Teng Nee Cheong

(b. 1951 – 2013, Singapore)    

Since graduating from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1968, Teng Nee Cheong has produced an impressive body of work marked by his distinctive style and creative vision. His practice covers diverse media such as oil, watercolour, pastel, and charcoal. The subject matter is equally wide-ranging, encompassing portraiture, landscape, still life, and figurative compositions. In the latter two categories, Nee Cheong has been especially consistent and productive, finding endless possibilities in the world of flora and the human form.

Teng Nee Cheong’s works have been exhibited in Holland, Paris, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and the United States. He has received numerous accolades, including the Ministry of Culture Special Award (1978), the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Alumni Association Creative Award (1982), the Singapore Art Society Tan Tze Chor Art Award (1991), and the Philip Morris Group ASEAN Art Award (1993, 1995, and 1996). His works are also held in private collections, as well as in the Singapore Art Museum and the Embassies of Singapore in Tokyo, Paris, and Manila, among others.

Nee Cheong’s figurative works may be read as reflections of the self, projecting his own fears and neuroses, hopes, and desires. His artistic strategy draws upon both life and imagination, moving between naturalism and abstraction. In doing so, he creates zones of ambiguity in which deeper and more challenging truths may be discerned.

Teng Nee Cheong’s search for ways to communicate his ideas and concepts in a manner that is both creative and original has led him to a point in his career where his style and iconography are clearly identifiable and recognisable. Having navigated the complexities of artistic creation, Nee Cheong’s recent works appear to balance his depiction of the figure with the need to envelop it. The paintings are carefully calculated and meticulously executed, with each work becoming more elaborate than the last.