Figure: Maria Farrar, Zai Kuning, Yayoi Kusama, Tang Dixin and Ming Wong
Ota Fine Arts Singapore is delighted to present "Figure", a group exhibition featuring works by Maria Farrar, Zai Kuning, Yayoi Kusama, Tang Dixin and Ming Wong. This exhibition looks at how these 5 artists explore themes related to the human figure in different ways, from the physical and spiritual to themes of self and identity.
Tang Dixin's (b. 1982, China) paintings are often concerned with social commentary, alongside a sense of anxiety and restlessness. Figures are hardly alone in his paintings; a crowd is everywhere. They are stacked against or on top of one another. Hands, arms and feet struggle to find their place. There is always quite a lot going on in Tang's paintings; erasure and addition, excess and restrain, action and rest, they work hand in hand to enact Tang's imaginations. Consciously or subconsciously, his paintings are often situated in a sense of flux and continuous movement. They continue to embody his imaginations even when completed. The meanings of each painting are often tantalizingly out of reach, yet they offer unreal excursions into Tang's fantasies.
Expanding from physicality to the spiritual, are the translucent overlapping layers of red bodies in Zai Kuning's (b. 1964, Singapore) recent works on paper. Over the last 3 decades, Zai has been reflecting on topics such as diminishing cultures, refugees, and war. In recent years, after the passing of several important figures in his life, he has been thinking more and more about death and life. These works reflect Zai's observation and meditation about mankind, with a wish and desire for comfort, protection, companionship or a way home. As he states, "Yesterday seems like a shadow that follows us today, until it becomes the shadow for tomorrow, and all overlaps each other invisibly."
The anonymous figures in Maria Farrar's (b. 1988, Philippines) paintings may be self-portraits or alter-egos, depicted in scenes derived from her everyday life or from fragments of memories. They bring forth personal themes in Farrar's work while exploring the presentation and behaviours of women of today. The two pieces in this exhibition reflect the artist's personal journey with therapy, a process that allowed her to connect with various aspects of herself. Whether consciously or subconsciously, each painting was created from a different part of herself and was also an exploration of painting in different ways. In Fall down seven times, get up eight (2024), Farrar was inspired by the Japanese proverb "Nanakorobi yaoki" (七転び八起き), which helped her during a difficult time. The proverb suggests that no matter how many times you get knocked down, you should always get up again, emphasizing resilience and perseverance.
Ming Wong's (b. 1971, Singapore) practice unravels ideas of 'authenticity' and the 'other' with reference to the act of human performativity. Presented here are 2 black and white digital prints, each with a figure facing the viewer. Yet, they are faceless -- identities erased and open to our imaginations. Based on promotional stills from the golden age of Hollywood, these works offer a re-imagination of racialized and gendered cinema, suffused with the artist's passion for dramatic roleplaying. This advances the artist's insistence for identities to be played up and transmissible across oceans, time and cultures.
Last but not least, the vibrant painting HYMN OF DAILY LIFE (2026) by Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929, Japan) offers viewers a snippet into Kusama's vibrant and repetitive world of form, color and movement. Biomorphic shapes, frontal faces that Kusama refers to as 'Manga', eyes, and dots are sprawled across the canvas, bridging the surreal and the figurative. The painting is part of Kusama's My Eternal Soul series, characterized by the artist's long-standing interest in the universal and immortality through her art. Contrasting concepts and forms of positive and negative spaces, figuration and abstraction, microscopic and macroscopic views of the universe, provide a glimpse into Kusama's state of mind.
Ota Fine Arts Singapore invites all to experience the unique views of these artists and reflect on the themes present in their works.
