Last March, we visited Kristi for a short but fun weekend in Singapore. This was already my fourth time in the country and so I didn’t have any specific place to see or thing to do – other than visit an exhibit on Minimalism as an art movement at the National Gallery.

The exhibit starts out with paintings that don’t have anything but the color black in them. I am no artist, nor do I have any details on the specifics (I’ve read about them during the visit but my memory isn’t so good). So naturally, the first reaction of a normal person would be to ask the question – “How is this art?”. Like I could literally paint a canvas in all black and sell that for thousands of dollars?!

But as you move along, you discover that perhaps the color black (and you could argue white) is the base and foundation of minimalism. It is in itself more like a philosophy – taking art away from art – and it’s still art!

Beyond the black canvases with different levels of darkness (some are actually quite impressive as you really feel like you are staring into an abyss, like your soul is getting sucked into the darkness the longer you stare into it), minimalism slowly takes its form through simple patterns, colors, and objects put thoughtfully by the artists to portray emotions with the least amount of “ingredients”.

So, without further ado, I will just be sharing some photos for those who did not get the chance to visit (it was a limited time exhibit from March to April 14, 2019).

Space

Light

Object

There was a lot more to see in the exhibit. One could easily take half a day to fully immerse in each art piece. Going to places like these makes me ask myself why I did not pursue art (it was a passion of mine back in high school). Perhaps someday, when I’m older, and have more time (and resources), I can pick up that brush and start creating something.

For now, visiting exhibits like this with friends will do.

I may need to visit some local art museums next time!