Singapore Baraoke
Gilles Massot
Intersections takes pride in presenting Singapore Baraoke a curated selection of Gilles Massot‘s works at Affordable Art Fair 2024.
For Gilles Massot, the cultures making up the Singapore Society, whether Chinese, Indian or Malay, can be said Baraoke in their aesthetics for the emphasis given to decorative elements but also as popular interpretations of original traditions in a new context resulting of past migrations. Gilles Massot’s representation of Singapore’s multicultural society started with The Coffee Shop series initiated in 1986 and first exhibited in 1992. Singapore Boy Times Flies With You is another series which reflects the multifaceted character of Singapore.
Just as a karaoke is made of interpretations of original songs, Gilles Massot sees the Singapore grass roots aesthetics as a Baroque Karaoke, the Singapore Baraoke. This concept became the guideline of a body of work which Gilles Massot developed before going back to France after 40 years in Singapore as a synthesis of his 40 years practice in Singapore. Two of these significant works are presented at Affordable Art Fair 2024.
- 7 November -
- 10 November, 2024
Singapore Affordable Art Fair 2024
Watch Gilles Video About the Project
The Coffee Shop Series
The Coffee shop series was inspired by the Chye Hong Coffee shop on Bukit Timah, not far from Newton Circus Food Centre.
This now long -gone location held an interesting summary of the Singapore society. It most naturally brought together a Chinese family, the owners of the coffee shop who sold drinks, a Malays family and a group of Indian men who served cooked food, all of them living and working harmoniously under one roof.
The artworks exhibited at Affordable Art Fair belong to a series of black and white photo prints. However, in his attempt to create a portrait truly reflective of the multifaceted society of Singapore, the artist had used a wider range of mediums and techniques form charcoal to Chinese Brush, from photography to pastels.
Singapore Boy Time Flies with You
This series was conceived by the artist to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his arrival in Singapore. The artworks selected for Affordable Art Fair 2024 are photo collages of old fashioned pillars of Chinatown and cityscapes.
These artworks were first exhibited in 1991 at Art Square, 138 Kim Seng Road.
Collaborative Works
The Stone at the Cross Roads and Fixing the Stone are collaborative works created by Gilles Massot in 2020. These artworks aimed at being a synthesis of 40 years of artistic practice in Singapore. Alecia Neo , Shaiful Raisen and Vimal Kumar contributed to The Stone at the Crossroads. while Fixing the Stone is the result of a collaboration with See Kain Wee, Zaki Jumahri and Fauzi Ismail.
