Anthony Poon

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Anthony Poon (b. 21 April 1945, Singapore - d. 2 September 2006, Singapore), an abstract artist and sculptor, is widely cited as a second-generation artist. He is best known for his "Wave series" and wave-relief paintings which he developed. He was probably the most commissioned artist of his generation, with innumerable works in both private and public collections.

Early Life and Education
After graduating from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1964, Poon joined Singapore Glass Manufacturer as an industrial artist. After three years, he furthered his studies in fine art in the United Kingdom. He studied first at the Byam Shaw School of Arts, London, and then at the Regional College of Arts, Bradford, Yorks. After completing his studies, he returned to Singapore. He was manager of Alpha Gallery from 1973 to 1978 before becoming a full-time artist.

Achievements in Art
Poon was best known for his Wave series of paintings which he started in the early 1970s. Over the years, his paintings had progressed from geometric abstractions on flat canvasses to curvatures and three-dimensional relief paintings and sculptures.

Poon had participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions. He had also been commissioned by various organisations and today his art pieces grace the halls and spaces of many organisations both local and overseas. Furthermore, many of his art works spanning the entire spectrum of his art career had been donated to the Singapore Art Museum where the public can encounter his artistic creations and be inspired by the pioneering abstract artist of Singapore.

Besides producing art works, Poon was also active in other activities relating to art, especially in the National Arts Council. He was involved in many panels such as for the Cultural Medallion and Young Artist Award.

For his invaluable contributions to the arts in Singapore Poon received many awards and prizes, including the prestigious Cultural Medallion in 1990.

Selected Exhibitions
Solo
1964 : Paintings by Anthony Poon, National Library.
1967 : Mixed Media, National Library.
1971 : Shape Canvases, Alpha Gallery.
1975 : Waves Series, Alpha Gallery.
1978 : Colour Frequency Waves, Alpha Gallery.

Group
1964 : Southeast Asia Art, Victoria Memorial Hall.
1967 : Eighth National Art Exhibition, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
1969 : Commonwealth Young Artists, Royal Overseas League, London, UK.
1970 : Young Contemporaries, Royal Academy Galleries, London, UK.
1972 : Modern Art 72, Modern Art Society, National Library.
1973 : Elemental Abstraction, Alpha Gallery.

1974 : Art in Singapore Today, Victoria Memorial Hall.

1975 : Contemporary Artists from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, Penang Museum, Malaysia.

1977 : Large Paintings, National Museum Art Gallery.

1978 : Ten Contemporaries, Alpha Gallery.

1979 : 5^th Festival of Asian Art, Hong Kong Museum Art Gallery, Hong Kong.

1980 : Contemporary Singapore Paintings, Festival of Asian Arts, Hong Kong Museum Art Gallery.

1981 : Contemporary Form, ASEAN Travelling Exhibition of Visual Art, ASEAN countries.

1982 : Contemporary Singapore Art, Singapore Festival of Arts 1982, National Museum Art Gallery.

1983 : Singapore Art in the Seventies, National Museum Art Gallery.

1984 : Singapore Art, A Decade 1974-1984, National Museum Art Gallery.

1985 : Second Asian Art Show, Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan.

1986 : Seoul, Contemporary Asian Art Show, 1986, National Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, South Korea.

1987 : New Directions, National Museum Art Gallery.

1988 : Singapore Contemporary Artist, Hong Kong Art Centre, Hong Kong.

1989 : New Art Expo, New York, USA.

1990 : Urban Artists, National Museum Art Gallery.

1991 - 1993 : Many in One: 25 years of Singapore Art, USA

1994 - 1995 : Contemporary Singapore Art, Hong Kong & 7 major cities in China

1996 : Contemporary Singapore Art, Soobin Gallery.

1997 : Singapore Art 97, Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

1998 : Preview of Early Works, Telok Kurau Studios.

1999 : Brave New World, Soobin Gallery.

2000 : Excerpt 2000, Soobin Gallery.

2001 : Telok Kurau Studios 2001, Telok Kurau Gallery.

2002 : China International City Sculpture Exhibition & Symposium (Beijing 2002), Beijing International Sculpture Park, Beijing, China.

2003 : Telok Kurau Studios 2002, Telok Kurau Gallery.

2004 : Crossroads: The Making of New Identities, NUS Museum.

2005 : Art of the Second Generation: Beyond Fact and Fiction, NAFA Gallery.

2006 : Important Second-Generation Artists Series, DLR Gallery

Selected Commissioned Works

1984 : B-Fre Waves, R-Fre Waves, Bank of America.

1985 : Waves, Raffles City.

1987 : Tradewind, Singapore Mass Rapid Transit Corporation, Singapore.

1994 : Rising in Unison, Bugis Junction Holdings, Singapore.

1999 : Aspirations, Ministry of Information and the Arts, Singapore.

2004 : Affinity, Housing & Development Board, Singapore.

Selected Appointments

1999 - 2002 : Member, Art Specialist Panel, Cultural Medallion & Young Artist Award, National Arts Council.

2002 : Vice-Chairman, Art Specialist Panel, Cultural Medallion & Young Artist Award, National Art Council.

2002 - 2005 : Member, Panel of Arts Advisors, National Art Council.

2002 - 2006 : Member, Singapore Note and Coin Advisory Committee, Board of Commissioners of Currency.

2003 : Chairman, NAC-Telok Kurau Studios Management Committee.

2003 - 2006 : Member, Annual Grant Assessment Panel for Visual Arts, National Arts Council.

Author
Yin Ker

References

20 Singapore artists for New York Art Expo 1989 (p. 8). (1989). Singapore: Sun Craft Gallery of Fine Art.

(Call no.: RSING 759.95957 TWE)

Asian contemporary art exhibition. (1986). Singapore: Ministry of Community Development.
(Call no.: RSING 709.5074095957 ASI)

Barnes, R. (1979, December-1980, January). The Singapore art scene: the work of Anthony Poon. The decorator, 119-122.

(Call no.: RSING 747.05 D)

Chia, W. H., & Chia, Y. C. (Eds.). (1982). Singapore artists. Singapore: Singapore Cultural Foundation & Federal Publications.
(Call no.: RSING 759.95957 SIN)

Lim, R. (Ed.). (1990). Singapore artists speak (pp. 90-93). Singapore: C. H. Yeo.
(Call no.: RSING 709.95957 SIN)

Poon's works donated to SAM [Electronic version]. (2007, January 26). Today. Retrieved September 26, 2007, from Factiva database.

Purushothaman, V. (Ed.). (2002). Narratives: Notes on a cultural journey (pp. 184-185). Singapore: National Arts Council.
(Call no.: RSING 700.95957 NAR)

Sabapathy, T. K. (1991). Many in one: 25 years of art from Singapore. Singapore: National Museum.
(Call no.: RSING 759.95957 MAN)

Sheares, C. (1995). Art in the city: the Raffles City Collection (pp. 50-51). Singapore: Raffles City.
(Call no.: RSING 708.95957 ART)

Singapore artist directory (p. 202). (1993). Singapore: Empress Place Museum.
(Call no.: RSING 709.59570922 SAD)

Singapore artists. (1982). Singapore: Cultural Foundation [and] Federal Publications.
(Call no.: RSING 759.95957 SIN)

Tan, Bridget Tracy. (2005). Art of the second generation: beyond fact and fiction (pp. 24-25). Singapore: Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.
(Call no.: RSING 709.5957 TAN)

Telok Kurau Studios 2000. (2000). Singapore: Telok Kurau Studios.
(Call no.: RSING 709.5957 TKS)

Yap, S. (2007, January 26). Artist's family donates works to museum. The Straits Times. Retrieved September 26, 2007, from Factiva database.

Yap, S. (2006, September 3). Pioneer abstract artist dies from lung cancer. The Sunday Times. Retrieved September 26, 2007, from Factiva database.

The information in this article is valid as at 2008 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Personalities>>Biographies>>Artists>>Cultural Medallion Recipients
Poon, Anthony, 1945-2006
Award winners--Singapore--Biography
Painters--Singapore--Biography
Sculptors--Singapore--Biography
Arts>>Painting
Arts>>Sculpture