Image size: 58.0 x 43.2 cm
Goh Beng Kwan is one of the earliest post-war artists in Singapore to travel to the United States to pursue an art education, where he studied at the Art Students League of New York. Today, Goh is recognised for his contributions in collage, particularly for his incorporation of a wide range of cultural materials and motifs used to explore issues around cultural representation, urbanism, and identity. A New Era (1969) was produced three years following Goh’s return to Singapore from New York. Comprising thin layers of cut fabrics, the collage continues the artist’s preoccupation with colour and composition of his Provincetown Workshop collages, but with greater technical assurance. It is an example of Goh’s turn to creating small-scale works which allowed him to create quick yet focused renderings focused on colour and composition.
