Minimalism: Space. Light. Object.

All you need is less. Minimalism emerged in 1960s New York and became a turning point in the history of 20th century art. This is the first Minimalism exhibition in Southeast Asia through painting, sculpture, installation, performance and music. You can expect more than 150 works across the galleries at National Gallery Singapore and ArtScience Museum. After visiting the exhibition, I have to agree that it is always the simple that produces the marvelous.

Venue: National Gallery Singapore

At National Gallery Singapore, visitors can trace the development and rich legacies of Minimalist art and ideas from the 1950s to the present day.

Mega Death by Tatsuo Miyajima symbolise the radiance of human life. The LED count down from nine to one eliminated the digit zero. The transformation and flashing of the numbers symbolise “life” of man and the darkness of “zero” symbolizes “death”. This is one of the ‘instagramable’ installation in this gallery.

From a distance, it appears to be a levitating cube in the gallery. The cube is composed of hundreds of barbed wire rods entitled ‘Impenetrable’ by Mona Hatoum that takes you into war zones and disputed borders.

All things are significant, but nothing is important.

Nature’s Breath by Arokhayasala.

It looks rubbery but the material is actually felth cloth.

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.

This is a sophisticated work by Robert Irwin that is made of Acrylic. It comprises a white, painted disc, which when illuminated casts overlapping shadow that cause the work to appear to recede into space.

This is not like any ordinary wall. The walls contained part of a series incorporating the four absolute lines (horizontal, vertical, diagonal right, diagonal left) drawn in different combinations.

This is not your usual “Kuaci” but individually handcrafted porcelain sunflower seeds. Ai Wei Wei’s installation challenges the ‘Made in China’ phenomenon commonly associated with cheap mass-produced goods.

Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler.

Sol LeWitt Upside Down by Haegue Yang.

“Untitled” Golden

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Neon Light Installations by Peter Kennedy.

Void by Anish Kapoor. This mind-boggling installation is actually a concave surface. From a side angle, the shadow can trick the eye into picturing a convex form, whereas from the front, the bowl envelops the viewer’s field of vision.

Minimalism is an appreciation of space.

Room for one colour by Olafur Eliasson. No filter at all but the space illuminated by mono-frequency lamps suppressed all colours except yellow and black.

Venue: ArtScience Museum

At ArtScience Museum, the exhibition delves into Asian philosophy exploring the impact these ideas had on artist across the world.

+ and – by Mona Hatoum. The continual grooving and smoothing of sand represents building and destroying, existence and disappearance, displacement and migration.

The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.

Ring of stone by Richard Long evokes the natural cycles and rhythms of the earth. The choice of materials was extremely important in determining if a work of art could be defined as Minimalist.