Being Made: Brother Joseph McNally and Shui Tit Sing

Being Made: Brother Joseph McNally and Shui Tit Sing showcases sixteen sculptures by Brother Joseph McNally and Shui Tit Sing, two of Singapore’s most accomplished 20th century artists who worked with wood. The title of the exhibition typifies the act of transformation: an apt descriptor for how wood – an essentially dead and inanimate material – is being made to reflect the inner and physical worlds our minds and bodies occupy. Under the hands of Brother McNally and Shui, we see how wood transforms to embody life.

Lasallian Brother Joseph McNally founded today’s Lasalle College of the Arts in 1984. Besides his indelible contribution to art education in Singapore, he produced a large body of sculptural work in an artistic practice that spanned four decades. Often being made out of ancient wood and inspired by a matrix of universalist and humanist ideas, Brother McNally’s works reveal an unparalleled spiritual dimension as well as openness to other cultural, religious traditions and philosophies of the world.

A pioneer Singapore sculptor, Shui Tit Sing’s zest for life led him to travel around Southeast Asia, creating artworks that reflected the ethnographic richness of traditional life in the region. From 1969, Shui found the totality of his creative expression in wood carving. Being made with an absolute purity of intent to represent the living world, Shui’s oeuvre becomes the locus where art and life come closest.

Venue: 39 Keppel Road, #02-01, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, Singapore 089065

Date: 10 Aug – 30 Sep 2023, 1:00pm – 6:00pm