Lim Mu Hue is one of Singapore’s leading woodblock printmakers, whose erudite artistic output includes paintings in various mediums and sculptural relief. This diminutive self-portrait, painted in his twenties, reveals both his personal ambition and anxiety, which echo Singapore’s nation-building sentiments and challenges. As a representation of Lim’s coming of age, this painting graced the catalogue cover of his first solo exhibition in 1970 at the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. In the painting, Lim appears to be seated in a studio with boldly coloured abstract paintings on easels in the background. He stares out at the viewer with one eye. On the broken half of his eyeglasses, worn in front of his other eye, a reflection of the abstract paintings surrounding him may be seen. Compared to his earlier self-portrait from 1955, which depicts his youthful diffidence as a fresh art school graduate, Self-Expression (1957-63 ca.) is a more mature and self-confident statement about embracing experimentation with modern Western art styles while maintaining an unflinchingly realist gaze on the conditions in Singapore.
This is the first time the work of Lim Mu Hue is presented at Biennale Arte.
—Adele Tan
