Born in 1943 in Singapore, Tang Da Wu is an influential figure in the country’s development of contemporary art practices. He was educated at Birmingham Polytechnic’s School of Art, St. Martins School of Art, and Goldsmiths, University of London between 1970 and 1986. In 1988, he founded The Artists Village, one of Singapore’s longest-lasting artist collectives. His practice crosses different disciplines and is characterized by concerns for social and environmental issues. He performed extensively throughout UK in the 1980s and 1990s and has participated in many exhibitions such as the 1st Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial (1999) and the 3rd Gwangju Biennale (2000). He represented Singapore in the 2007 Venice Biennale.This waning of the British Empire, represented by the Churchillian bulldog in the colours of the Union Jack and for whom it was thought the sun would never set on, is the subject matter of this painting. It marks the period of a distinct postcolonial mood in cultural politics in the 1980s. The looming presence of the bulldog alludes to the continued victimization of her [former] colonies, the very societies that once served the resource-hungry empire.
