What is STPI?

STPI is a dynamic creative workshop and contemporary art gallery based in Singapore. Established in 2002, STPI is a not-for-profit organisation committed to promoting artistic experimentation in the mediums of print and paper and has become one of the most cutting-edge destinations for contemporary art in Asia. STPI sits alongside National Gallery Singapore and the Singapore Art Museum as part of the national Visual Arts Cluster of leading institutions in the region.

(Source: https://www.stpi.com.sg/about/)

 

Our class attended one of the exhibitions in STPI, which proudly presents the first major solo exhibition in Southeast Asia by LA-based painter and sculptor, Aaron Curry.

 

Aaron Curry: Fragments from a Collective Unity

“Characterised by saturated neon colours and evocative organic shapes, the biomorphic scultural works, inspired by a myriad of art movements such as cubism and surrealism, are effortless drawings in space. Illusions of depth are created through offhand shading and crosshatch strokes and juxtaposed with blunt outlines and solid colours. Through this, Curry masterfully merges the experience of surface and dimensionality in a visually stimulating tango.”

(Source: https://www.stpi.com.sg/exhibitions/fragments-from-a-collective-unity/)

We were set to take a look around the exhibition and try to interpret and understand his artworks. I realised that his artworks mostly has shapes that are sharp-looking (like a tooth, fish hooks, etc.) and are always piercing into another shape in the artwork.

The artworks behind this artist comes from mundane influences like the use of neon colours, biomorphic shapes of of keys, bones, fish hooks, etc., the music he listens to like classical jazz, The Kings, etc (some of the artworks were inspired by the album covers).

 

Own personal reflections

One takeaway from this exhibition was how the artist uses daily influences around him and what he likes as an inspiration for his artworks. Not only will this be helpful for coming up with ideas and the final product for the final project for Surface Design, but it will also help with FYP and the source of ideas.