Chen Cheng Mei, Johore Road, Singapore, 1987
Etching on paper
41 x 71 cm (visible), 54 x 79 x 2.5 cm (framed)
Condition: Very good, with slight foxing on the upper right corner of the work, and throughout the matboard.
Edition of 10
Certificate of Authenticity from the Estate of Chen Cheng Mei available.
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Chen Cheng Mei (Singaporean, 1927–2020) was a trailblazing artist whose quiet, resolute presence marked her as one of the few Singaporean women of her generation to sustain a lifelong artistic practice. A graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1954, she studied under Cheong Soo Pieng and Lim Hak Tai, spending weekends sketching outdoors with them. Chen was part of the Ten Men Art Group and travelled across Southeast Asia with them, but it was after the group’s reconfiguration that she journeyed more extensively throughout not only Asia, but Africa and the Americas.
Chen's paintings, etchings, and prints are marked by a quiet intensity. While her works appear simple or naive, they reflect a sophisticated understanding of texture and form, honed through printmaking and a deep engagement with literature and the natural world. Chen’s ethos was shaped by her belief that culture is the backbone of a country. Her works form a personal visual diary, documenting lives across regions with quiet honesty. Often working outside the spotlight and at an intimate scale, Chen reminded us that art is not just about seeing, but feeling.
In this scene, Chen depicts the now-vanished Johore Street, a once-bustling thoroughfare that ran parallel to Victoria Street. Shophouses line the street as figures move through the composition, animated by the energy of daily life. Overhead, telephone lines—also relics of the past—stretch across the frame. The result is a quietly nostalgic image that invites viewers to long for a version of Singapore that quite literally no longer exists. In preserving this moment, Chen not only captures the spirit of the street but also memorialises the everyday rhythms of its people.
Literature: Wang-Chen, Cheng Mei, Lasting Impressions, Landmark Books, 2004, Plate 33, unpaginated.
Image of Johore Road, from the National Library Board
(Photographed in May 2025)