Singapore is the host to several international galleries, including the Japanese Mizuma Gallery and the Chinese Pearl Lam Galleries. These galleries are housed over in the contemporary art space at Gillman Barracks which features a range of international artists. Now, Sullivan+Strumpf joins the list and is the first Australian gallery out there to establish a proper presence in Asia.

“It is hard to believe that with the unprecedented growth of the contemporary art market over the last decade, that we are the first Australian gallery to open a space in Asia, but it’s true” said co-director and owner Ursula Sullivan. Sullivan+Strumpf is well ahead of its contemporaries in this regard by exhibiting at various art fairs like Art Stage Singapore and Art Basel Hong Kong to ensure its presence. In the space at Gillman Barracks, it will embark on a series of exhibitions aimed at fostering engagement with local and regional artists.

The inaugural exhibition, entitled ‘Arrival’ will see the gallery explore issues such as identity, materiality, construction of memory alsong with fragility and malleability of the human condition. The themes will be showcased through works in a variety of mediums – sculpture, painting, photography, and installation.

Here are three of the artists that whose works will be on display at Sullivan+Strumpf:

Joanna Lamb 

Joanna Lamb, ‘Interior 3a’, 2011, acrylic on canvas, 106 x 140cm

Using refined geometric forms and blocks of color, Joanna Lamb’s paintings showcase settings one would normally find in a suburban home, that seem familiar yet also unusual. This comes together as a commentary on the banality and monotony of everyday environments, and their ‘perfect’ depiction in real-estate advertisements.

Tim Silver 

Tim Silver ‘Untitled (Oneirophrenia) #2’ 2015 pure white concrete, marble dust and pigment 38.5 x 24 x 26 cm

The sculptor Tim Silver has a series of works based on the idea of decay – especially in relation to the human body. These sculptures are made from entropic materials —which means that they decay from the point of assembly — and help him to illustrate the various stages of decay while highlighting the fragility of human life.

Karen Black

Slippery Slope, oil on linen, 2016 (Copyrighted by Mick Richards)

Dealing mostly with the issue of devastation, Black’s paintings of tragedies and heart-wrenching tales still manage to remain vibrant. Using splashes of colour, the her visual narratives blend the historical, mythical to create a personal exchange between her and the viewer.

Check out the video below for a look behind the scenes and to learn more about what inspired Ursula Sullivan and Joanna Strumpf to establish the Sullivan and Strumpf gallery in Singapore.