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About the artwork
Lim Tze Peng allows us to dwell in his memories of the sights and sounds of old Singapore. In this work, he paints a portrait of an actor who is involved in Chinese Street Opera, also known as Wayang. Chinese Opera was often staged as a form of respect during the celebration of deities’ birthdays and customary festivals. It was also free and often attracted a large crowd, becoming an important cultural phenomenon in Singapore. With such guerilla entertainment disappearing in Singapore, Lim Tze Peng masterfully captures the details of a Wayang performer in an exquisite manner with his use of colour, bold calligraphic strokes and expressive details. Filtered through his own experience living in Singapore over the past 100 years, his unique take on Chinese Opera is an important cultural memory of Singapore’s past.
About the artist
Born in Singapore in 1921, Lim Tze Peng is one of Singapore’s most significant artists and a living legend. Renowned for his Chinese ink creations of post-independence Singapore, he also practices Chinese calligraphy. Alongside local and international exhibitions, his masterpieces are exhibited in prominent Singapore institutions and part of many prestigious collections. Lim has been bestowed several awards including the Special Prize at the Commonwealth Art Exhibition in England in 1977 and the prestigious Cultural Medallion in Singapore in 2003. In May 2012, he broke records with the sale of his works at a Christies auction in Hong Kong.
