The Journey of Lim Tze Peng

Journey LIM TZE PENG

Front Cover Untitled 1050mm x 1050mm, Ink on Paper This page Kampong simple living 1050mm x1050cm, Ink on Paper Mr Lim Tze Peng was born in Singapore in 1923. Largely selftaught, Tze Peng drew from the available traditions evident at the birth of Singapore’s artistic scene in the 30s and 40s. Even though Lim was born and educated in Singapore, his diligent studies and daily dedication to practising his craft enabled him to excel in the Chinese ink tradition.

His new ink works are deeply rooted in tradition, yet they have a palpably contemporary feel, and can be enjoyed by those who are schooled in other traditions. Lim’s creative impulses for his new works is clear, where previously it was “I see and I paint, now it’s I reflect and I paint”. Lim is a man of gentle disposition, yet the sheer physicality entailed in his work is astonishingly manifested. His latest series of calligraphic works reveal a new level of artistic maturity - their raw energy reflect an aggressive swiftness and decisive ferocity, injecting the calligraphy with an invigorating tension.

Lim shows by example that Singapore’s multi-cultural environment may provide a context in which artists can respond to a variety of influences without being rapped in a defensive form of traditionalism or a superficial form of cosmopolitanism.

Even as a recognised artist whose artistic practice has spanned over 60 years, Lim reminds artists of the need for continuous exploration, examination and experimentation.

Top Opening Ceremony in Shanghai of Lim Tze Peng’s Solo Exhibition Left Mr and Mrs Lim Tze Peng with Ode To Art Director Jazz Chong Right ‘Inroads’ Exhibition at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing

Lim Tze Peng recently completed a series of successful exhibitions in Singapore, Beijing and finally in Shanghai. Hosted by Singapore Art Museum, National Art Museum of China and Shanghai Cultural Development Foundation The exhibited works of Inroads: The Ink Journey of Lim Tze Peng, came from Singapore Art Museum’s eternal collection and artist, was from 1970s to the end of 20s century. Lim’s ink paintings of the Great Freehand Style (daxieyi), which lingered somewhere between abstraction and the figurative, appeared to be populated by indistinct images of old trees and cloud-shrouded mountains. These came in an amazing variety of forms, their structures quite out of the ordinary. Furthermore, the artist’s strokes were bold, freewheeling, shrewd and full of a relentless vigour; his was an integral symphony of spots and lines, pigments and ink–in every way a manifestation of subjectivity that flowed out of his very psyche and sentiments, and even leaned towards abstraction. In terms of general composition and character morphology, his calligraphy was almost painterly, special in its own way. In the larger works in particular, Lim the calligrapher was dynamic, spontaneous and outstandingly uninhibited, as a certain sense of virility and boundlessness came through in the midst of thick inkiness and hollow strokes.

Singapore Scenes - Hindu Temple 1050 x 1050mm, Ink on Paper

Singapore Scenes - Chinatown 1050 x 1050mm, Ink on Paper

Kampong Living 1050 x 1050mm, Ink on Paper

Kampong Living 1050 x 1050mm, Ink on Paper

Top Jars 1050mm x 1050mm, Ink on Paper Right Singapore River Scenes 1050mm x1050mm, Ink on Paper

Singapore River Scenes 3000mmx1350mm, Ink on Paper By his own admission, Tze Peng’s artistic forays begin and end, invariably with the brushstroke. He says, “ Using the Chinese brush to paint requires one to have a good foundation in calligraphy. I myself have spent several decades perfecting the art of calligraphy.”

Singapore River Scenes 3300mmx1300mm, Ink on Paper

Singapore River Scenes 3300mmx1300mm, Ink on Paper

Calligraphy Series I Ink on Paper

Calligraphy Series II Ink on Paper

Top Calligraphy Series III Ink on Paper Right Calligraphy Series IV Ink on Paper

Left Singapore River Series 1050mm, x 1050mm Ink on Paper Top Singapore River Series 1050mm, x 1050mm Ink on Paper

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