrative film. Bao Pei will also be showing a new work that combines the characteristics of printmaking and oil painting to reconstruct a “new language”. 

If you’ve seen the widely-discussed artwork featuring a banana taped to a wall that sold for over a hundred thousand dollars, then you would know that there are no boundaries in modern art. This inevitably leads us to the pressing question: What exactly is art? With this question in mind, take a trip to the National Gallery’s latest show, Figuring A Scene.

The exhibition is divided into six segments: ‘Shadow’, 'Fruit’, ‘Fire’, ‘Air’, ‘Wax’ and ‘City’. These different points of focus hope to further aid our understanding of the displayed works beyond its historical or societal contexts. 

For example, in the segment ‘Fruit’, the show examines the diverse portrayals of the King of Fruits, Durian, throughout several mediums of art – from sculptures to paintings and photographs. With each medium offering its own unique point of view, visitors can reflect on its status during colonial times and uncover how this fruit has evolved into an iconic symbol of Singapore's national identity.

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At its core, this exhibition is a gathering of Asia’s most prominent artists happening alongside the debut of Tang Contemporary Art. The showcase will highlight acclaimed talents like Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, Thai painter Kitti Narod, street artist Gongkan, and Filipino artist Tiffany Lafuente. Beyond celebrating these remarkable artists, the event also shines a spotlight on the diverse and dynamic artistic offerings of Tang Contemporary Art.

In Search of the Beyond, local artist Gerald Tay’s second solo exhibition, explores themes of self-reflection and the desire to connect with the artist’s personal inner world. 

This exhibition will feature eleven new paintings, all of which start with a digitally manipulated sketch of his past works. Utilising the process of mirroring and repetition, Tay transforms these sketches into entirely new compositions, using them as a loose framework for his intuitive painting process. Incorporating forms inspired by temples and religious artefacts, Tay's new paintings reveal cell-like structures arranged in irregular, pulsating patterns – resulting in psychedelic visuals.

Over 100 years ago in the year 1864, 84 pagodas were hand-carved in Shanghai at the Tushanwan Workshop by Jesuit missionaries. Many of them then went on to influence several other celebrated artists that we have come to know of today, such as watercolourist Xu Yongqing and sculptor Zhang Chongren. Today, these 84 pagodas are now being reunited in Singapore at Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM)’s exhibition Pagoda Odyssey 1915: From Shanghai to San Francisco.