Bio




Guo-Liang Tan (b. Singapore) is a visual artist working primarily in the field of painting, from which works in other mediums such as text, collage and video sometimes emerge. In his work, surfaces, painterly or otherwise, become a space for performing gestures of affect and conjuring a haunting that converses with the ghosts of abstraction. Gaps and overlaps, traces and fragmentation feature prominently in Tan’s making process. He is interested in how this frames and orientates our sense of time, body and memory.

Tan completed his BA in Fine Art & Critical Studies at Goldsmiths College, London and his MFA at Glasgow School of Art. He was also a guest student at The Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main, Germany and an artist-in-residence at the NTU Centre of Contemporary Art. He is a recipient of Singapore National Arts Council Scholarship as well as the Mackendrick Scholarship and the Antje und Jürgen Conzelmann Preis for painting. He was also a finalist in the Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2018.

His work has been exhibited and collected in Asia and Europe. Past and recent exhibitions include his solo presentations ‘Ghost Screens’ (2017) and ‘Soft Turnings’ (2021) at Ota Fine Arts, Singapore, ‘A Different Way Of (Thinking About) Painting?’ (2017) at Langgeng Art Foundation, Yogyakarta, ‘Ethereal Machines’ (2018) at Ota Fine Arts, Shanghai, ‘DEPTHS: Others, Lands, Selves’ (2018) at Elevation Laos, Vientiane, ‘Reformations’ (2019) at NTU ADM Gallery, Singapore, ‘Strange Forms of Life’ (2020) at STPI Gallery, Singapore, ‘Object of Desire’ (2020) at Gerðarsafn Kópavogur Art Museum, Iceland and ‘Re-surfacing’ (2023) at STORAGE, Bangkok. 

Tan belongs to a generation of artists whose creative output extends beyond his own studio practice. Alongside his own work, he also collaborates with other artists on curatorial and publication projects, including ‘Aversions’ and ‘Found & Lost’ (2009) for Osage Gallery, ‘We Who Saw Signs’ (2011) for Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, ‘Side Affects’ (2019) for Ota Fine Arts and ‘State Of Motion 2020: Rushes Of Time’ for Asian Film Archive.

Guo-Liang Tan is represented by Ota Fine Arts.




Education


2014—15

Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

2013—15

Master of Fine Art, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK

2001—03

BA Fine Art & Critical Studies, Goldsmiths College, London, UK




Award/Grant/Residency


2022

Villa Lena Residency, Italy

2018

Sovereign Asian Art Prize (finalist)

2015

Centre Of Contemporary Art NTU CCA Residency, Singapore

2015

Antje und Jürgen Conzelmann Preis

2014

Axisweb Artwriting Programme (Scotland), Glasgow, UK

2013

National Arts Council Singapore Scholarship

2013

Mackendrick Scholarship

2007

Close Connection, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2002

Hamal Butt Art Award




Solo Exhibitions


2021

‘Soft Turnings’, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore

2017

‘Ghost Screen’, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore

2012

‘Play Dead’, Space Cottonseed, Singapore




Group Exhibitions


2023

‘Re-Surfacing’, STORAGE, Bangkok

‘A Folding Scene’ for Esplanade Concourse, Singapore

‘Constructs’, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore


‘Desire Is Dead’, Tanglin Shopping Centre, Singapore


2022

‘Traces’, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore

‘We’re Young Once’, Art Agenda, Singapore

‘S.E.A. Focus 2022: chance… constellations’, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore


2021

‘Object of Desire’, Gerðarsafn Kópavogur Art Museum, Iceland

‘Habitat’, Ota Fine Arts, Shanghai

‘Encounter’, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore

‘Light to Night: _____ -in-Progress’, National Gallery Singapore

‘S.E.A. Focus: hyper-horizon’, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore


2020

‘Strange Forms Of Life’, STPI Gallery, Singapore

‘Time’, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore

‘Singapura’, Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo

‘Post Art Fair’, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore


2019

‘Desert Garden’, Ota Fine Arts, Shanghai

‘Object of Desire’, Brother Joseph McNally Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore

‘Reformations: Painting in Post 2000 Singapore Art’, NTU ADM Gallery, Singapore


2018

‘DEPTHS: Others, Lands, Selves’, Elevation Laos at icat Gallery, Vientiane, Laos

‘Crossroads’, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore

‘Hikarie Contemprary Art Eye Vol.10’, Tokyo, Japan

‘Ethereal Machines: Guo-Liang Tan & Zang Kunkun’, Ota Fine Arts, Shanghai

‘The Crossing’, Gallery Exit, Hong Kong


2017

‘A Different Way Of (Thinking About) Painting’, Langgeng Art Foundation, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

‘Suppose, there is A’, Earl Lu Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore

‘Alfa Tango’, Grey Projects, Singapore


2016

‘Of The Sea’, Chatham Historic Dockyard, UK

‘í drögum / Prehistoric Loom IV’, Akureyri Art Museum, Iceland


2015

‘Peacetime Resistance’, Bærum Kunsthall, Oslo, Norway & Project Room, Glasgow, UK


‘MFA Degree Show’, Glue Factory, Glasgow, UK

‘RUNDGANG 2015’, Städelschule, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

        

2014

‘The Trouble With Painting Today’, Pump House Gallery, London, UK

‘In Heaps & Hinges’, The Old Hairdresser’s, Glasgow, UK

‘Do You Believe in Angels?’, Equator Art Projects, Singapore/Manila


2013

‘Painting in Singapore’, Equator Art Projects, Singapore


2012

‘Marcel Duchamp in Southeast Asia’, Equator Art Projects, Singapore


2011

‘Remaking Art in the Everyday’, Art Stage, Singapore


2009

‘From left to right and right to east’, Project Space, Huddersfield, UK


2003

‘Imagine The Painting Sees You’, Pilot Art Space, Hastings, UK




Curatorial Projects


2021

‘Shwe Wutt Hmon: Noise And Clouds And Us’, Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film, Singapore


2020

‘Strange Forms Of Life’, STPI Gallery, Singapore

‘State Of Motion 2020: Rushes Of Time’, Asian Film Archive, National Archives Singapore


2019

‘Side Affects’, Ota Fine Arts, Singapore


2012

‘Singapore Intensive II: Song-Ming Ang’, Future Perfect, Singapore


2011

‘We Who Saw Signs’, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore


2009

‘Found & Lost’, Osage Singapore, in affiliation to Singapore Arts Festival


2008

‘Gloaming’, Grey Projects, Singapore


2006

‘The Deep End', p10 Art Space, Singapore


2004

‘And we took ourselves out of our hands (In Search of the Miraculous)’, p10 Art Space, in affiliation to Gravity (organised by Multimedia Art Asia Pacific) and SENI Singapore 2004




Selected Articles


Lynda Tay, ‘Guo-Liang Tan: Soft Turnings’, exhibition review in ArtAsiaPacific, 2022

Jeannine Tang, ‘Watching Paint, Motion Picture’, in Soft Turnings exhibition catalogue, published by Ota Fine Arts, 2021

‘A Conversation with Guo-Liang Tan and Sherman Sam’, in Soft Turnings exhibition catalogue, published by Ota Fine Arts, 2021

Ian Tee, ‘Conversation with Singaporean artist Guo-Liang Tan’, interview on Art & Market, 14 Dec 2020

Bing Hao, ‘Guo-Liang Tan: Soft Obsolescence’, article in LEAP, 2018

Sherman Sam,’ How Abstraction Can Improve Your Life’, article in Art-In-Sight, published by OCULA, 2018

Jean Hui Ng, ‘Review: Ghost Screen – Guo-Liang Tan’, exhibition review in ArtAsiaPacific, 2017

Anca Rujoiu, ‘What We Take Away With Us (From A Work Of Art)’, in Ghost Screen exhibition catalogue, published by OTA Fine Arts, 2017

Kevin Chua, ‘The Uncommitted Life’, in Ghost Screen exhibition catalogue, published by OTA Fine Arts, 2017

Jeremy Sharma, ‘A flower painting by any other name… genre painting that isn’t’, article on Artitute.com, 31 Dec 2012

Adeline Chia, ‘Still life paintings play dead’, exhibition review in Straits Times Life!, 22 Nov 2012

Joleen Loh, ‘Of floods and flowers’, exhibition review in TODAY Arts section, 22 Nov 2012

Tony Godfrey, ‘Thinking Paintings’, in Play Dead exhibition catalogue, published by Space Cottonseed, 2012

Hanna Scott, ‘Voices of Revolution’, feature article in Surface Magazine, Aug 2011

Mayo Martin,  ‘Sign Language’, exhibition review in TODAY Arts section, 8 Aug 2011

Lee Weng Choy, ‘A Conversation about Drawing’, in C-Arts Magazine, Nov/Dec 2009

June Yap, ‘Found & Lost’, exhibition review in Asian Art News, July/Aug 2009