Sparking off Waves

Discover the story of Jasmine Tay and her journey in nurturing artistic talent in Singapore. “Sparking Off Waves” is an article hailing from Passions, Volume 45, owned by The IBR Asia Group.

Originally known as Jasmine Fine art, the Museum of art and Design, (more popularly referred to as M.A.D., in order to reflect that people of all ages and creeds can appreciate and be “mad” about art), has come a long way in bringing art to the average singaporean and also to overseas clients. PASSIONS met with M.A.D.’s owner, Jasmine tay, at its booth in the Malaysia art Expo 2011, and talked to her about the challenges in nurturing talent and the regional art scene today.

Artistic Diversion

From her earliest years, Jasmine Tay has had an inkling for art, with an interest both in fine art and calligraphy, so it was inevitable that she would pursue her studies at Singapore’s venerable Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). Then an unplanned walk-in stint with an art dealer after graduation led to a fulfilling career in selling, collecting and appraising art pieces for the last two decades.

Fulfilling Their Potential

For Jasmine, one major point in choosing a good artist is searching for a distinctive “self”. “It’s not easy finding an artist with true originality, but this is important for me and the clients I deal with,” said Jasmine.

“One thing I always take care to avoid is trying to make the artist, especially young artists or recently discovered talents, paint pieces which pander too much to public demand. In my opinion, this has the unfortunate effect of causing the artists to lose focus, ultimately harming their artistic development and denying them their potential,” she said.

The veteran art dealer believes that an artist should focus on his or her art, and that the art dealer owes a responsibility to the artist in ensuring that the artist’s career is carefully nurtured and developed to its fullest potential. There is also the responsibility to the client, who should be sold a painting which will not only appreciate with age in terms of dollar value, but which also speaks to the soul of the client and other viewers.

Meticulous Collaboration

Over the years, Jasmine’s art gallery in its different forms and names has had a hand in guiding several young talents into well-regarded artists with flourishing careers. The gallery has also collaborated with major names, such as Ai Wei Wei, Japanese pop artist Yoshitomo Nara and also
Singaporean Jahan Loh. The latter was nurtured by M.A.D. and opened his first exhibition with the gallery in 2009. For Korean artist Lee Kiyoung’s maiden exhibition, the whole M.A.D. was redecorated in a black and white theme to complement the artist’s deconstruction of black and white with Korean ink.

One artist who paints under the pseudonym “eTALIER dES cHENE”, is better known as Edison Chen, a multi-talented artist who has also given live demonstrations of his artistic talent at the M.A.D premises in the Mandarin Gallery along Singapore’s Orchard Road. Jasmine concurs that “he has hidden depths, and I think if he were to go full-time into fine arts, he will match a lot of other artists in terms of meticulous quality and talent.”

Going M.A.D.

The change of her gallery’s name from “Jasmine Fine Art” to “M.A.D.” is part of Jasmine’s personal effort to expose more ordinary Singaporeans to the art world. “Half the time, people think that ‘Oh, fine art galleries aren’t for the likes of me’,” said Jasmine, who envisioned a gallery with no barriers or doors, complete with live demos and artistic competitions to encourage more people to hang out and just enjoy the works of art without feeling stuffy.

“I’ve had parents who come to me, asking whether they could leave their sons or daughters here for a while, because their kids are interested in art, and I enjoy working with the children and educating them about art – that it’s not just paintings, but other media too.” said Jasmine.

one thing Jasmine notes is that, “When one purchases an art piece, one should purchase it because it speaks to you. it’s calling your name.” this veteran art dealer also noted, “if you like the art for its sake, you’ll enjoy it much more than if you were to just purchase an art piece for investment. if you buy it for its artistic merits, the other fruits of enjoyment will come later.”