Kwok Kian Chow

Chen Chong Swee is acknowledged as one of the earliest artists to have explored depicting Southeast Asian scenes within the medium of traditional Chinese ink painting. Published on the occasion of a retrospective exhibition at National Gallery Singapore, this catalogue bears witness to Chen's explorations across the mediums of ink and oil, the influence his immediate surroundings had on his art, and his insistence, above all, that it was impossible to divorce art from life. Full-colour image plates, newly commissioned essays and a biographical timeline of the artist within the catalogue flesh out the inflections of Chen's oeuvre.

Chua Ek Kay is regarded as one of Singapore's leading ink practitioners, celebrated for his distinctive visual vocabulary that bridges Chinese ink painting traditions and Western aesthetics. After the Rain is the first major survey of Chua, covering over three decades of his prolific practice. This catalogue includes essays that illuminate Chua's approaches to ink painting and underscore his contributions to its development in Singapore. It also features a heretofore unpublished manuscript interview by Chua, discovered posthumously in his study, as well as reflections by Mrs Chua Ek Kay. A biographical timeline produced in consultation with Chua's family further enhances the presentation of his work.

Yeh Chi Wei was a Singaporean artist, educator and leader. Like the other Nanyang artists, Yeh received formal instruction in painting in China before he came over to Singapore in 1937. His aesthetics were radically shaped by his new life in Malaya as well as travels with the Ten Men Group to other parts of Southeast Asia. The essays in this book provide insights into Yeh Chi Wei's artistic practice, the influence of diverse cultural and historical resources in his paintings, and his legacy. There are newly-commissioned essays as well as reproduced historical publications, including essays by Yeh Chi Wei himself and all past Ten Men catalogues. All Chinese texts are accompanied by new English translations, and vice versa.