LOT 50
TAY BAK KOI
B. Singapore, 1939 – 2005
Untitled
Signed “Bak Koi” on lower left
Mixed media on paper
45 x 60 cm
Provenance
Private Collection, Canada
SOLD RM 14,560
A second generation Singaporean artist, Tay Bak Koi is well known for his portrayals of fishing villages as portrayed in this artwork, besides kampong scenes and buffalo. While his medium of choice was predominantly oil, watercolour was another favoured medium of his. In his distinctive manner, he combines a blend of both realism and fantasy to create truly unique works of art, as seen in this painting. Although he emphasises on the observable reality, he engages his piece and the audience in a process of exclusion and distortion, in order to reduce complex forms to their basic shapes. As a result, there is a keen appreciation and presentation of the two-dimensional aspects of his pieces.
Tay Bak Koi specialised in oil and watercolour and his works have been exhibited extensively in Singapore and various other countries, including Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Germany and the United States. Tay’s talent for drawing was discovered by his father’s friend, who subsequently enrolled him in the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1957. His teacher, the late Cheong Soo Pieng, taught him to appreciate existing works of art in new ways and to challenge conventional art forms.