Raymond Lau Poo Seng
MURAL… MUSING ON MY WALL
6th Solo Show by Raymond Lau Poo Seng
13-28 September 2003
Monday to Saturday, from 11am to 7pm
Sunday, from 12pm to 5pm
Gallery will be closed at 4pm on 24 September 2003
Mural… Musing on my Wall presents Raymond Lau’s prolific recent series of
paintings, most of them produced since his last solo show in 2002. The 30 odd
paintings showcased are all inspired by the urban landscape in Singapore.
In this series, Raymond is developing a semi-abstract style whose inspiration
can be traced back to 1991 when he started to represent walls, looking at their
textures very carefully. With Window Speak, painted in 1992, we find the first
example where texture is more important and has more to say than the subject
itself. Developing further on some previous work, this time Raymond wants to
break away from the use of lines and figurative themes that could be seen in his
previous show Motherland, 2002.
The wall here is not the subject anymore but becomes a pretext for abstraction
of reality. What we see through Raymond’s representation may be different for
each of us. The coloured surface invites the viewer to let his imagination run
wild and conceive perhaps a fishing pond, a green field, a lake with birds
flying over, or a desert, a green land during spring with a cherry tree, a bunch
of flowers, birds waiting on an electric wire behind a house, a stormy sea or
the reflection of a building on water…
Remembering the award-winning Echoes of the Window produced in 1993, Raymond
acknowledges painting today with a more versatile, spontaneous and free style
embodying references to Chinese painting: washed-out and light colours, strokes
and black lines. It is Chinese painting style with Western media.
This new series is a testimony of Raymond Lau’s ability to absorb new knowledge
in his paintings and to challenge himself to make his style evolve. "If a
painting is perfect, this is the end, there is no more experiment," says
Raymond.
Motherland
Early last year, Lau dreamt of
himself on a boat in the sea, looking out towards Batam, Indonesia, where he saw
the island illuminated by an ethereal light. Believing this to be a sign that he
should return to his cultural roots (his mother is from Batam), Lau has based
his latest collection of paintings on his mother’s homeland. Capturing the
essence of life in Batam, Lau paints warm and tranquil pictures of the Riau
island, leaving the viewer with a impression of Batam as a relaxed and friendly
place. See the paintings at Utterly Art (208 South Bridge Rd, #02-01,
Tel: 6226 2605) from now until June 9 2002.