Thai artist Ms Pratchaya Charernsook’s artwork “Chumphon Estuary”, which poignantly depicts the environmental devastation wrought by microplastics, won the 2023 UOB Southeast Asian Painting of the Year (SEA POY) award. Ms Pratchaya’s masterpiece rose above the outstanding winning pieces from the 2023 UOB POY competitions held in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and for the first time, Vietnam. Crafted over the span of two months, “Chumphon … Continue reading Art What!: Thai artist Pratchaya Charernsook wins 42nd UOB Southeast Asian Painting of the Year

Art meets Fashion with a collection of 36 limited edition art wearables introduced at a fashion showcase for charity sale as UOB officially launched the 42nd edition of its flagship UOB Painting of the Year competition at National Gallery Singapore this morning. The UOB Painting of the Year Art x Fashion showcase featured wearables co-designed by 10 artists, comprising UOB Painting of the Year artists … Continue reading Art What!: Bringing art closer to the community through Art x Fashion at the 42nd UOB Painting of the Year competition launch

Lester Lee is an established artist who has worked hard to get to where he is today. Having trained under renowned watercolourists Ong Kim Seng and Peh Eng Seng in the ’80s, Lester then went on to win accolades such as the Outstanding Artist Award in 1989 from the Ministry of Communications and Information, alongside the UOB Painting of the Year competitions in 2011 and … Continue reading Art What!: Striking a balance with Lester Lee in art and life

Andrew Huang’s relative youth is no deterrent to his success, winning the Highly Commended Award at the prestigious 2022 UOB Painting of the Year (Emerging Artist Category). But the now-NSF remains humble about his success, “I took part in it mainly to challenge myself and get to know the process of preparing and participating in an art competition,” he says. “It’s not the first time … Continue reading Art What!: Andrew Huang reflects on the next step of his artistic journey, and living in a garden city

When Aaron Gan participated in the 2015 UOB Painting of the Year competition, he did it to prove a point – that watercolour as a medium had a future, and deserved a greater level of respect. When he ended up winning the Gold prize for Painting of the Year (Established Artist Category), his point was more than proven. “When I was a kid, I always … Continue reading Art What!: Aaron Gan on winning the 2015 UOB Painting of the Year and the practicalities of being an artist

Winning the 2022 UOB Painting of the Year award for Most Promising Artist of the Year (Emerging Artist Category) was a milestone for artist Dillon Poh. Now serving the nation in the Navy, the young artist has always nursed a fierce passion for the arts since his youth, taking up the Art Elective Programme (AEP) during his Hwa Chong Institution days, a passion that has … Continue reading Art What!: Dillon Poh on the expectations of a promising artist, and the future of the arts

Art serves many purposes – for profit, for the next Instagram post, for taking the kids to on a free day. But for some, art could be the difference between having a good day and a terrible day, with its therapeutic qualities. Now, local banking corporation UOB is pushing that agenda of the healing property of art further than ever, with their Art as Therapy … Continue reading Art What!: Art therapist Yoko Choi discusses the psychology of art and architecture