artcommune gallery is proud to present Ong Kim Seng: Forging Worlds in Tropical Light, a milestone exhibition featuring over 30 old and new paintings by the watercolour master. On view at artcommune gallery from 30 March to 12 April, the works date from 1963 to 2026, including many rare and award-winning pieces drawn from the artist’s personal collection of over twenty years. This exhibition is held in conjunction with the publication launch of Ong Kim Seng: A Retrospective Journey in Watercolour, a 256-page hardback publication that covers six decades of the artist’s journey and over 200 artworks spanning from the 1960s to the present. Supported by the National Arts Council, the book provides the first retrospective survey of Ong Kim Seng’s artistic career and lifelong dedication to preserving the heritage, architecture, and cultural memory of Singapore and the region. The book will be available for view and purchase

during the exhibition period.

​

Reflecting on the decision to hold his latest exhibition, Mr. Ong shares that while the retrospective book tells his story, his original paintings reveal even more:

 

“Some of these paintings were painted as I was recovering from the tremendous grief of losing my lifelong companion, my wife. During this difficult period, my children encouraged me to carry on and even travelled with me to Nepal, to the streets of Kathmandu that I love, where I found the strength to pick myself up and paint again.”

​

8 of 9 award-winning paintings from the American Watercolour Society unveiled to the public for the first time

​

A celebrated watercolour maestro of light and shade, Ong Kim Seng (b. 1945, Singapore), BBM. A.W.S. DF. N.W.S is one of Singapore’s most successful artists to date. In 1983, he won the prestigious Paul B. Remmy Memorial Award from the American Watercolour Society with a breathtaking landscape featuring the distinct architectural brickwork of Nepal, becoming the first Singapore watercolourist to rise to international prominence. Ong Kim Seng was also the first Asian outside of the United States to be awarded the American Watercolour Society (AWS) membership in 1990 and has clinched 9 awards from the AWS since. He was conferred the Cultural Medallion in Visual Arts by the Republic of Singapore in 1990.

​

For this exhibition, Ong Kim Seng will showcase for the first time in his career, 8 out of the 9 paintings that won the illustrious awards from the American Watercolour Society in New York.

​

Early, historic works unseen for decades to be on exhibit for the first time

In addition to the artist’s award-winning works being gathered for the first time, some early historic pieces such as the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Construction from 1964 and Kampung Tengah from 1985, will also be unveiled to the public for the first time. The former, painted when the artist was just 19 years old, captures the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce building at the very moment of its becoming, its skeletal façade still veiled in scaffolding beneath the glare of the tropical light. At street level, small figures and passing vehicles anchor the scene in everyday life, reminding us that nation-building unfolds within ordinary rhythms. Executed with economical line and translucent washes, the work reveals the young artist’s delicate sensitivity to the expressive possibilities of watercolour — particularly its capacity to convey atmospheric structure and radiance.