Aw Tee Hong () is a

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

an artist who is known for his

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

s of the old

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, altho ...

, as well as for numerous

public sculpture Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically access ...

s themed towards Singapore heritage, like the marble

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

titled ''Singapore Poetry'' found in

Tanjong Pagar MRT station Tanjong Pagar MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the East West line located at Maxwell Road between the junctions of Peck Seah Street and Cecil Street in Downtown Core, Singapore. The station was built in the 1 ...

. Aw is known for his works in oil and acrylic, watercolour, Chinese ink, charcoal and sculptures.

Early life

Born in Wenshan village at Huiwen,

Wenchang Wenchang ( postal: Mencheong; ) is a county-level city in the northeast of Hainan province, China. Although called a "city", Wenchang refers to a large land area in Hainan - an area which was once a county. The urban center and the seat of govern ...

county of

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

island, Aw migrated with his parents to

Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in the ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

at the age of 8 and relocated to

in 1950, where he studied art at the

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA); (Standard Chinese: 南洋艺术学院; ms, Akademi Seni Halus Nanyang; ta, நன்யாங் அகாடமி ஆஃப் ஃபைன் ஆர்ட்ஸ்) is a publicly-funded post-secondary ar ...

. In 1956 he went on to pursue higher education in art at the

China Central Academy of Fine Arts The Central Academy of Fine Arts or CAFA is an art academy under the direct charge of the Ministry of Education of China. The Manila Bulletin calls the school "China’s most prestigious and renowned art academy". It is one of the most selectiv ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Accolades

Aw was invited back to his alma mater to give a series of thematic lectures on pottery in 1994-1995 and was hence given the title of Visiting Professor by the Central Academy of Fine Arts (otherwise known as Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University), in recognition of his contribution. Aw collaborated with the Singapore Tourism Promotion Board during the 1980s to create and develop a range of Chinese Opera Masks, amongst other cultural products, which later became iconic souvenirs that helped promote Singapore as a tourist destination. Additionally, Aw was often invited by STPB to participate in trade shows to various countries in Asia, Middle East and Europe to demonstrate the uniqueness and richness of Singapore Art. Having had an artistic career spanning six decades, Aw has presented his works through a plethora of platforms, namely art exhibitions, both in Singapore and overseas. Recently, The Fullerton Hotel invited Aw to showcase his 1960s Singapore works.

Featured works

*Pioneering Spirit, Sculpture, 1988, Raffles Place MRT Station *Struggle for Survival, Sculpture, 1988, Raffles Place MRT Station *Epic of Singapore, Mural, 1989, Tanjong Pagar MRT Station *Dancer, Sculpture, 1990, Ministry of Community & Development *Mother & Child, Sculpture, 1993, KK Women & Children Hospital *In Safe Hands, Sculpture, 1993, Civil Defence Club *Series of life size figures representing 4 races of Singapore, Sculpture, 2002, Singapore River outside May Bank Building

References

*All translations to text are approximate {{DEFAULTSORT:Aw, Tee Hong 1931 births Singaporean artists Singaporean people of Chinese descent Singaporean painters Singaporean ink painters Singaporean sculptors Living people Central Academy of Fine Arts alumni