Singapore has long desired to become a cultural and artistic hub. One of the aspects of a city or a neighborhood that contributes to this attainment of artistic stature, is the talent and the inspiration of a city’s own, their own people creating works of music, theater, and art. Many of the businesses on the island support the local art scene, such as the cafes, the restaurants and the business hotels. Singapore artists work to become recognized first locally and then internationally. One of Singapore’s “own” is an extremely accomplished and self taught artist Chong Fah Cheong. Chong was born in Singapore in 1946. He was raised by a medical doctor and part of a very large family. He is considered to be one of the pioneering sculptors of not only his time, but of all time in Singapore. He now lives and works in Canada, however he exhibits frequently in the galleries and the shows in Singapore and has quite a number of public works installed throughout the city.
As with the case of many self-taught artists, Chong showed an interest and a talent for the arts at an early age. And, as with many of those self-taught artists, he went on in life to pursue work outside of the field. He studied to become a teacher in a Missionary school, St. Joseph’s, but found that the religious life was not a life he wanted to be immersed in. He left and joined secular society in 1967. He was soon married and had two children. He continued school at the National University in Singapore. After one year, he and his family moved to England where he took up his boyhood interest, and studied art. He then moved back to Singapore where he became once again, a teacher at Saint Patrick’s School. As luck, and destiny, would have it, he found his voice, and now his vocation, through a random happening.
Some of the trees on the grounds of the school had been cut down. A colleague suggested he put the wood to use in his art class. He experimented with the wood, and in doing so, his interest in creating his own work was ignited. He now enjoys the fruits of a career most passionate and whimsical. All based on techniques that are self-taught. In 1978, he became a successful sculptor, but continued to teach. He has been an art lecturer as well, from time to time. But his iconic sculptures contribute to the incredible, and the growing, public art scene in his homeland of Singapore. Many pieces of Chong’s are installed along the Singapore River, alongside the works of Salvador Dali. And while Dali is famous and well respected, the people of Singapore admire and love Chong, as his pieces along the river, chronicle the history of their lives, and the history of the entire island.
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Tags: Business, Hotels, Singapore