UBS brings back ART SG – the flagship international art fair in Singapore and Southeast Asia – with new commissions by Indonesian artist Eko Nugroho

Singapore, 18 January 2024 - UBS is proud to be the Founding and Lead Partner of ART SG, the flagship international art fair in Singapore and Southeast Asia, with the participation of over 100 leading international and regional galleries. The second edition is taking place at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore, marking a vibrant start to the art calendar in the APAC region.

Jin Yee Young, Co-Head UBS Global Wealth Management Asia Pacific and Country Head UBS Singapore says: "UBS is proud to bring back ART SG for a second year, kicking off APAC's art calendar. Singapore serves as an important gateway to the vibrant APAC art scene with robust interest among art collectors. We anticipate strong attendance for ART SG, as 9 out of 10 HNW art collectors surveyed plan to continue attending art exhibitions in 2024. With the art scene flourishing across APAC and Singapore, ART SG aims to bring people together through art, fostering dialogue and sparking opportunities. This collaboration reflects our dedication to the arts in various regions where UBS operates, and provides art lovers with an opportunity to connect with like-minded peers."

Carola Wiese, UBS Art Advisor, shared: "ART SG makes a strong addition to the art world calendar especially for collectors in Southeast Asia and the wider region. With a rising interest in art and collecting in the region, the UBS Art Advisory is delighted to be able to offer experience and guidance to help define a clear path for those seeking to build a meaningful art collection as part of their legacy. UBS has long shown a deep engagement with art and collecting, including our own collection with over 30,000 artworks and our multi-decade sponsorship of leading art fairs, among numerous other outlets."

At the fair, the UBS Art Collection unveils Eko Nugroho's interactive project We Are Here Now (2023), which addresses increased plastic waste production and calls for action. Presented at the UBS Art Studio, on level 1, the installation includes two vividly colored mask sculptures made of recycled materials and a sculpture that acts as a blank canvas. This newly commissioned installation requires audience participation to be complete. Fair visitors are invited to step into the masks and pose for Polaroid photos, which are then attached to the sculpture. The work serves as an urgent reminder that we must act now to protect the environment.

Eko Nugroho, UBS Art Collection artist says: "We are responsible for what we do, responsible towards all the plastic waste that we have produced. Over the next days, We Are Here Now will become a project completed by the public involvement and awareness - a symbol of our collective responsibility, representing our shared commitment to find solutions and break the cycle."

In the UBS Lounge, the UBS Art Collection presents Hands with Sunrise also featuring works by Nugroho. Focusing on themes of community and environmental consciousness, this presentation consists of a commissioned installation, embroidered paintings and artworks made with upcycled materials. The works were created collectively by Nugroho and the local communities in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, groups the artist has been collaborating with since 2007. As part of the display, the commissioned installation Guarding Sunrise in Mind (2023), reflects on the idea of welcoming the future with optimism.

Nugroho adds: "With Hands with Sunrise, I hope to bring about a feeling of optimism and to convey that our hands actually hold the sun, symbolizing the bright possibilities that our future holds."

On display in the UBS Lounge, Nugroho's Love #2 (2019), an embroidered painting in the UBS Art Collection, depicts two figures hand-in-hand under the moonlight, radiating optimism and ubiquitous love. Created in partnership with embroiderers from Yogyakarta, this work reflects Nugroho's vision for a renewed communal society.

Nugroho's impactful presentations embody the UBS Art Collection's commitment to showcasing artists who explore today's most pressing issues, including protecting the environment. This theme resonates in works by many artists in the Collection, such as Julian Charrière, Liz Larner, Hugo McCloud, Richard Mosse, Pamela Rosenkranz, Tomás Saraceno, and Yin Xiuzhen.

Following the fair, Love #2 will return to the UBS office, 9 Penang Road, where it will be displayed alongside artworks by artists in the region, such as Christine Ay Tjoe, Lee Bul, Jane Lee, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Danh Vo and Robert Zhao Renhui. UBS has a long history of supporting contemporary art and maintains strong ties with Asia through recent commissions by Singaporean artists Hilmi Johandi and Dawn Ng, and Hong Kong artists Tsang Kin-Wah and Stephen Wong Chun Hei. This commitment extends globally, with commissioned artworks by Jeffrey Gibson and Sarah Morris in the US and John Armleder and Ugo Rondinone in Switzerland.

In addition to ART SG, UBS has partnerships with other leading art fairs in Asia such as Art Basel Hong Kong, Taipei Dangdai and West Bund Art & Design. UBS is also a lead partner for Art Basel in Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach.

About Eko Nugroho

Eko Nugroho (b. 1977, Indonesia; works and lives in Yogyakarta) is an internationally renowned contemporary artist based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. His background in street art and community-based artwork is the quintessential aspect of his expansive practice. From paintings, drawings and embroideries to murals, sculpture and video, his works are deeply anchored in both local traditions and the urban environment. Nugroho's iconic visual language playfully intertwines political messages with appropriated aesthetics of street art, graffiti and comics.

Nugroho's works are collected in major international institutions such as Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Singapore Art Museum, Musée des Beaux-arts de Lyon, M+ Museum of Visual Culture (Hong Kong), Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (Brisbane) and Asia Society Museum (New York).