Lee Wen's Notebooks Trace the Evolution from Drawing to Performance Art
In Afterall Journal 46, Võ Hồng Chương-Đài analyzes Lee Wen's early sketchbooks and notebooks, demonstrating the transition of his artistic focus from drawing and painting to performance art. Lee Wen (1957–2019) documented his thoughts in a notebook during 1981 while studying in Canada and the US, filled with anxious figures and reflections on merging visual art with music and writing. Growing up in Singapore amidst rapid modernization prompted artists to reconsider historical narratives. Performance art, influenced by Tang Da Wu, who established The Artists Village (TAV) in 1988, became a significant medium. Lee Wen joined TAV in 1989 with fellow artists like Vincent Leow, Amanda Heng, and Koh Nguang How. His initial sketches featured diagonal and circular lines, evolving into color and form studies that culminated in performances such as Journey of a Yellow Man (1992–2001) and Anthropometry Revision (2008). He studied at LASALLE College of the Arts and City College of London Polytechnic, co-founding Future of Imagination (FOI) in 2004. The essay posits that his notebooks illustrate a view of line as dynamic energy, bridging the inner self with the outer world.
Key facts
- Essay published in Afterall Journal 46 on 23 July 2018.
- Lee Wen's 1981 notebook contains anxious figures and self-questioning.
- Lee Wen was born in 1957 in Singapore during nation-building.
- Tang Da Wu founded The Artists Village (TAV) in 1988.
- Lee Wen joined TAV in 1989.
- Journey of a Yellow Man had 15 iterations from 1992 to 2001.
- Lee Wen co-founded Future of Imagination (FOI) in 2004.
- Lee Wen studied at LASALLE College of the Arts and City College of London Polytechnic.
Entities
Artists
- Lee Wen
- Võ Hồng Chương-Đài
- Tang Da Wu
- Vincent Leow
- Amanda Heng
- Koh Nguang How
- Han Sai Por
- Chng Seok Tin
- Wong Shih Yaw
- Tang Mun Kit
- Zai Kuning
- Juliana Yasin
- Chumpon Apisuk
- Seiji Shimoda
- Trần Lương
- Joseph Beuys
- Boris Nieslony
- Alastair MacLennan
- Josef Ng
- Ho Tzu Nyen
- Ray Langenbach
- Amelia Jones
- Giorgio de Chirico
- Max Beckmann
- Fernand Léger
- Umberto Boccioni
- Marcel Duchamp
- Pablo Picasso
- Yves Klein
- Billie Holiday
- Carolee Schneeman
- Valie Export
- Yoko Ono
- Mideo Cruz
- W. Christawan
- Lee Mee Lan
- Lee Xue Min
- Bruce Quek
- Ute Meta Bauer
- Samantha Leong Min Yu
- Elaine Lin
- Hazel Kwok
- Nicole Lai
- Kwok Kian Chow
- Jeffrey Say
- Seng Yu Jin
- Eugene Tan
- Lee Weng Choy
- Ning Chong
- Kwok Kian Woon
- Khairuddin Hori
- Fredric Jameson
- Herbert Marcuse
- Friedrich Hegel
- Francis Fukuyama
- Alexandre Kojève
- Theodor Adorno
- Jun Ishikawa
- Earnest Hooton
- Carl Linnaeus
- Jan Czekanowski
- Maurice Merleau-Ponty
- Michael Fried
- Rosalind Krauss
Institutions
- Afterall
- NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore
- Asia Art Archive
- National Gallery Singapore
- The Artists Village
- LASALLE College of the Arts
- City College of London Polytechnic
- Chase Manhattan Bank
- Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
- Shanghai Academy
- School of Paris
- Black Market International
- Future of Imagination
- Rooted In The Ephemeral Speak
- Singapore National Arts Council
- Raffles Institution
- The Artling
- Singapore Art Museum
- SooBin Art Int’l
- Red & Grey Art Contemporary
Locations
- Singapore
- Canada
- United States
- England
- India
- Japan
- Thailand
- Mexico
- Australia
- China
- London
- Sembawang
- Chengdu
Sources
- Afterall —