“Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Neither would LaSalle have been willing to give up its approach to the arts, because it hadn’t been tested sufficiently.”
– Br. Joseph Sean McNally, Oral History Records, 1997
Gajah Gallery is pleased to present Which is Which?, a group show featuring works by artists who hail from two of Singapore’s key arts education institutions: the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and LASALLE College of the Arts.
Curated by John Tung, Which is Which? explores the ways in which the two schools diverge – the results of which have never been specifically explored within an exhibition format. Moreover, the show features a diverse group of artists spanning different generations, offering a rare view of how works of the schools’ alumni have evolved over time.
Although both schools were founded some 50 years apart, with NAFA in 1938, and LASALLE in 1984, both institutions have since been regarded as seminal in establishing lasting legacies within Singapore’s art history. While divergences in their pedagogical approach and philosophies to artmaking remain their touted distinguishing factors, the precise attributes and nuances constituting their distinctiveness are often the subject of conversation, speculation, and debate, both in person and online messaging boards.
Which is Which? mounts a preliminary survey of artists who have passed through the halls of these two institutions. In seeking markers of distinctiveness within these artistic practices, the exhibition examines the impact of arts education on artistic development.
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
Chen Sai Hua Kuan
Choong Kam Kow
Chua Ek Kay
Jaafar Latiff
Joseph McNally
Joshua Yang
Kayleigh Goh
Mahalakshmi Kannappan
Melissa Tan
Ng Eng Teng
Noni Kaur
S. Chandrasekaran
Susie Lingham
Suzann Victor
Wang Ruobing
