LASALLE staff, students and alumni were out in full force at Art Stage 2014, the flagship Asian art event. The record-breaking fourth edition of Art Stage, held from 15 to 19 January, drew over 45,000 visitors.
The Faculty of Fine Arts, led by Dean Professor Yvonne Spielmann, curated a showcase of student works which attracted attention from collectors, art lovers and the general public alike.
“We had a very successful outing at Art Stage, creating many opportunities for our students and graduates to connect with galleries and the art market,” she says. “It was also an excellent platform to make collectors aware of the high quality of our student works, and give the College greater exposure on an international level.
“There was so much interest in our programmes that we ran out of brochures!” she adds.
In addition to the Fine Arts showcase, the Faculty also curated and moderated two well-attended talks on “New Media in Southeast Asia” and “Artist as Activist: Activating Spaces and Publics”, while Bala Starr, Director, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, spoke as a panellist on “Local Art Institutions: New Horizons”.
LASALLians also made a splash on the exhibition floor, as Fine Arts alumnus Ruben Pang sold out all nine of his artworks within hours of the show’s opening. Senior Fellow Milenko Prvacki’s large acrylic on linen piece, Crossroad, was the highest-selling artwork on opening night. Alumni luminaries such as Jane Lee and Donna Ong were also among the local artists whose work found buyers at Art Stage 2014.
MA Art Therapy alumna Laurence Vandenborre, founder of The Red Pencil, led a successful booth to raise awareness of their humanitarian work and the Yangdaora Project – an art therapy retreat programme for the children of disaster-stricken Fukushima, Japan. Other LASALLE alumni at Art Stage included Umar Mukhtar and Regina Baxter leading the AXA Art Insurance booth, and Loredana Paracciani managing the Southeast Asia Pavilion.
