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Teo Eng Seng: Cultural Medallion Winner Looks Back On 70 Years Of Art With New Exhibition

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  • 2 months ago
  • SilverStreak Editorial Team

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Teo Eng Seng: Cultural Medallion Winner Looks Back On 70 Years Of Art With New Exhibition
Credit: National Gallery Singapore
Much of Teo Eng Seng’s 86 years of life thus far have been dedicated to developing Singapore’s art scene, both as a pioneering artist and advocate. He’s made a name for expressing his views on societal issues in various mediums – inventing his own when current forms fail to pass muster – and earned a Cultural Medallion, Singapore’s apex arts award, for his efforts.
Now, his extensive portfolio of work across seven decades is being put on display at the National Gallery Singapore with its new exhibition titled Teo Eng Seng: We’re Happy. Are You Happy?.
Close to 70 of Eng Seng’s artworks will be exhibited from now to February 2 next year, split across two thematic sections.
The first examines the artist’s enduring spirit of innovation, up to and including his invention of paperdyesculp (dyed papier-mache shaped into artworks) in the ’80s, while the second offers a deep dive into his use of art as a means of social commentary.
The art piece that perhaps best encapsulates his work is the exhibition’s namesake, We’re Happy. Are You Happy?, featuring paperdyesculp birds playing in a second-hand birdcage surrounded by paper pieces resembling classical columns – a play on the trappings of the well-off, who often contradictorily accede certain freedoms for material wealth.
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“This exhibition is my largest exhibition to date, and I am honoured that it is being presented by the National Gallery Singapore. I am very happy to be able to achieve it this year,” says the silver.

Teo Eng Seng: Cultural Medallion Winner Looks Back On 70 Years Of Art With New Exhibition - Teo Eng Seng beside We’re Happy. Are You Happy? (1997)
Teo Eng Seng beside We’re Happy. Are You Happy? (1997).
Credit: National Gallery Singapore.
Teo Eng Seng: A maverick from young
According to the National Library Board, Eng Seng’s first formal brush with art came when he was just 17. With some support from his photographer father, he enrolled in an art class organised by the Singapore Art Society and the British Council – leading to his first exhibition at the British Council Hall with other students’ works.
Eng Seng’s early years came at just the right time to witness watershed moments in the Singapore art scene.
Some of the most pivotal moments in the local art scene include the art and modern art societies in the 1950s and 1960s,
he recalls.
This includes the Singapore Art Society, which was established in 1949.
The budding artist had to wait until 1959 for his solo debut in the art room of Pasir Panjang Secondary School (titled An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Teo Eng Seng), earning him plaudits in a local newspaper for being the first student to do so.
Eng Seng’s journey with art eventually brought him to London – which he hitchhiked to, through India, Pakistan and Europe, with £25 in hand – and the Central School of Arts and Crafts (now Central Saint Martins, a constituent of the University of the Arts London), then the Birmingham College of Art and Design.
Teo Eng Seng: Developing Singapore’s early art scene
His return home in ’70s saw his appointment as art master at the United World College of Southeast Asia, where he played a key role in organising its yearly contemporary arts festival.
The 1970s saw the opening of the Alpha Gallery, which took over the art scene. The National Museum of Singapore later opened in the 1980s. These are all very important events for the Singapore art scene, which took place one after the other,
Eng Seng comments.
Teo Eng Seng: Cultural Medallion Winner Looks Back On 70 Years Of Art With New Exhibition - Boom Time (1986)
Boom Time (1986), referencing Singapore’s booming economy in the mid-1980s.
Credit: National Gallery Singapore
The Alpha Gallery, an independent artist-led co-op, sparked off an artistic renaissance in Southeast Asia. Even so, it was not smooth sailing for Singapore’s burgeoning art scene, and the Alpha Gallery would eventually be shuttered permanently.
Teo Eng Seng’s breakthrough with paperdyesculp
Eng Seng, meanwhile, was struggling to find recognition as an artist in his own right.
When I first came back from the UK, I was still painting in oil and when I got people to review my work, they would make references to some very big artist names,
he says.
Now, that was very flattering in the beginning but then after a while, you would start to ask yourself, 'Who are you?'. It's all about the Western part of the world where the artists were all very famous – but I am not those artists,
he adds.

"So I had to find a way in which the writers could just talk about me without making comparisons or references to anybody else, no matter how important they are as artists, and just talk about my work in its own context."

This led to Eng Seng’s pioneering invention of a medium that would later become known as paperdyesculp. It gave the artist a new way to express his artistic sensibilities and more importantly, solidified his status as an artist whose name was worth remembering.
The invention of paperdyesculp practically stopped all references to other artists. Until today, nobody has ever mentioned anything about other artists and they just talked about me. Paperdyesculp is very flexible and anybody can use it as a medium and there is no end to the possibilities.
He says,
Teo Eng Seng: Cultural Medallion Winner Looks Back On 70 Years Of Art With New Exhibition - The Net (Most Definitely Singapore River) (1986)
The Net (Most Definitely Singapore River) (1986) uses paperdyesculp trash to a realistic picture of our river before the great cleanup.
Credit: National Gallery Singapore
Future plans
Teo’s invention of paperdyesculp, coupled with his inventive oeuvres and contributions to Singapore’s art scene as a whole, led to his conferring of a Cultural Medallion in 1986.
Though nearing 90, the senior hasn’t yet decided to hang up his brush – nor has he decided what his next artwork will be.
Normally I take it as it comes, I don’t look far ahead to see what could happen or look far back to see if I should do something about it. When something hits me, I’ll respond to it.
He says,
This is how I normally work because to me, it is very important to know what is happening around you, in your time and not the history or to predict the future. There are things that are happening now, for example the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and you don't want to ignore anything that is important,
adds the artist.
Teo Eng Seng: Cultural Medallion Winner Looks Back On 70 Years Of Art With New Exhibition - Exhibition Hall
The exhibition runs at the National Gallery Singapore until February next year.
Credit: National Gallery Singapore
Vision for the Singapore art scene
As for the local arts, Eng Seng is content, for now, that the modern stewards of the scene are steering it in the right direction.
I think we are moving alright. National Gallery Singapore is doing a really good job and I can see that a series of Singaporean artist exhibitions is already taking place,
he says.

"The next is to see our infrastructure, such as the Telok Kurau Studios, become more concentrated and productive with a greater push for development. I think the premises can be used more fruitfully, otherwise it would be a waste of very important spaces that we fought for years to realise."

Founded in 1997 by the National Arts Council (NAC), the Telok Kurau Studios is the first arts housing project to be established in Singapore. Artists who house their work at the premises include veterans like sculptor Lim Leong Seng, the late visually impaired multimedia artist Chng Seok Tin and Eng Seng himself, among others.
I hope that the NAC takes a more active role in seeing that the place (Telok Kurau Studios) becomes a very important place with important artists. There are 28 studios with 28 selected artists, who are working productively and making progress all the time, so they should be able to really make a change and develop our art scene into something of greater height,
says Eng Seng.
I also hope to see more spaces for art. The Singapore Art Museum currently resides at Tanjong Pagar Distripark but it would be great to see more art spaces within that building to convert it into an important arts hub, which will help develop the local art scene. With that, our artists should be working harder and working in different fields and directions,
he adds.

"At this point, it is not clear who is leading the development of our art scene so there has to be something important and a certain movement going on, so that groups of artists can work towards greater development."

Teo Eng Seng: Cultural Medallion Winner Looks Back On 70 Years Of Art With New Exhibition - Birds Nesting on my Balcony (1981)
Birds Nesting on my Balcony (1981).
Credit: National Gallery Singapore
Teo Eng Seng’s favourite piece at new exhibition
It's hard to choose a favourite but if I have to, it would be Birds Nesting on my Balcony, which was made during the beginning of my paperdyesculp creation process,
says Teo.

"With this artwork, I had the chance to try it on four canvases. It is a very delightful thing to look at birds building nests, having chicks and training them up to be able to fly away. It is very satisfying to watch birds train their chicks."

Teo Eng Seng: We’re Happy. Are You Happy?
Location: Singtel Special Exhibition Gallery 1, Level 3, National Gallery Singapore, Singapore 178957
Opening Hours: Now to 2 February 2025, 10am – 7pm daily
Admission: $15 for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (additional $5 off for seniors aged 60 and up)
Website: https://www.nationalgallery.sg/teoengseng2024

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