Contemporary Chinese artist Shen Xiatong’s works are now on display at the Art Retreat – that’s right, the art museum in the techpark – in a special, first-time tour outside of China:

Shen Xiaotong’s stark images in black awash in crimson red are shocking entries in a pictorial journal he kept of his reflections on life and society in China soon after he graduated from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts in Chengdu 1989. When Diaries ∙ My Landscapes was first exhibited in Beijing in 1994, it provoked widespread discussions among various social circles about their meanings and intentions.

These powerful but controversial works have not been exhibited again since and this will be the first time that they are shown outside China. The exhibition which is made possible through a special loan of the works from a Singapore collector, will be touring the region after it ends in Singapore.

The artist was only 21 having just graduated from the art academy in 1989. As a sensitive young man he keenly observed events and developments happening around him at that time and considered deeply questions of time, history and memories. Through these paintings in what is widely known as the “Red Series”, he engages the reality that he perceived and experienced as a raring young artist fresh from academy with all the usual ideals and aspirations during a rather troubled period from 1989 to 1993 in China.

This special exhibition is on now until March 2007 at the Art Retreat: 10 Ubi Crescent, Ubi Techpark Lobby C, #01-45/47
Visit the website www.artretreatmuseum.com for more details.