Past Solo Exhibition
PRINT SCREEN: Charles Lim Yi Yong 15.10.2022 — 20.11.2022
Information
Event has ended
15 October – 20 November 2022
Location: ArtSpace @ HeluTrans
About The Exhibition
Our third and final edtion of PRINT SCREEN will feature Charles Lim Yi Yong’s STPI print and paper artworks as well as a selection of his video works. His residency at STPI draws strongly from his enduring fascination with the visible and invisible lenses of the sea. As a former Olympic sailor, they are further inspired from his regular sailing trips along the East Coast anchorage of Singapore. In order to manoeuvre with the wind effectively, one has to apply their sense of ‘staggered observations’ – noting the sea and cloud patterns over an extended period of time so as to “see” the wind, an invisible space. This is the starting point for viewing Lim’s body of work.
Each presentation is accompanied by a screening room that aims to expand one’s understanding of the artists’ practice, through highlighting the domains which they are renowned for. For this edition, PRINT SCREEN will showcase two video works by Lim: SEASTATE 5 : drift (rope sketch) and SEASTATE 9 : a lonely concert for what was there. drift expresses the arbitrary nature of borders at sea, whereas a lonely concert for what was there pays tribute to mataikan, the coastal village that Lim grew up in and was subsequently demolished.
An established artist constantly seeking to push the boundaries of his oeuvre through an exploration of the natural world with manmade environments, Lim’s apt and dedicated study of Singapore’s maritime context as a swirl of nature and human activities cements his place as an exciting contemporary voice in the international art world.
About the artist
Charles Lim Yi Yong
Residencies in 2019, 2020
Charles Lim Yi Yong (1973, born and based in Singapore) employs drawing, photography, film, performance, installation and field research to explore how contemporary global capitalism impacts the sea. In particular, he closely engages with the complex histories, infrastructures and political aspirations that shape Singapore’s ever-shifting coastlines. This sheds light on how the marine environment is not a passive territory, but an active force that interacts with culture, commerce, and geopolitics.
A former Olympic sailor, Lim’s relationship with open waters is grounded in physical experience, which guides the way he interprets environmental realities and fluxes. This sensitivity feeds into projects such as SEA STATE (2005–ongoing)—a series of ten chapters exploring global debates on climate change, land reclamation, resource use, and transnational borders in the context of Singapore. Across chapters, meticulously accumulated materials—ranging from photographs and videos to maps, interviews and even plant species—are encountered as multimedia installations of varying scales.
Lim obtained his BFA from Central Saint Martin’s School of Art and Design, London in 2001. His work is held in multiple collections including the Singapore Art Museum, and M+, Hong Kong.
Notable exhibitions include Sea Lane – Connecting to the Islands (2022–2023), 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa; Stealing the Trapeze (2017), Johann Jacobs Museum, Zurich; SEA STATE (2016), NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore; Open Sea (2015), Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon; Moving Images (2015), M+, Hong Kong; and The Part in the Story Where a Part Becomes a Part of Something Else (2014), Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam. The artist has also participated in major international festivals including the 17th Istanbul Biennial (2022); Words at an Exhibition (2020), 65th Busan Biennale; Homo Faber (2016) 3rd Aichi Triennial; The future is already here—it’s just not evenly distributed (2016), 20th Biennale of Sydney; Still (the) Barbarians (2016), EVA International, 37th Ireland’s Biennial, Limerick; transACTION (2016), 11th Sonsbeek Exhibition, Museum Arnhem; Visions and Beyond (2014), 2nd Shenzhen Independent Animation Biennial; and Little Water (2013), 3rd Dojima River Biennale, Osaka. Lim represented Singapore at All The World’s Futures (2015), 56th Venice Biennale.
Lim has had two residencies at the STPI Workshop in 2019 and 2020, resulting in the exhibition Staggered Observations of a Coast (2021–22).
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