im/expressionism

im/expressionism
28 Oct 2019
Esplanade Concourse

“In any event, if ‘Impressionism’ really means the opposite of ‘Expressionism’, I could agree,” French composer Tristan Murail commented of the two artistic movements that divided fin-de-siecle Europe.

In many ways, impressionism and expressionism represent flipsides of the same coin. Both were born out of a desire for the freedom of expression but employed vastly different approaches and aesthetics to achieve this aim. Through listening to piano music played by Churen Li and viewing a selection of representative impressionist and expressionist artworks curated by Seet Yun Teng, audiences will hear how both styles reflect the struggle of artists to express themselves despite the limitations of their respective art forms, along with the subsequent reconsiderations of aesthetics that birthed thought-provoking and beautiful artworks. This programme places music and paintings from the two artistic movements in direct confrontation with each other, both amplifying but also re-interrogating their differences and similarities.

 

About Churen Li
Praised for her “extraordinary skill” in the South China Morning Post and described the “epitome of poise and polish” in The Straits Times, 24-year-old Singapore pianist Churen Li has won top prizes at international and national piano competitions. In 2015, she performed as soloist in a tour of Macau and Hong Kong with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music Orchestra as part of Singapore’s 50th jubilee celebrations of independence. Li was also a President’s Young Performer with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 2013. She was listed in 2018 on Singapore Tatler's Generation-T List, a celebration of “50 of the brightest connectors, creative visionaries, influential innovators and disruptive talents in Singapore".

An active recitalist and orchestral soloist, Li has been invited to perform recitals and chamber music at international festivals such as Norfolk Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival and the International Summer Academy Music Festival. She is also passionate about new music, having experimented increasingly with combining musical genres, as well as reconsidering performance practices in the programming of her concerts. In Sep-2018, she co-presented a sold-out concert at Zouk that juxtaposed Western art music in a contemporarily subversive environment. Li was among ten pianists selected in 2018 to participate and perform in the Darmstadt International Summer Course for New Music, and in the same year, at the prestigious Roche Continents programme in Salzburg.

 

About Seet Yun Teng
Curator, artist and writer Seet Yun Teng works in various capacities with a keen interest in artistic research and critical discourse. Her curatorial practice is concerned with alternative formats of exhibition-making and transdisciplinary collaborations, while her artistic work engages with material forms with a focus on weaving and its entanglements with the body. Seet has also curated and written for Supernormal.sg, Coda Culture, Constance Howard Gallery, Goldsmiths Textile Collection, Singapore Pavilion, 57th Venice Biennale (2017) and Something Human, among others. She has exhibited at venues including Jalan Besar Salon, Stamford Arts Centre, Singapore, Seelab, The Hague and Hoxton Basement. Seet is a recipient of the National Arts Council Arts Scholarship (2014-18). She is currently a Curatorial Assistant for Residencies at the Nanyang Technological University Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore.

 

3 sessions at 5pm, 6pm, and 7pm, each 30min.