Portrait : Rajinder Singh

The Shabbiness of Certainty

"I invite my audience to view my paintings through a sieve – a sieve made of mathematical objects that pack a substantial amount of information on the way we might view beauty.

I invite my viewers to engage not analytically, neither synthetically, but in a way that combines both modes and feel/intuit the correspondence in the aesthetics of the combined beauty of my mathematics and the underlying beauty of my faces.

But most of all I want my audience to evaluate mathematics and its place in our lives. Is mathematics something necessary for life as “art” and not just “fact” and does its value lie in, as Polkinghorne said, as an 'abstract key which turns the lock of the physical universe', or is it the most self-flattering, self-aggrandizing trivia game ever invented?"
-Rajinder Singh

Aged Wisdom

Rajinder Singh born in Ipoh in 1964, was recently selected as one of 20 emerging artists to represent Asia by a juried competition in Hong Kong. He also recently become the first South East Asian artist to be invited to the famous Mourlot studios (now IDEM) in Montparnasse, Paris to make two lithographs of his work for a private collection. To date he has had shows in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Paris and Argentina. He will be showing in London, India, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Korea and New York later this year.

Major patrons of the artist are Farouk Khan, Baron Gonzalve Bich (of BIC conglomerate) and Franck Duboeuf (of George Duboeuf wines. He is represented by PACE gallery in PJ.~Now you know which gallery Yusof owns!~ Rajinder who has lived in United Kingdom for most of his life now lives and works in Singapore was tutored by a veteran English abstract expressionist, James Holdsworth, in 2002.

Rajinder’s extensive background in Mathematics is the driving force behind his successful art practice. His work has seen worldwide acclaim and has been described as modern and carries a message of change. Rajinder is the artist ambassador for the superpremium wine from Tuscany, Capannelle and his art is promoted by art agents internationally.

He also hosts a popular Singapore art blog with running commentary on the Southeast Asia art scene and was the unofficial site for the Singapore Biennale 2006.

Solo Exhibitions
June 25th, 2008, " Number-Trance-Face", PACE Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
May 27th, 2008, " Number-Trance-Face", Hong Kong Expo Centre, Hong Kong
March 29th, 2008," Number-Trance-Face", O.Fournier Galleries, Argentina
Dec 11th,2007, "Faces 2008", Calender launch, The Universal, Singapore
Nov 11th, 2007, “Faces”, Tower Club, Singapore
July 11th 2007, "Faces", ArtSpace@The Universal, Singapore
June 20th 2007, "Faces", Cellar Galleries@Chateau De Taillan, Bordeaux, France
April 18th 2007, "source_code", Darling Muse Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
Dec 9th 2005, "I coME from over tHERE", PPH Public Art Space, Singapore
Aug 2005, "I can SMELL your BAD breath", Merbau Gallery, Singapore
April 2005, "Anthro", Anthropology Gallery, Singapore
Jan 2005, "Gridlocked", Block43 Art Gallery, Singapore

Group exhibitions
August 22nd 2008, "PACE Anniversary Show", PACE Gallery, Kuala Lumpur

June 14th 2008, " Singapore Street Arts Festival", Clarke Quay, Singapore

Oct 10th 2007, “ Shanghai Seduction”, Auction, Grand Shanghai, Singapore

August 22nd 2007
"Pace Gallery: The Opening", group exhibition of paintings with Ahmad Zaki Anwar, Jaliani Abu Hassan, Yusof Majid, Bayu Utomo Radjikin, Ivan Lam, Dr Rajinder Singh, Aswad Ameir, Ahmad Shukri Mohamed, Umibaizurah Mahir Ismail, Daud Rahim, Ernesto Pujazon, Hamir Shoaib, Nelson Dominquez, joel couloigner, PACE Gallery, Kuala Lumpur

July 18th 2007, "Aceh Livelihood Project" , Auction, UE Square, Singapore

June 4th 2007, "What else is there?", with Disney animator Chris Shaw, Royal Plaza on Scott, Art Space, Singapore

Aug 22nd 2006, "Symbiosis" ,group Exhibition with Artists Donna Ong and Chng Nai Wee- Marina galleries, Marina Mandarin Hotel, Singapore

Oct 2005, "A prettier picture" , Auction, Your Mother's Gallery, Singapore

July 2005, "Racial Harmony", Bradell Heights CC Art Room, Singapore

April 2005, "Project Relief" , Auction, Seton Close Residences, Singapore

March 2005, "Chip Bee Artist Boheme", Michi Gallery, Singapore

Feb 2005, "Cotton Tree" , Auction , Cotton Tree, Singapore

November 2004, "Batch No 3" , Block 43 Art Gallery, Singapore

June 2004, "Singapore Art Festival 2004 "Vision and Illusion- Reconstruction of a city" , St James Power Station, Singapore

May 2004, "Malcolm` s Chicken" , Block 43 Art Gallery, Singapore

Nov 2003, "Nascent: Beginning to be" , Block 43 Art Gallery, Singapore

Residencies
IDEM ( former Mourlot Studios), Paris, France - july 2008 - three lithographs on plate & stone