Big is Beautiful

Posted by lynn under Explore Singapore!
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True to its name, everything at The Big Picture Show is huge to say the least. Happening 30 October 2007 to 28 March 2008 at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), The Big Picture Show proudly presents some of the largest artworks in SAM’s collection.

Upon stepping in, I was instantly enveloped by a sense of awe. Though no art connoisseur, I knew I was about to witness a stunning exhibition of mammoth proportions – the result of months of precise planning and meticulous execution. Sprawled generously across Galleries 1.10 to 3.10, the exhibition is divided into four themes – Imagined Spaces, Larger than Life, Horizon: Poetic Landscapes and Horizon: The Built Up City.

Literally larger than life, I was bowled over not just by the sheer vastness of the paintings, but their painstaking attention to detail. Here are just a few of the enormous masterpieces which caught my eye:

The Longest

Titled My Country, See What has Happened Now to Nature, this painting by Ferdinand Montemayor stretches across 13 metres in length! A collection of SAM, My Country, See What has Happened Now to Nature tells of man’s rapid urban progress and the toll it exacts on our environment. Rendered in shades of reds and oranges, the picture depicts a desert-like metropolitan landscape with building structures stretching up to the horizon. Devoid of any human presence, it projects a feeling of stark barrenness.

The Largest

This masterpiece, Unfinished Painting of the Present, by Edgar (Egai) Talusan Fernandez was so huge that my camera failed to capture it in its entirety. Stretching across 10 panels, the picture featured here is but a fraction of the whole.

Establishing his reputation as an artist during the years of the Marcos regime in the Philippines, Fernandez’s works often acted as a social commentary on the living conditions of the Filipino people, vocalising the people’s protest against the military’s aggression. At the centre of the painting, a woman symbolising Mother Earth stands carrying an infant in her hands to represent the artist’s hope for future peace in the Philippines.

The Tallest

Measuring five metres in height, Marcos and His Cronies by Pacita Abad is a spectacular riot of colours and intricate detailing. Heavily embroidered with gold thread and appliquéd with tiny mirrors, shells and glass beads, Abad’s Marcos and His Cronies is an example of the artist’s foray into textile. The colourful figures in the artwork represent raksasa (demon) masks adapted from the wayang topeng (dance theatre) of Indonesia.

With so much to see, head down to The Big Picture Show at SAM today! For at The Big Picture Show, big is certainly beautiful.

The Big Picture Show is part of Explore Singapore! which happens from 10 November 2007 to 31 December 2007. For more information on Explore Singapore!, visit www.museums.com.sg/explore or call 62214463.

Tags: Explore Singapore!, Singapore Art Museum, Big Picture Show