Goh Beng Kwan: Nervous City

When you hear the phrase “nervous city”, what comes to mind? Movement, tension, anxiety or anticipation? For Singaporean artist Goh Beng Kwan, a “nervous city” brings to mind ideas of frenetic pace, high stress, dense development and pollution. “Nervousness” could also allude to the structures of the city lodging themselves in our feelings, thoughts and nerves. This might well describe the artist’s sentiments on returning to Singapore in 1966, amidst a period of rapid industrialisation and urbanisation. This exhibition traces key moments in Goh’s artistic development from the 1950s to the 1980s, shuttling between different locales and periods. It looks at specific connections between the artist’s experiments in collage, the urban environment and the broader art world. My name is Joleen. I’m the curator for this segment, and your guide for this audio tour. Born in Indonesia in 1937, Goh Beng Kwan moved to Singapore in 1945, at the age of 8. As a young man, he learnt drawing, oils and watercolours from Chen Wen Hsi and Cheong Soo Ping, both prominent Nanyang artists. Later on, Goh went to New York to further his studies. He then returned to Singapore in 1966, and created a distinct voice and style of his own, which he continues to explore in his work today. Make your way through the doors, and to the wall on the right. There, you will find the next stop on your audio tour.