This solo exhibition, ‘Situationist Bon Gun’, presents new works by Tang Da Wu and is a reflection of his artistic and personal experiences since he returned to Singapore from London in 1988.
The exhibition title is a play on the Hainanese expression ‘pom gang’ for foolish and a reference to the avant-garde art practices of the Situationist International which reached its height during the May 1968 protests in Paris. The exhibition consists of new works across five parts: (Banquet), (Brother’s Pool),(Revolution), (Sembawang) and (Sembawang Phoenix).
Tang Da Wu is a central figure in the development of contemporary art in Singapore. In 1988, he founded the first artist community in Singapore, The Artists Village, in Ulu Sembawang. It brought together the first generation of Singaporean contemporary artists, enabling them to explore and experiment with new art making practices and contemporary theory. Tang Da Wu graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Fine Art, Birmingham Polytechnic in 1974. He received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in 1985 from Goldsmiths’ College, University of London and a doctorate in 1988. He won the Arts and Culture Prize in 1999 at the 10th Fukuoka Asian Culture Prizes and was one of four artists who represented Singapore at the 2007 Venice Biennale.
