An art historian by training, T.K. Sabapathy has researched and published extensively on Southeast Asian art and artists. He, along with artist Redza Piyadasa, was the first to lay down the foundations for studying Singapore’s Modern artists.
Sabapathy’s original ideas and observations can be found in many of his writings as for instance, Vision and Idea, Relooking Modern Malaysian Art (Kuala Lumpur: National Art Gallery, 1994); Modernity and Beyond, Themes in Southeast Asian Art (Singapore: Singapore Art Museum, 1996); Piyadasa, An Overview 1962–2000 (Kuala Lumpur: National Art Gallery, 2001). Besides editing and writing, Sabapathy has also been involved in numerous exhibitions.