1951–18.09.2016
Research · Sources · Context
Artists
Biographies, facts and images with open sources and verified rights.
Found: 1775
03.04.1884–24.06.1956
Nicos Nicolaides
Nicos Nicolaides (1884–1956) was born into a poor family in Nicosia, was orphaned early and began by painting icons in Cypriot villages. He later became one of the notable prose writers of Greek literature between the wars, and also painted and staged plays. He lived in Athens, Limassol, Alexandria and Cairo, where he spent his last three decades.1983–present
Mimi Cherono Ng'ok
Mimi Cherono Ng'ok (b. 1983), a Kenyan photographer based in Nairobi, shoots in the countries where she has lived and travelled: Dakar, Accra, Berlin, Kigali, Kampala, Johannesburg. Trees, the tropics, horses and an unidentified male figure recur in her pictures. Her series “Everyone is Lonely in Kigali” won the Photo London Artproof Award in 2017, and her work has been shown at the Berlin Biennale and the Carnegie International.1963–present
Joseph Bertiers
Joseph Bertiers (born 1963) began at eighteen by painting signs for bars, butchers and beauty parlours, and for one of them invented a character called “Mr. No Credit”. He later became a painter and sculptor from Nairobi, making paintings about political history and the news and life-size sculptures from scrap metal. In 2006 he was selected for Dak’Art, the Dakar Biennale.29.12.1979–?
Brendan Fernandes
Brendan Fernandes was born in Nairobi but has lived in Canada since the age of nine. He trained as a ballet dancer, became a visual artist after an injury, and combined dance with sculpture, video and installation. In 2018 he showed the series “The Master and Form”, on the discipline of ballet, and in 2017 he staged the choreography “Free Fall 49” at the Getty. He teaches at Northwestern University.?–?
Christopher Oywecha
Christopher Oywecha is a Kenyan abstract artist who works in oil and acrylic. His paintings are built on people’s faces and emotions and on the events that affect them and their surroundings. From 1993 to 2002 his work was shown at the National Museum of Kenya, the French Cultural Centre and the Goethe Institute in Nairobi.02.01.1982–?
Phoebe Boswell
Phoebe Boswell was born in Nairobi, spent her childhood in Oman and Bahrain, and went to London to study. Her first notable film, “The Girl With Stories in Her Hair” (2009), was commissioned by the National Gallery. She later turned to video installations and drawing; in 2017 she received a special prize of the Future Generation Art Prize in Kyiv.1951–present
Norbert Francis Attard
The Maltese artist Norbert Francis Attard worked as an architect for twenty years, designing posters and stamps, and in 1998 turned to installation art. In 1999 he represented Malta at the 48th Venice Biennale. Since 2001 he has directed the residency GOZO Contemporary on the island of Gozo, and in 2018 he opened the gallery Valletta Contemporary in Valletta.13.11.1909–15.02.2003
Vincent Apap
The Maltese sculptor Vincent Apap (1909–2003) studied in Valletta and in Rome under Antonio Sciortino, and from 1934 taught at the School of Art for more than thirty years. He made the Triton Fountain (1959), monuments to politicians and statues for many Maltese churches. He completed his last major work, a bust of Guido de Marco, at the age of 89.14.06.1762–31.10.1831
Michele Busuttil
Michele Busuttil (1762–1831) studied in Valletta under Rocco Buhagiar, and in 1780 went to Rome, to the Accademia di San Luca, where in 1782 and 1783 he won second prizes for drawing. Back in Malta, he opened a private school and in 1800 became the first professor of drawing at the university. His altarpieces survive in churches on Malta and Gozo.11.02.1774–03.11.1854
Maxim Gauci
Maxim Gauci (recorded in Malta as Massimo Gauci) was born in Valletta, studied in Rome, lived in Paris and from 1809 until his death worked in London. His workshop printed lithographic plates for botanical publications, among them the book on the orchids of Mexico and Guatemala, with the largest lithographic sheets of its time. Many of his portraits are held by the National Portrait Gallery in London.04.05.1948–?
Cheng Haw-Chien
Cheng Haw-Chien was born in 1948 in Penang and studied Chinese brush painting and Western techniques, then continued in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He works in the spirit of the Lingnan school, in landscape and “bird and flower” painting. He held his first solo exhibition in Penang in 1969, later showed in London, Beijing and dozens of Chinese museums, and in Kuala Lumpur headed the Central Academy of Art.08.12.1949–?
Siti Zainon Ismail
Siti Zainon Ismail studied painting in Indonesia, taught at the National University of Malaysia and wrote on traditional Malay textiles, dress and crafts. Alongside this she wrote poetry and prose, and from the 1970s showed drawings and paintings abroad. In 2019 she was named a National Laureate of Malaysia.1924–27.02.2016
Lee Khoon Choy
Lee Khoon Choy was born in Butterworth into a Hakka family and began as a journalist in Penang and Singapore. From 1959 he sat in Singapore's Parliament for twenty-five years for the People's Action Party, then served as ambassador to several countries. He wrote books about the countries where he served, and was also active in music and painting.1952–present
Wafika Sultan Al-Essa
Wafika Sultan Al-Essa, a Qatari artist, went to Egypt in the early 1970s on a government scholarship to study and returned as one of the first women in her country with a professional art education. Her paintings are often titled after lines of folk songs and proverbs. Since 2011 her work has been shown at Mathaf, the museum in Doha.1920–2010
Fatima Abou Gahas
Fatima Abou Gahas (1920–2010) learned the wall-painting technique Al-Qatt Al-Asiri from her mother at the age of eight and practised it for more than seventy years. She decorated reception rooms in houses in Rijal Almaa and nearby villages, and later taught the art to other women. In 1997 she received the Abha Award, and in 2007 she was named a leading heritage figure at the Janadriyah festival.1951–present
Amanda Heng
Amanda Heng (born 1951) brought a feminist conversation into Singaporean art in the 1990s, when performance there was viewed with suspicion. Her works are built on audience participation: visitors drink tea and clean bean sprouts with her, or walk backward with shoes in their mouths. In 1999 she founded Singapore’s first women’s artist collective, and in 2019 she received the Benesse Prize at the Singapore Biennale.06.10.1946–06.09.2019
Chng Seok Tin
Chng Seok Tin grew up poor in Katong, taught Chinese for ten years, and then went abroad to study printmaking in England, the United States and France. In 1988 she lost almost all her sight after a fall in London, but returned to teaching and to her work. In 2005 she became the first person from Singapore to hold a solo exhibition at the United Nations headquarters.1946–present
Chong Fah Cheong
Chong Fah Cheong (b. 1946) went from being a novice in the De La Salle Brothers to becoming a sculptor whose works stand in the streets of Singapore. He carved his first pieces from trees felled in a school yard, and later worked in bronze, marble and jade. In 2014 he received the Cultural Medallion, the country’s highest arts award.1943–present
Tang Da Wu
Tang Da Wu was born in Singapore in 1943 and began with drawings and paintings, but became known for performances and installations. In 1988 he founded The Artists Village, the first art colony in Singapore, and in 1999 he received the Arts and Culture Prize at the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prizes. His “Tiger’s Whip” (1991) was shown in Singapore and Johannesburg.05.05.1943–?
Tan Swie Hian
Tan Swie Hian was born in Indonesia, came to Singapore as a child, and worked for twenty-five years as press attaché at the French embassy while writing poetry, painting and practising calligraphy. His first poetry collection, “The Giant”, appeared in 1968 and his first exhibition took place in 1973. He later turned to sculpture, seal carving and ink portraits, and an open-air museum of his work now stands in Qingdao.11.11.1983–?
Loo Zihan
The Singaporean artist, director and dancer Loo Zihan staged a one-night re-enactment of “Cane”, the performance piece by Josef Ng that led to a funding ban in Singapore, in 2012, and then built an exhibition-archive around it. His first film, “Solos” (2007), was pulled from its screening at home and premiered in Busan. In 2015 he received the Young Artist Award from the National Arts Council.?–?
Ngô Phương Ly
Ngô Phương Ly was born in Hanoi in 1970 into a family of an animation director and an actress. She trained as a designer-painter but chose television. At Vietnam Television she became head of the culture and arts department, helped develop the programme “Who Builds the Family” and designed the emblem of the national film award, the Golden Kite.1925–10.02.2023