UOB 37th Painting of the Year, 2018

Here are just some highlights of winners in the recent UOB 37th Painting of the Year competition for your viewing and contemplation:-

2018 UOB Painting of the Year

Established Artist Category, Indonesia

Artist: Suvi Wahyudianto

Title: Angs't (ANGST)

Medium: Mixed media on aluminium plate

"To the artist, despite our racial and cultural differences, we are essentially the same. This artwork thus evokes our sense of empathy towards the lives of innocents in the face of conflicts and symbolises the hope that someday, the thick wall that separates us from seeing and treating each other as equal human beings will come down."

2018 UOB Painting of the Year

Established Artist Category, Thailand

Artist: Apiwat Banler

Title: Persistent Problems

Medium: Acrylic on canvas

"Through the painting, the artist conveys the impact of being surrounded by chaos in everyday life through persistent problems such as Bangkok's traffic congestion, urban sprawl and mass transit outages."  

2018 Most Promising Artist of the Year

Emerging  Artist Category, Singapore

Artist: Hu Jingxuan

Title: Encapsulated Time

Medium: Mixed media on canvas

"In modern society people are constantly moving and travelling, resulting in hybrid identities, blurred cultural borders and confusing social contexts. How does one negotiate the perplexing realities of contemporary life and identity in an ever-changing landscape?

Using art as a visual journal, the artist examines these ideas of modern life and migration in Encapsulated Time, capturing lost memories in a manufactured setting by re-imagining the gaps rather than recording them as they were supposed to be."  

Most Promising Artist of the Year

Emerging  Artist Category, Thailand

Artist: Chaichana Luetrakun

Title: Rhythm of Transformation No. 4

Medium: Acrylic on canvas

"Here, the landscape of junk cars represents the change of humans through time. In the artist's eyes, he views society as consisting of people with different background, experiences and memories. He reinterprets the human form through the asymmetrical arrangement of cars to symbolise humans grow up and become different elements driving a society."

For your further inflection, here are some quotes on painting:

"Painting is an illusion, a piece of magic, so what you see is not what you see. " -- Philip Guston

"Do activities you're passionate about - which make your heart and soul feel perky - including things like working out, cooking, painting, writing, yoga, hiking, walking, swimming, being in nature, being around art, or reading inspiring books." -- Karen Salmansohn

"Photography is about finding things. And painting is different - it's about making something." -- Saul Leiter

"Painting is concerned with all the 10 attributes of sight; which are: Darkness, Light, Solidity and Colour, Form and Position, Distance and Propinquity, Motion and Rest." -- Leonardo da Vinci