Interesting Green: Have you visited Singa-planet?

MY PAPER TUESDAY MAY 31, 2011, PAGE A14, LIFESTYLE
From http://epaper.mypaper.sg/cnd/fvxen/fvxp/fvxpress.php?param=2011-05-31
Source Website: http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20110531-281614.html
By Satoko Nishimura | my paper, myp@sph.com.sg, Tue, May 31, 2011

PHOTO: Chicken-rice stall - BLENDING THE OLD AND NEW: Singa-planet is a compilation of art by contemporary artist Akira Yamaguchi, who has a Master of Art in oil painting, that gives an unusual perspective of Singapore's quotidian urban landscape.

PHOTO: AKIRA YAMAGUCHI
MY PAPER TUESDAY MAY 31, 2011, PAGE A14, LIFESTYLE

PHOTO: AKIRA YAMAGUCHI - a contemporary Japanese artist
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MY PAPER TUESDAY MAY 31, 2011, PAGE A14, LIFESTYLE

THE ubiquitous (existing or being everywhere, especially at the same time, omnipresent) Housing Board flat, home to the majority of the population in Singapore, has become part of the art of a contemporary (present time, modern) Japanese artist.

In Akira Yamaguchi's imagination, HDB blocks are seen as historical monuments sprouting out of their green natural setting.

In his book, Singa-planet, the latest compilation of art drawn by the 41-year-old artist, he gives a new, unusual and refreshing perspective of Singapore's quotidian (usual, everyday) urban landscape.

PHOTO: Singa-planet | Japan Creative Centre
Denise Kok / April 28, 2011, Art / Exhibition
http://www.plussixfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Singaplanet-Singapore-Biennale-00-1024x682.jpg
http://www.plussixfive.com/2011/04/28/singa-planet-japan-creative-centre/

"I was lost for words to see such beautiful buildings," he told my paper in a recent interview.

The art in Singa-planet was exhibited recently in Singapore at the Japan Creative Centre (JCC), which is run by the Japanese Embassy here, and was a parallel event of the recently concluded Singapore Biennale.

To Yamaguchi, who has visited Singapore twice, it isn't the obvious tourist icons like the Singapore Flyer or the historical statue of Singapore's founder, Sir Stamford Raffles, that catches his eye – or his heart.

PHOTO: The theme of this exhibition lies in high-rise buildings, presenting paintings that seems as if it is compressing and interchanging people’s lives and history, a beautiful and playful work that creates a lonely atmosphere caused by discontinuity, and a piece of video art that shows an imaginary elevator moving beyond all the walls.
Singa-planet | Japan Creative Centre, Denise Kok / April 28, 2011, Art / Exhibition

http://www.plussixfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Singaplanet-Singapore-Biennale-01-682x1024.jpg
http://www.plussixfive.com/2011/04/28/singa-planet-japan-creative-centre/

Instead, it is the humble HDB abodes and things in Singaporeans' daily lives, such as a chicken-rice stall or escalators in a shopping mall, that give him inspiration.

Representative of his peculiar visual perspective is the pencil-and-watercolour artwork on the cover of Singa-planet, in which Singapore is depicted as a huge ship sailing strongly against the wind.

PHOTO: Skyscrapers in Singapore stand high in the sky as if there is no such thing as gravity. They throw ordinary people from the ground to the upper floor. People who used to be neighbors on the ground are now divided by the same distance in mid-air. What kind of a gateway would a carefree tourist’s impolite gaze discover in the building?

Singa-planet | Japan Creative Centre, Denise Kok / April 28, 2011, Art / Exhibition
http://www.plussixfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Singaplanet-Singapore-Biennale-02-682x1024.jpg
http://www.plussixfive.com/2011/04/28/singa-planet-japan-creative-centre/

There is no clear indication whether the vessel is sailing in the sea or soaring in the sky.

Heading skywards is a skyscraper that is a mix of Singapore's modern condominiums, a helicopter port, HDB blocks, churches and Indian temples.

PHOTO: Skyscraper, a mix of Singapore's modern condominiums
MY PAPER TUESDAY MAY 31, 2011, PAGE A14, LIFESTYLE

Also included are Malay-style kampung houses, a busy shopping mall, and even the outstretched arm of a construction crane – reflecting the fact that the building of concrete structures is a continual process here.

In blending the past and the future, Yamaguchi creates unexpected beauty. His drawings contain both abstract and obvious messages and tempt the audience to scrutinise details to seek clues to the artist's intent.

In doing so, the audience becomes a part of his art.

PHOTO: JCC presents – Yamaguchi Akira Solo Exhibition “SINGA-PLANET”
Posted: March 8th, 2011 | Author: mindflyer
http://animalnewyork.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Yamaguchi_30Large.jpg
http://www.oicsingapore.com/wordpress/2011/03/08/jcc-presents-yamaguchi-akira-solo-exhibition-singa-planet/

The Tokyo-born Yamaguchi lives and works as a contemporary artist in the Japanese capital. He has a Master of Art in oil painting from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. Almost every year, he holds either solo or two-person exhibitions, the latest being City Strollers, at the Fukuoka Mitsukoshi Gallery.

His art is on display at Narita International Airport and in the Tokyo Metro, as well as at several museums in Japan, including Mori Art Museum in Tokyo.

Commenting on Singa-planet, Mr Rikimaru Takahashi, deputy director of the JCC, said: "The artist, who has sublime talent in painting, gives us new and refreshing perspectives (of) Singapore through his art."

By Satoko Nishimura | my paper, myp@sph.com.sg, Tue, May 31, 2011

The writer is a Web designer with AsiaOne, the news and lifestyle portal of Singapore Press Holdings.
Singa-planet is now on sale at the Japanese graphic section of Kinokuniya bookstore at Ngee Ann City. The book is priced at $23.90, with GST.

PHOTO: Singa-planet – Yamaguchi Akira,
April 4, 2011 at 12:51 am | Posted in itchy mouth
The Japan Creative Centre is at No. 4 Nassim Road
http://myitchyfingers.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/nassim-rd1.jpg
https://myitchyfingers.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/singa-planet-yamaguchi-akira/

PHOTO: Yamaguchi Akira Solo Exhibition："SINGA-PLANET"
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5185/5622165056_facdfa3333.jpg
http://yiliang-room.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post_16.html

HELPDESK
我的字典: Wǒ de zì diǎn

Compilation: 编集 - biān jí
Visual perspective: 透视感 - tòu shì gǎn
Abstract: 抽象的 - chōu xiàng de
Sublime talent: 超群的才能 - chāo qún de cái néng

Reference