The Love Poems of Daniel Nanavati by Jonathon Xavier Coudrille

This research will also study the contributions and significance of independent art spaces. Through a synthesis of interviews with founders and directors of the space, literature reviews and close readings of materials published under the auspices of those spaces, I argue that it is necessary that these spaces should be an integral part of the art ecosystem in Singapore.

While support for the arts from the government is to be lauded, the fading existence of independent art spaces calls for a concern. Yet the next decade was marked by the demise of independent art spaces such as Plastic Kinetic Worms (PKW) which closed in 2010 and Post Museum in 2011. Starting in the late 1990s, the national agenda saw the prioritising of arts development in Singapore through the Renaissance City Plan (RCP). It is in response to the demise of these spaces despite the surge of activity on the arts scene in recent years. This thesis is a study on the significance of independent art spaces on the development of contemporary art practice in Singapore. The New Art Examiner spoke with her about the concurrent journeys of Ruscha’s work and her writing. Alexandra Schwartz has played the role of archivist, historian, compiler, critic, and curator of Ruscha’s art for over 20 years. Characteristically Delphic, Ruscha once opined, “I’m dead serious about being nonsensical.” His pithy vernacular paintings, photographs, and prints have influenced pop, minimal, and conceptual art movements worldwide, and his works command considerable attention in the market today In November Ruscha’s citric Made in California litho (1971) and liquid Ripe (1967) broke auction records selling for $100,000 and $20 million. Yet since the 1950s Ed Ruscha has capitalized on the urban contradictions and consumerist stereotypes of Lotusland, garnering him international celebrity as an artist synonymous with the city itself.

For decades the bicoastal binary of LA and New York positioned California as jejune within the art world, superficial to the formidable genius emanating from Empire City artists and as proclaimed by her equally eminent critics.

The Love Poems of Daniel Nanavati by Jonathon Xavier Coudrille