Home>News Center>Life
             
     

    Artist's fat ladies make huge impression
    (Agencies)
    Updated: 2005-01-11 15:50

    Fat naked ladies are all the rage these days in Singapore, where the largest ever international exhibition of famed Colombian artist Fernando Botero's works are on display in all their corpulent glory.


    A worker collects litter around Botero's sculpture of a 'Fat woman with cigarette' displayed at a park in Singapore. Fat naked ladies are all the rage these days in Singapore, where the largest ever international exhibition of famed Colombian artist Fernando Botero's works are on display in all their corpulent glory. [AFP]

    The 72-year-old Botero, known for oversized sculptures and paintings of ample-bodied figures, came to Singapore last month to launch the massive show of over 70 paintings and drawings and 36 sculptures spanning three decades.

    It is all part of the Southeast Asian city-state's lofty ambition to become a global art exhibition hub, and follows major roadshows of other well-known foreign and historical artists in Singapore.

    The Botero paintings, which include "Our Lady of Colombia" and the diptych "The President" and "The First Lady", as well as 14 smaller sculptures, are currently housed at the Singapore Art Museum.

    Twenty-two of the monumental bronze sculptures for which he is probably best known are on display at Changi Airport and in outdoor locations around the glittering seaside Esplanade arts center.

    Tens of thousands of Singapore residents and foreign visitors alike are expected to view his works by the time the exhibition ends on February 27.

    "A lot of people are intrigued. Why does he keep painting fat people?" Singapore Art Museum curator Suenne Megan Tan told AFP.

    It was that very question that brought 32-year-old Singaporean Derek Leong to the exhibition.

    The industry analyst had never heard of Botero before, but was attracted by the glimpses he got of Botero's work in exhibition posters and advertisements.

    "It's an interesting subject matter -- you seldom see full-bodied figures in art," Leong said.

    Botero's work is not totally foreign to Singapore, a largely ethnic Chinese society where many women think they are overweight if they weigh more than 50 kilos (110 pounds), and slimming salons do a roaring trade.

    The locally-based United Overseas Bank commissioned his sculpture "Bird", which has been sitting since 1990 outside the bank's headquarters along the Singapore River.

    And "Bird" might soon be only one of a few Botero sculptures dotting the Singaporean landscape permanently.

    Ten of the 22 monumental sculptures are for sale, costing between 700,000 and 850,000 US dollars each, and media reports said local buyers are interested in buying two of them.

    The exhibition has also drawn a significant number of foreigners.

    In fact, so many Latin Americans turned up at the launch of the showcase that Botero joked that he had never seen so many Colombians in his life, curator Tan said.

    "The Latin American community was really overwhelmed by his presence here," she said.

    "They queued to shake his hand and talk to him. To them, he is 'The Maestro' -- that's what they call him, 'The Maestro'."

    But she was quick to add that the appeal of Botero's art extends to a universal audience.

    Lie Kam Lay, 50, is proof of that: the Indonesian came to Singapore in December partly because he wanted to catch the exhibition.

    "I knew of Fernando Botero, and I knew of this extensive exhibition, so that was one of the reasons why I came here," he said, pointing out the oil on canvas painting "Priest Walking" as his favourite, for the comical cross-eyed expression on the subject's face.

    The massive exhibition was made possible by the Singapore government's pledge of more than 120 million US dollars over the next five years to the creative sector, in a bid to become a "global arts city".

    With a population of only four million but tourist arrivals of eight million per year, strategically-located Singapore has much potential as an international showcase, making it an attractive venue for global artists eyeing Asia's growing ranks of collectors.

    The Botero show comes in the wake of similar exhibitions of masterpieces from the Guggenheim Museum, Leonardo Da Vinci's works and Rodin's sculptures in Singapore, with more international shows in the pipeline.



    Pitt and Aniston separate
    Britney heads for university
    Pop diva Faye Wong to remarry
      Today's Top News     Top Life News
     

    Cross-Straits charter flights promising

     

       
     

    Hopes for peace rise as Abbas wins votes

     

       
     

    China tycoon donates $1.2m for tsunami aid

     

       
     

    Yushchenko declared winner of Ukraine vote

     

       
     

    12 missing after California mudslide

     

       
     

    China baby pooh-poohs diaper ad offers

     

       
      Artist's fat ladies make huge impression
       
      Hired 'guns' hant college exams
       
      Baby pooh-poohs diaper ad offers
       
      Zhang Yimou named best director by US critics
       
      Safety call for climbers
       
      Action needed now to confront wealth gap
       
     
      Go to Another Section  
     
     
      Story Tools  
       
      Feature  
      Chen Ning Yang, 82, to marry a 28-year-old woman  
    Advertisement
             
    色噜噜狠狠成人中文综合| 人妻AV中文字幕一区二区三区| 中文字幕国产精品| 伊人久久精品无码av一区| 午夜不卡无码中文字幕影院| 欧洲无码一区二区三区在线观看| 亚洲色无码播放| 人妻丰满av无码中文字幕| 中文字幕亚洲综合小综合在线| 无码中文字幕日韩专区视频| 亚洲精品99久久久久中文字幕| 中文字幕亚洲情99在线| 4hu亚洲人成人无码网www电影首页| 红桃AV一区二区三区在线无码AV| 中文字幕Av一区乱码| 日韩经典精品无码一区| 无码精品人妻一区二区三区人妻斩| 伊人蕉久中文字幕无码专区| 午夜视频在线观看www中文| 人妻无码αv中文字幕久久| 中文字幕理伦午夜福利片| 亚洲中文字幕无码爆乳av中文| av无码免费一区二区三区| 日韩精品无码一区二区三区免费| 亚洲av中文无码乱人伦在线播放| 中文字幕亚洲一区二区va在线| 中文字幕日韩欧美| 亚洲欧洲中文日韩久久AV乱码| 日本精品久久久久中文字幕| 最近最新中文字幕高清免费| 最好看最新的中文字幕免费| 人妻精品久久久久中文字幕69 | 制服丝袜中文字幕在线| 中文字幕7777| 日韩乱码人妻无码中文字幕| av区无码字幕中文色| а天堂中文在线官网| 最好看的中文字幕2019免费| 日本中文一区二区三区亚洲| 免费无码又爽又刺激网站| 国产成人无码av|