Cultural Medallion artists in their 80s embrace colour and experimentation in STPI show

Against pitch-black paper, the florid daubs of Singapore artist Goh Beng Kwan are practically luminescent.

- Clement Yong

He is still uncompromisingly abstract in his idiom, but it is the flux of colours that draws you in: the bright orange flickering like a flaming bush and the cooler blue only occasionally successful in dousing their heat.

Goh's works in the group show at print and paper gallery STPI are proof that an artist need not mellow with age. At 88, he has only become more brazen in his palette.

His works from his recent 2024 residency at STPI are set in dialogue with fellow Cultural Medallion recipients Han Sai Por and Ong Kim Seng – both also in their 80s and striding into new territory – and the late Chua Ek Kay. Material Moves opens in time for Singapore's 60th birthday on Aug 16.

On a Zoom call with The Straits Times, Goh attributes his latest burst of inspiration to his travels – to Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan and, most recently, Xinjiang, China, though he retains a soft spot for Bali, Indonesia. "It's a very holy place. It's so stimulating for artists. Bear in mind that our senior artists Liu Kang and Chen Chong Swee also took so much from there."

In his previous STPI residency in 2006, he used a "water collage" method – floating material onto the surface of his work.

This time, the gallery recommended he try his hand at "flocking", the application of fibrous particles to the paper surface for a velvety look. It ended up being perfect for his more spontaneous gestures.