Drawing King Auction, 31 July - Round-up!

"With a passionate and committed group of attendees - collectors, friends and the curious - filling up the auction room nicely, we got off to to an electrifying start with numerous bidders gunning for young illustrator eeshaun's After Yue Minjun's Execution. Finally coming down to a two-horse race, the work eventually sold at E$20,000 (S$200), twenty times its mid-estimate. It set the tone for a successful auction where 90% of the works were sold, many for multiples of their estimates to buyers brisk and brave with their paddles. So the artists behind the works, all first-timers at auction, saw encouraging personal best being set. Buyers were discerning about quality, and merrily trying to outbid each other. That ensued a busy and boisterous afternoon where total proceeds happily soared above our expectations. True to the spirit of an irreverent auction, almost everyone went back with a work (or more) and the rare few who didn't enjoyed spending their Evil Dollars on booze. If you missed it, too bad for you. Just don't forget to join us at the next auction!"

- Wang Zineng, our mystery guest auctioneer

Download the full auction results HERE!

Zineng with the Giant Hammer

All our high rollers plus our Drawing King/Queen, Teng Yen Lin (bottom right)!

Bidding with paper plate paddles!

Our highest of high rollers, Choo Ai Loon, who bid a record E$20,000 (S$200) for eeshaun's drawing after Yue Minjun's 'Execution'.

We Sped Up Drawing King By 800x!

Today was the last day of our Drawing King Exhibition! If you didn't catch the tournament or the exhibition, here's the time-lapse video of all the matches :)

Drawing King Highlights from Evil Empire on Vimeo.

Drawing King Highlights!

For those who missed out on the action... here's a quick peek at our Tournament (23 July) and exhibition (until 30 July).

Drawing King Auction this Saturday, 31 July, 4 pm! Download the catalogue HERE and email berny@salonprojects.com to find out more!

Snippets from the Drawing King Tournament!

A short video of our Final Match of the Drawing King Tournament, courtesy of our friendly neighbour Willy Foo!

"

Was wondering what the commotion and cheering was about, then I realised it's my neighbour, Evil Empire the art gallery that's conducting a drawing contest!"

Congratulations to Teng Yen Lin for winning the Giant Pencil!!!
And thanks to all that came out to support Evil Empire and our participating artists!

12x Flashback: How Evil Empire Gave Back

36 artworks were kindly donated by young artists for our 12x event in June. To show our appreciation, Evil Empire gave these artists a chance to sell other works to our ballot holders.

Here's a feature on 5 works that artists have sold! They've also shared their thoughts on the unique experience of the 12x exhibition and ballot.

Sarah Choo | Parade of Lights

Oil on canvas | 100 cm x 60 cm| $550

About 12x

"12x allows us, young artists; to express our creativity in multi-disciplinary works . For one, it does not restrict artists to the medium of the artworks. Also it gives emerging artists space to showcase our talent, at the same time serving as a platform for us to communicate and interact with art appreciators."

Jonathan Maximilian Goh | Untitled (Landscape)

Mixed Media |45 cm x 45 cm each | $400

About the work

"My works aim to create a visual journey for the viewer, allowing the audience to engage in this Landscape visually, physically and conceptually. Through my process, I have learnt to understand my material and its nuances, and discover things unknown to me."

About 12x

"Art making is not complete without the artwork finding a home. It feels great to have an avenue to allow my artwork to sit in a new home where new viewers will be able to enjoy its existence."

Tan Wei An Joshua | The Machinist

Photography | 13 cm x 21 cm | $15

About the work

"

This 'botak' tree, standing alone on a hill, caught my eye on a trip back to my old primary school in Malaysia. As I leaned out the car window to capture the fleeting moment, something about it struck me as extremely poignant."

About 12x

"Sometimes we can get too absorbed in our own works to critique ourselves properly. The exposure at 12x offers a great wake up call. You get to see which works are more popular and maybe even over-hear the reasons why. You get to ask others for feedback - just remember that it's all part of a experience that they purchase, rather than an art work per se."

Elizabeth Lim Su Ying | Don Vito Corleone

Illustration | 13 cm x 21 cm | $15

About the work

"

DVC represented my British Angora

rabbit, named Skunk Rockstar McOreo whose personality is very much like the Don... He rules my 2 dogs and is very territorial, but sweet ONLY to the ones he accepts."

About 12x

" 12x really steps it up because the diversity of the works there are insane, and the fact that we could physically see who likes/doesn't like our works, who brings our works home, and how people react to it as well. The feeling of someone actually wanting/being open to understanding your work is a really great experience."

Roy Wang Han Yi | Fantasies of a Concrete Jungle

Digital Photography | 30 cm x 42 cm

About the work

"My photographic piece, using a futuristic, fantastical and imaginative approach which i really like, and is pretty childlike and vulnerable in many sense, questions whether nature, in the future, would exist simply as a fantasy or a constructed fragment of our history."

About 12x

"I think it provides a tremendous platform for young artists to have a first hand experience in dealing with the commercial side of art, talking to buyers and speaking about their work in public to many people… It was great fun too, meeting so many new people, people who appreciate art or artists themselves, providing ample networking networking opportunities."

12x: The Ballot Holder's Perspective

We've brought to you the artist's perspective and the curator's perspective. Now here's some thoughts from one of our lucky ballot holders, Julian Lim!

"Yesterday, I had the privilege of becoming an art collector.

Yes, me. The one who can’t tell Dali from da Vinci, Monet from Matisse.

Well, I’ve got to start somewhere.

So yesterday, I invested $48 of my hard earned moolah in one of 36 art pieces from young artists in Singapore as part of an “experiment”, which is a bit more exciting (and cheaper) than walking into an art gallery and picking up something off the wall.

For $48, I bought myself a ballot. Ballot #17 to be exact..."

Read the rest of Julian's post HERE!

The Curator's Post-12x Thoughts

Yesterday was The Day for 12x.

Finally, all the artists and ballot holders came together in Evil Empire - which many, including myself, soon found to be tinier and warmer than we had dared venture thinking. But despite some amounts of perspiration and a lot of "Where is so-and-so?", it was an atmosphere of cheerful communal chaos all around. Artists found themselves giving impromptu talks about their works, and ballot holders collectively realised they had some tough decisions on their hands. And that was even before the ballot started.

Sometimes the act of making and buying art can be very lonely. But it was different this time. You could see all the emotions of artists and ballot holders alike play out around you. In fact, you could hear it - when the first, the second, the third artworks were chosen, the rest of the crowd let out very audible "awww-s" as they saw their favourites slip away. Lucky ballot holders looked like they couldn't be happier. One ballot holder even gave another a 'fake' opinion (ahem) just so that she could get her hands on the artwork she wanted. They seemed genuinely excited that they could meet these young artists who would otherwise never have crossed their paths or their minds.

Of course, one always wishes that certain aspects could have been managed better or even done in a completely different way. After all, it was a show of many firsts:

1. The first time many of the artists have been given the opportunity to exhibit their works outside of a school compound.

2. The first time said artists have found a home (other than their own) for their works.

3. The first time these group art buyers have found themselves making snap decisions in a complex web of interdependent choices.

So, as the first time I have officially curated a show, I'm glad that everything sort of fell into place in the end. I'm glad that the artists are thanking me for the opportunity. I'm glad that the walls of the gallery are now bare. I'm glad that people said to me, "I didn't know art students were so talented".

And I'm glad that the artists, the ballot holders, Alan, our Evil Empire supporters, and all those random passersby who wandered into our gallery, came together to make 12x so special.

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