For much of his career, Lee Wen would rely on grants, commissions and the occasional fees for his performance art to get by.

It wouldn’t sound out of the ordinary if not for the fact that the Singaporean contemporary artist could’ve also been fetching a tidy income from paintings and drawings. Instead, many of these would often gather dust in his studio instead of being shown and sold in galleries.

For the longest time — and despite a not-so-bad resume that includes a certain Cultural Medallion and a recent solo show at the Singapore Art Museum — the influential artist hasn’t had much luck getting attention from galleries.

“I’m not against selling my work but nobody even approached me before,” he shrugged.

Until now, that is. Local gallery iPreciation, which is known for shows on Chinese artists like Ju Ming and Gao Xingjian, has surprisingly come knocking on his door — with a contract.

Why is it, after years of being ignored by galleries, that the 55-year-old artist now finds himself with one?

He has no clue, but he’s rather amused. “I’m a beginner in this game,” Lee quipped.

CHERRY PICKING

Well, it looks like he’s thrust into it right when things are getting interesting. This “game” has been growing steadily as more and more Singapore galleries have seemingly trained their sights on more local artists.

While hardly an explosion, galleries we talked to are noticing subtle changes recently.

“There may be a trend, particularly among galleries who’ve been here for a while and know the artists but previously haven’t bothered showing them because they weren’t commercially viable. There’s a little bit of cherry picking going on at the moment,” observed Benjamin Hampe of Chan Hampe Galleries, which primarily shows Singapore artists.

Longtime art collector-turned-gallery-owner Vera Wijaya agreed that the past three to four years have seen an increase in attention towards local artists. It’s also within that time frame that she opened Galerie Sogan & Art, which has held shows for promising young artists like Sarah Choo.

What could account for this? Anything, perhaps, from the growing presence of Singapore art — albeit modern not contemporary — in auctions, the international visibility in platforms like the Venice Biennale (a successful participation now truncated) and the upcoming Asian show at the Guggenheim (featuring Ho Tzu Nyen and Tang Da Wu, and curated by June Yap).

Closer to home, the reasons stare us in the face.

The constant exposure of local artists in institutions has led to opportunities. Young artist Ruben Pang’s paintings at last year’s Future Proof exhibit at the Singapore Art Museum were the catalyst for Italian gallery Primo Marella taking him on and doing shows in Italy and Switzerland. (Chan Hampe Galleries still represents him in Singapore).

The success of fairs like Affordable Art Fair and Art Stage Singapore has undoubtedly contributed to the buzz, too. The latter, for instance, prompted iPreciation to take up the challenge of championing Singapore artists.

Gallery owner Helina Chan said she reacted strongly to the fair’s focus on Indonesian art. “Instead of promoting Singapore artists, they focused on Indonesia. And as a Singapore gallery, I have a responsibility to the industry,” she said.

Next week, she’s launching iPreciation’s new gallery space with Cascadence: Singapore Redux, a show featuring seven artists including Lee Wen. Chan also plans to reserve a Singapore section in the bigger gallery. Finally, she’s on the lookout for more Singapore artists to sign and add to her little stable of local artists amid Chinese ones.

Regarding Art Stage Singapore, Fost Gallery’s Stephanie Fong remarked: “Whatever criticisms some people have had, it galvanised different sorts of players like artists, galleries, curators and writers. I think it’s still a good thing.”

The biggest change, perhaps, is due to the fact that there are even more commercial galleries in the scene now — and much of it is down to the presence of Gillman Barracks.

Fost Gallery may be the only homegrown commercial space there, and the only one that had working relationships with Singapore artists (its latest is the well-received solo show by Chun Kai Feng). But Fong pointed out that not only does the added competition from foreign galleries “elevate the entire scene to the next level of maturity”, some of these have also shown local artists as well.

POACH, PRICE, HYPE

This renewed interest in local artists has had some consequences.

While declining to name names, some galleries mentioned attempts from rival ones to poach their artists. Some artists, too, have confirmed being approached.

Interestingly, this has shone the spotlight on the kind of system galleries employ here — more often than not, relationships between artist and gallery are cemented verbally and not with contracts.

For now, however, this seems to be working just fine. Artist Zhao Renhui, for instance, has been with 2902 Gallery since 2008 on the proverbial handshake deal with owner Gwen Lee. “We’ve known each other since the very beginning of our careers, so I think it’s unique. I have a good relationship with her,” he said.

Meanwhile, other concerns were pointed out.

Wijaya warned against overhyping artists prematurely. “In a way, (the attention) forces certain artists to go up even when they’re not ready and produce for the sake of producing.”

Art collector Colin Lim wondered about newer entrants selling and promoting artists without sufficient knowledge. “There is the concern that a foreign gallery may not understand our artists and their oeuvre and the works may not be properly presented,” he said.

He added that it could be compounded when said galleries bring artists to their home countries. If not properly promoted to overseas collectors, there’s the risk of being unable to sell. “Prices will inevitably be raised to make it worth the while for these galleries to take them on,” said Lim, elaborating that it might lead to a discrepancy in price and prevent potential collectors back in Singapore from buying.

“I believe an artist must first and foremost have good local support to make it,” he insisted.

Then again, it would also make sense for foreign galleries to deal with talent right in their (new) backyard — not only in a logistical sense (no shipping needed) but also, if done properly, it could perhaps work.

Gillman Barracks’ Space Cottonseed, for instance, mainly showcases Korean artists. But it has also shown paintings by Ng Joon Kiat and Tan Guo-Liang — the former courtesy of the gallery’s close ties with Ng’s mother gallery Osage in Hong Kong, and the latter, after previously chancing upon and falling in love with Tan’s paintings.

Was it also a matter of giving the gallery some “local cred”? Gallery manager Jill Seto dismissed the idea. “It’s not a strategy. Things just fell into place. And it’s not simply about having an exhibition, selling the work and that’s it. If the gallery can help build the artist’s career, it will,” she said.

And that’s how it’s been for Choo’s relationship with Galerie Sogan & Art — even if she admitted to being a little apprehensive at the start.

“I have been hearing of how commercial galleries just want to make money. But I decided to give it a shot and it has been a very rewarding experience,” she said. In fact, Wijaya has brought her and other artists in the gallery stable to fairs and exhibitions in Indonesia — and is also organising a trip to the Venice Biennale.

As a young artist, the whole attention has brought about “a sense of prospect and positive vibes,” shared Pang. But he also added that at the end of the day, it’s all about the art. “The sales part is a bonus. I didn’t start by making art to sell and that hasn’t changed.”

One hopes that they stay the course. After all, judging from what’s happening, everything else just might.