View source for Chua Ek Kay

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox artist
| bgcolour         =
| name             = Chua Ek Kay<br>蔡逸溪
| image            = Chua Ek Kay.jpg
| image_size       = 200px
| caption          =
| birth_date       = 21 November 1947
| birth_place      = [[Guangdong]], [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|China]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|2008|2|8|1947|1|1|df=yes}}
| death_place      = [[Singapore]]
| nationality      = [[Singapore]]an
| spouse           = Mdm. Yeo Yang Kwee
| field            = [[Ink wash painting|Chinese ink painting]]
| training         = Taught privately by Fan Chang Tien; [[LASALLE College of the Arts|Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts]] (1990); [[Bachelor of Fine Arts|BFA]] ([[University of Tasmania]]); [[Master of Arts|MA (Hons)]] ([[University of Western Sydney]])
| movement         =
| awards           = '''1991''': [[United Overseas Bank|UOB]] 10th Painting of the Year Award (Grand Prize)<br />
'''1998''': Philip Morris Group of Companies ASEAN Art Awards, Juror's Choice<br />
'''1999''': [[Cultural Medallion|Cultural Medallion for Art]]<br />
'''2002''': [[LASALLE College of the Arts|Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts]] Fellowship
}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Cai (surname)|Chua (蔡)]]|lang=Chinese}}
'''Chua Ek Kay''' ({{zh|s=蔡逸溪|p=Cài Yìxī}}) (21 November, 1947 – 8 February 2008) was a [[Singapore]]an [[artist]] hailed as the "bridge between Asian and Western art"<ref>{{citation|author=Hasnita A. Majid|title=Cultural Medallion winner Chua Ek Kay dies at 61|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/327827/1/.html|publisher=[[Channel NewsAsia]]|date=9 February 2008|access-date=18 February 2008|archive-date=11 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311131438/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/327827/1/.html|url-status=dead}}.</ref> with a unique painting style using Chinese ink on paper that demonstrated an ingenious blend of traditional [[Chinese painting]] forms with Western art theories and techniques. Most of his works were themed of [[Chinatown, Singapore|Chinatown]] street scenes, lotuses, and abstract works inspired by [[indigenous Australians|Australian aboriginal]] [[cave painting]]s.
==Early years==
Chua Ek Kay was born in [[Guangdong]], China, on 1947, the eldest of seven children. In the 1950s, his family migrated to [[Singapore]], and settled in Liang Seah Street. Chinese cultural influences were very much a part of his daily life and art, and as a child Chua picked up [[Chinese literature]] and [[Chinese poetry|poetry]], and practised writing [[Chinese character]]s with his father. Even in school, he often took part in [[Chinese calligraphy|calligraphy]] and classical poetry activities as a student at the [[Catholic High School, Singapore|Catholic High School]]. He excelled in both areas, writing his own poems and becoming known in school for his excellent poetic calligraphy. This reputation soon spread to local calligraphy and poetic circles.
In 1975, the 28-year-old Chua became a student of Chinese brush painting and [[seal (Chinese)|seal-carving]] of Singaporean master [[Ink and wash painting|ink painter]], Fan Chang Tien.
==Artistic career==
Though he was deeply passionate about art, Chua continued to make his living by taking on a variety of jobs. Finally, in 1985, he resigned his post as a manager of a garment factory to become a full-time artist. At the age of 38 he embarked on his artistic journey, supplementing his income as a lecturer with the Extramural Studies Department of the [[National University of Singapore]].
[[File:BicyclesRestAtTheBacklane.jpg|thumb|left|''Bicycles Rest at the Backlane'' (2000)<br>60 x 76&nbsp;cm. Ink on paper.<br>Collection of the [[National University of Singapore|NUS]] Museums.]]
He began exploring his ideas about art, breaking away from traditionalist Shanghai School-styled subjects. Remembering his childhood days in Liang Seah Street and its community, Chua found new inspirations in his paintings from mountains and lakes, to [[shophouse]]s and even abstract works inspired by [[Indigenous Australians|Australian aboriginal]] [[cave painting]]s.
As he explored new expressions in art, he found similarities between the Shanghai School style and the works of Western artists like [[Henri Matisse]], [[Pablo Picasso]] and [[Jackson Pollock]] in terms of artistic spontaneity. This new-found interest in Western art led him to study the subject at the [[LASALLE College of the Arts|Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts]] (now the LASALLE College of the Arts) in 1990. He was also to spend several more years engaged in a comparative study of eastern and western concepts in painting in [[Australia]], receiving a [[Bachelor of Fine Arts]] (BFA) from the [[University of Tasmania]] and a [[Master of Arts]] (MA (Hons)) from the [[University of Western Sydney]].<ref name="Chua"/><ref>{{citation|title=Chua Ek Kay (Singaporean, 1947): Selected exhibitions|url=http://www.artnet.com/artist/424463995/chua-ek-kay.html|publisher=ArtNet: The Art World Online|access-date=16 February 2008}}.</ref> Nevertheless, the Chinese brush style which he had picked up earlier never left him, and its influence continued to flow in his paintings.
On 21 August 2006, Chua launched his "Street Scenes Collection" series of paintings at the [[Singapore Management University]] (SMU). Valued at [[Singapore dollar|S$]]302,000, these 30 works depict scenes of old shop houses, narrow alleyways, historic sites and other memories portraying Singapore's heritage, in his signature brush styles – a legacy of 20 years of artistic practice.<ref>{{citation|title=Chua Ek Kay gives his gift of art|url=http://www.smu.edu.sg/news_room/smuhub/jan2007/connection2.asp|publisher=[[Singapore Management University|SMU Hub: A Newsletter of the Singapore Management University]]|year=2006|access-date=24 February 2008}}.</ref> He officially donated this Collection to the University on 18 October 2006, in support of the University's "Visual Arts Initiative" launched earlier in the year. SMU subsequently published a book entitled ''Chua Ek Kay: Singapore Street Scenes, Evoking Memories'' (2007).<ref>{{citation|editor=Joanna Lee|title=Chua Ek Kay: Singapore Street Scenes, Evoking Memories|location=Singapore|publisher=Singapore Management University|year=2007|isbn=978-981-4217-29-3}}.</ref>
[[Lee Boon Yang]], the [[Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts|Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts]], said of the artist: "Ek Kay has developed a unique style of his own. When one looks at his paintings, one is reminded how a simple approach to life can translate into something powerful. I find his paintings particularly interesting in the way he injects so much passion and emotion into a minimalist landscape."<ref name="ST-140208">{{citation|title=Minister, NAC pay tribute to late artist|newspaper=[[The Straits Times]]|date=14 February 2008}}</ref>
==Aesthetics and philosophy in his art==
When Chua was under the tutelage of Fan Chang Tien, he not only learnt the four elements of the "Shanghai School" – calligraphy, classical poetry, painting and seal-carving from his master. Fan drilled him in the principles of 花鸟 ({{zh|huā niǎo}}, or "flower–bird"), and enforced Chua's foundations in his art. This also intensified his interest in art, studying the aesthetics of post-Ming Dynasty masters particularly of Shih-Tao.<ref name="Chua2">{{citation|editor=Richard Lim|title=Singapore Artists Speak|location=Singapore|publisher=Raffles Editions|year=1998|isbn=9971-0-0863-7}}.</ref>
Fan Chang Tien also reminded Chua to be expressive in whatever subject matter he painted, for there was rhythm with each stroke. This "life" in his paintings also had to come with an understanding of "black within black", expressing art through different gradations of ink tones to capture a "simplistic complexity" in the depiction of the subject matter.<ref name="Chua">{{citation|author=Marjorie Chu|chapter=Chua Ek Kay – then and now|url=http://www.artforum.com.sg/artists_by_country/singapore/cek_text.pdf|title=Understanding Contemporary Southeast Asian Art|location=Singapore|publisher=Art Forum|year=2003|pages=83–94|isbn=981-04-8575-1|access-date=16 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226223855/http://www.artforum.com.sg/artists_by_country/singapore/cek_text.pdf|archive-date=26 February 2008|url-status=dead}}.</ref>
As he explored Western ideas in his art, he found that the difference between western and eastern art lay solely in their spirits: western art was forceful, and eastern art more introspective. He also found that the emergence of "east-west art fusion" in art adopted by pioneer Singapore artists in the 1950s and 1960s was partly due to the [[Cultural Revolution]]. That Revolution not only closed China's door from the rest of the world, it also locked away its "conventional Chinese art themes of snowy peaks and gushing rivers" that were identified with by Chinese artists overseas. Singapore artists then realized they did not really relate to these conventional art themes and they should adopt familiar subjects that they could distill through their emotion and artistry. Many artists in that period were also English-educated, and thus adopted western ideas as alternative sources of art. While Chua's creations are infused with Western artistic spontaneity, he felt that tradition continued to play an important role in breaking new ground and generating inspirations in art.<ref name="Chua2"/>
Chua continued to practise [[Chinese language|Han]] calligraphy and ink-brush painting, as he believed that while a contemporary painting had to keep up with the times and embody an artist's temperament and the ideals he stands for, in creating art he should be rooted to certain basic rules and formats. The discipline of Chinese art helped to strengthen his lines, while western techniques helped him in the mixing of [[color|tones]]. These techniques formed the basis of his art.<ref name="Chua2"/>
==Death and tributes==
[[File:ChuaEkKay-NAFAroundtable-20080318-02.jpg|thumb|Roundtable participants (from left to right) Susie Lingham (moderator, standing), Cheo Chai-Hiang, Hong Sek Chern, T.K. Sabapathy and Joanna Lee.]]
On 8 February 2008, Chua died at the age of 61 after having battled [[nasopharyngeal carcinoma|nasal cancer]] since 2004.<ref>{{citation|author=June Cheong|title=Farewell to ex-Cultural Medallion winner|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=15 February 2008|page=H6}}.</ref>
"With Chua's passing," said Edmund Cheng, the Chairman of the [[National Arts Council Singapore|National Arts Council]], "Singapore has lost a great artist and a towering talent... To his friends and fellow artists, Ek Kay was a man of few words, and was always respected for his quiet confidence and humility despite his outstanding international success. Ek Kay was an exemplary artist who had left us at his peak."<ref name="ST-140208"/>
On 18 March 2008, The [[Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts]] paid tribute to Chua with a roundtable session titled ''Remembering Chua Ek Kay: Ink Painting and the Idea of the Contemporary''. Using Chua's works as the basis for discussion, the forum sought to engage the audience in a discussion on the meaning of contemporary art in Singapore. Guest speaker Joanna Lee, author of ''Chua Ek Kay: Singapore Street Scenes, Evoking Memories'' (2007), together with artists Cheo Chai-Hiang and Hong Sek Chern, touched on Chua's creations and the development of his ideas over the years.
This was followed by a memorial service for Chua, on 17 May 2008, organised jointly by the [[Singapore Art Museum]] and [[Singapore Management University]] (SMU). The service marked the 100th day of the artist's death, with tributes delivered by Museum director Kwok Kian Chow, arts patron Koh Seow Chuan, the late artist's widow Mdm Yeo Yang Kwee and many other people whom Chua had worked with in his lifetime. Mdm Yeo also unveiled two untitled paintings at the service, and announced her donation of Chua's "representative collection" to the [[Singapore Art Museum]].<ref>{{citation|author=Stephanie Yap|title=Late artist's donated to museum|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=18 May 2008}}.</ref>
==Major exhibitions==
<!--Please arrange chronologically.-->
{|class=wikitable width=100%
|-
!width=20%|Dates
!width=50%|Title
!width=30%|Location
|-
|align=center|1988
|'''A Selection of Chinese Brush Paintings and Calligraphy'''
|Extramural Studies Department, [[National University of Singapore]]<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|align=center|9–13 September 1992
|'''Duality and Tension'''
|[[National Museum of Singapore|National Museum Art Gallery]]<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|align=center|1995
|'''Recent Works by Chua Ek Kay''' (solo)
|[[University of Western Sydney]]<br>[[Sydney]], [[Australia]]
|-
|align=center|20–23 September;<br>24 September –<br>6 October 1997
|'''Colour of Infinity''' (solo)
|Caldwell House, [[CHIJMES]], and Art Forum<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|align=center rowspan=2|1998
|'''Hunter of the Wilderness''' (solo)
|Art Forum<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|'''Philip Morris–ASEAN Art Exhibition'''
|[[Hanoi]], [[Vietnam]]
|-
|align=center rowspan=3|1999
|'''CRISP'''
|[[Singapore Art Museum]]<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|'''Power and Poetry, Monuments and Meditations in Chinese Ink Painting'''
|[[Singapore Art Museum]]<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|
* '''Beyond Tradition: Art of the New Migrant Chinese'''
* '''Ambulation'''
|Earl Lu Gallery<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|align=center|1–31 December 2000
|'''Lyrical Spaces''' (solo)
|[[Wetterling Teo Gallery]]<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|align=center rowspan=4|2001
|'''Street Scenes Revisited''' (solo)
|Soobin Gallery<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|'''Asean Art Today 2001'''
|Earl Lu Gallery<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|'''Ink & Colour, 3 Singaporean Artists'''
|[[Kuala Lumpur]], [[Malaysia]]
|-
|'''Nokia Singapore Art 2001'''
|[[Singapore Art Museum]]<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|align=center|2002
|'''Timeless Space Damask Asia'''
|[[London]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom|UK]]
|-
|align=center|2003
|'''Chua Ek Kay: Being & Becoming: The Lotus Pond Series'''<ref>{{citation|author=Yvonne Tan|title=Chua Ek Kay: Being & Becoming|url=http://www.asianartnewspaper.com/iss0302/art_3.htm|newspaper=Asian Art Newspaper|year=2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070331090738/http://www.asianartnewspaper.com/iss0302/art_3.htm|access-date=16 February 2008|archive-date=31 March 2007|url-status=dead}}.</ref>
|valign=top|Singapore Tyler Print Institute<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|align=center|23 August –<br>4 September 2005
|'''逸溪 (YiXi)''' (solo)
|Shanghai Art Museum<br>[[China]]
|-
|align=center|19–22 December 2007
|'''Along the River Banks''' (solo)
|Singapore Tyler Print Institute<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|align=center|26 November 2015 – 30 October 2016
|'''Chua Ek Kay: After the Rain 2016'''<ref>{{cite web|title=Chua Ek Kay: After the Rain {{!}} National Gallery Singapore|url=https://www.nationalgallery.sg/see-do/programme-detail/34/chua-ek-kay-after-the-rain|website=National Gallery Singapore|access-date=27 October 2016}}</ref>
|[[National Gallery Singapore]]<br>[[Singapore]]
|-
|20 October - 20 December 2018
|'''A Long Way from Home'''
|Singapore Management University
Singapore
|}
<small>Some information in the above table was obtained from {{citation|title=Chua Ek Kay (Singaporean, 1947): Selected exhibitions|url=http://www.artnet.com/artist/424463995/chua-ek-kay.html|publisher=ArtNet: The Art World Online|access-date=16 February 2008}}.</small>
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
===Resource Guides===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110820010759/http://libguides.nl.sg/chuaekkay National Online Repository of the Arts Resource Guide on Chua Ek Kay]
===News reports===
*{{citation|title=On the winners' rostrum|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=24 July 1991}}.
*{{citation|title=Drawing from the mist of time|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=9 July 1998}}.
*{{citation|title=Profile – Chua Ek Kay|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=25 September 1999}}.
*{{citation|title=Writer, artist given Cultural Medallion|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=25 September 1999}}.
*{{citation|title=Local art rules these corridors of power|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=9 January 2000}}.
*{{citation|title=Four artists appointed to NAC|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=21 September 2000}}.
*{{citation|title=A river runs through it|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=8 June 2003}}.
*{{citation|title=公教中学营造校园艺术风-万绿从中的"突兀惊艳"=联合早报副刊早报现在《爆米花》校园Campus Page|date=30 January 2008}}.
===Books and exhibition catalogues===
*Singapore Management University (2018), ''A Long Way from Home,'' Singapore: Singapore Management University, {{ISBN|978-981-11-9414-6}}
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=Chua Ek Kay: Along the River Banks|location=Singapore|publisher=Singapore Tyler Print Institute|year=2007}}.
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=Chua Ek Kay at Art Forum 2006|location=Singapore|publisher=Art Forum|year=2006}} – exhibition catalogue.
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=Chua Ek Kay: Being and Becoming|location=Singapore|publisher=Singapore Tyler Print Institute|year=2003}}.
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=Chua Ek Kay: Lotus Pond & Water Village (蔡逸溪: 荷塘净界, 水乡洄荡)|location=Singapore|publisher=Cape of Good Hope|year=2007}}.
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=Chua Ek Kay: Lyrical Spaces, 1st-31st December 2000|location=Singapore|publisher=[[Wetterling Teo Gallery]]|year=2000}} – exhibition catalogue.
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=Chua Ek Kay: Singapore Street Scenes, Evoking Memories|location=Singapore|publisher=Singapore Management University|year=2007|editor-last=Lee|editor-first=Joanna|isbn=978-981-4217-29-3}}.
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=Colours of Infinity: Paintings Inspired by Journeys through China, S.E. Asia, Australia, Nepal|location=Singapore|publisher=E.K. Chua|year=1997}} – catalogue of an exhibition at Caldwell House, [[CHIJMES]], 20–23 September 1997, and at Art Forum, Singapore, 24 September – 6 October 1997.
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=Duality and Tension|location=Singapore|publisher=E.K. Chua|year=1992}} – catalogue of an exhibition at the [[National Museum of Singapore|National Museum Art Gallery]], 9–13 September 1992, sponsored by the [[United Overseas Bank|United Overseas Bank Group]], Singapore.
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=An Exhibition of Paintings by Shan Fan & Chua Ek Kay|location=London|publisher=Damask Asia|year=2002}} – exhibition catalogue.
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=Paintings by Chua Ek Kay: Collection of Merrill Lynch International Private Client Group, Asia Pacific|location=Singapore|publisher=[[Merrill Lynch]]|year=2000}} – exhibition catalogue.
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=Recent Paintings of Chua Ek Kay (逸溪)|location=Singapore|publisher=[[Singapore Art Museum]]|year=2005}}.
*{{citation|last=Chua|first=Ek Kay|title=A Selection of Chinese Brush Paintings and Calligraphy|location=Singapore|publisher=E.K. Chua|year=1988}} – catalogue of an exhibition presented by the Extramural Studies Department of the National University of Singapore.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chua, Ek Kay}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:Singaporean artists]]
[[Category:Singaporean ink painters]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Cultural Medallion for art]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Singapore]]
[[Category:Singaporean people of Chinese descent]]
[[Category:Painters from Guangdong]]
[[Category:Western Sydney University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Tasmania alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Singaporean painters]]