Pasar
PASAR reimagines the exhibition space as a marketplace; a site of commerce, and a living archive of culture, rhythm, and exchange.
Taking its cue from the visual language of Southeast Asian wet markets, night bazaars, and provision stalls, PASAR brings together artworks spanning the 1960s to the early 2000s from 10 private collections. These artworks trace the choreography of trade: the weighing of goods, haggling of prices, the quiet negotiations between vendor and buyer, and the maze of markets.
In the context of Art Again as a secondary art marketplace, PASAR draws a deliberate parallel between the two trades; between selling produce and selling paintings, between the durian stall and the dealer’s wall. Both are marketplaces. Both are deeply human.
Through scenes of abundance and scarcity, movement and pause, PASAR invites viewers to consider what is truly exchanged in a market—beyond the transaction.
Presented in conjunction with SG60, this exhibition also celebrates two years of Art Again.
All artworks are for sale
Prices range from SGD $500 to $26,000
Artworks by: Chen Cheng Mei · Teng Nee Cheong · Lin Hsin Hsin · Chua Mia Tee · Ong Kim Seng · Jimmy Ong · Yunizar · Low Puay Hua · Tan Tuan Yong · Chong Choon Woon · Kunirori Usami · Peh Eng Seng · Mutsuo Murata · Xenz · U Tin Aye
>> Tell us you're coming <<
Hours
Opening hours:
- 8 August - 15 August: 11am - 6pm
- 16 August & 17 August: 11am - 2pm
Other events:
- 16 August (Saturday) 2pm - 4pm <> 60 Objects drawing session [RSVP: here]
- 16 August (Saturday) 5pm - 9pm <> Closing Reception
Address
Objects
51 Tannery Lane, #08-01
Singapore 347798
Produce
Rich, diverse, and bountiful—fruit and fresh catch from the tropics pepper our markets with colour and scent. These scenes have long captured the imagination of artists, and have been portrayed in splendid variety throughout our region's history.
We open with still lifes of fantastical fruit like the durian and mangosteen by Teng Nee Cheong (Singaporean, 1951–2013)—rendered with dramatic flair. Alongside these are Tan Tuan Yong’s (Singaporean, b. 1950) elegant portrayals of spring onions, pineapples, and carrots, and Chong Choon Woon’s (Malaysian, b. 1972) honest, personal depictions of turnips and duck hung out for sale—fragments of kitchen life from the '60s to the early-2000s, elevated through texture and form.
These pieces celebrate the ingredients of a national obsession, food, memory, and the market as our communal pantry.
Maze
Wet markets, night bazaars, the strings of lights and trails of smells, the cacophony of sounds.
Lost in the bustle of a market, hands and mouths full; artists have long sought to capture this choreography of movement.
Lin Hsin Hsin's (Singaporean, b. 1952) mathematical abstractions evoke the labyrinthine layouts of these markets, resembling the makeshift awnings used to shield from light, and more importantly, rainstorm. In contrast, classical watercolours by Low Puay Hua (Singaporean, b. 1945) and Ong Kim Seng (Singaporean, b. 1945) lovingly depict Singapore’s old neighbourhoods, showing the morning swell of crowd and trade. You find yourself lost in the painter's eye, appreciating how well they've captured the quintessence of the lived experience.
Through these works, viewers are invited to traverse the maze of markets and experience the essence of communal interaction.
Commerce
Beyond the tangible goods and spaces, markets are arenas of human interaction - the haggling of prices, the weighing of goods, the finesse of a good deal.
Few artists capture the everyday of Southeast Asia with the sensitivity and sophistication of Chen Cheng Mei (Singaporean, 1927–2020). As one of Singapore's rare pioneering female artists and a former member of the Ten Men Art Group, she brings a traveller’s curiosity and a documentarian’s precision. Her layered compositions from the 1970s—depicting streets, stalls, and their people—are visual time capsules: of dress, interaction, and the quiet pulse of trade.
Curating as a secondary marketplace is unchartered territory. With so many artworks spanning multiple private collections, Art Again does not adhere to the strict refinement observed in gallery shows, nor can we truly offer the wild unpredictability of hunting for art in a junk shop.
Instead, we sit somewhere in between: come as you are, hang out with the community, and because we are a secondary marketplace, if the collector is willing, prices are negotiable.