About the artwork
With clear political allusions, Leow makes many cultural references in this work that clearly adheres to China, and the artist;s views on its peopel, culture, and political and military affairs. Playing upon the state of a soldier as a human being more than a pawn, he lays open the various interpretations of the relations between both subjects and the composition of each.
About the artist
Vincent Leow (b. 1961) is one of Singapore's leading contemporary artists. Celebrated as a l'enfant terrible of the Singapore art community, Vincent Leow is a pivotal figure in the alternative art scene in Singapore. His practice parallels the development of contemporary art in Singapore and as a painter, he is regarded as a remarkable creative who has dipped into an astonishing range of influences from popular culture, literature, cinema, politics and the mass media. Leow stands as a central figure in the history of the ‘art collective' in Singapore. One of the early members of The Artists Village (TAV), founded in 1988 by the iconic Tang Dawu (b 1943), Leow subsequently helmed other artist-run spaces. Engaging with a range of media that has resulted in performances, installations, sculptures, digital and mixed-media works, Leow's practice has maintained an element of anarchy and rebellion so critical to alternative practices. He acquired public notoriety with his 1992 performance in which he drank his own urine. The characteristics of Leow's art include a taste for kitsch and a constant, highly individual visual vocabulary - prompting art writers to describe his practice as epitomizing ‘post-modern' visual strategies.
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