Synopsis:

CONJURING NEW WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE EVERYDAY, Trompe-l'œil will present works by six artists across Asia and Australia at Sullivan+Strumpf Singapore which opens on 14 April.

Continuing Sullivan+Strumpf Singapore's focus on bridging the arts between Australia and Asia, Trompe-l'œil marks Dr. Mikala Tai's first curated show in Southeast Asia, promising trajectories that are personal yet universal.

There is something unnerving about a trompe-l'œil. Such trickery of perspective ruptures the trust we place in our vision, our eyes onto the world. Our ability to perceive reality and discern truth is questioned the moment our eye is deceived. No longer able to trust our observations the once taut veneer of actuality suddenly appears fragile. In this moment the peculiarities of contradictions allow new perspectives to emerge and we are, briefly, able to look at the everyday anew.

Trompe-l'œil brings together six artists from across Asia and Australia who seek to reimagine understandings and expectations. Their works, although diverse, all use artistic techniques to recast our readings of the everyday. Through holographic shifts, tessellated shadows and unexpected flickers the works reveal alternative futures and dark realities. With the comfort of expectation lost the viewer is invited to consider, in that moment of rupture, the expanded possibilities of new perspectives.

About Dr Mikala Tai
Dr. Mikala Tai is a curator, researcher and academic specialising in contemporary Asian art who has, over the past decade, collaborated with local, national and international organisations to strengthen ties between Australia and Asia. Dr. Tai is currently the Director of 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney. Curatorial projects for 4A include Jogja Calling (2016); Before the Rain (2017); I don't want to be there when it happens (2017, co-curated with Kate Warren and expanded at PICA, Perth with Eugenio Viola); and the critically acclaimed performance program for Art Central Hong Kong (2016 and 2017). Independent curatorial projects include Closing the Gap: Contemporary Indonesian Art (2011), MIFA, Melbourne; Yang Yongliang: On the Quiet Water (2009), 45 Downstairs, Melbourne; and Abdullah M.I. Syed: Divine Economy – Structures (2017), Aicon Gallery, New York. As an academic Dr. Tai has taught at Monash University, RMIT and the University of Melbourne in both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. She devised and delivered RMIT's inaugural Contemporary Asian Art (2012-present) syllabus and the University of Melbourne's Advanced Fieldwork: China (2015-present). Dr. Tai's writing can be found in several exhibition catalogues in addition to being published in Broadsheet Journal, Art Monthly Australiasia, Photofile, Vault and Ocula. Dr. Tai received her PhD in 2015 examining the influence of the Global City on China's local art infrastructure.

About Sullivan+Strumpf
Sullivan+Strumpf, established in 2005, presents the work of established and emerging artists at the forefront of contemporary art in the Asia- Pacific region. The gallery has spaces in Sydney and Singapore. Since its opening, the gallery has been home to diverse, innovative and progressive exhibitions across a variety of media and genres. The gallery has helped foster the careers of some of the most exciting artists working in the region today. Sullivan+Strumpf organises extensive solo and group exhibitions, not only in its Sydney and Singapore premises, but also in collaboration with public galleries within Australia and internationally, which are often supported by substantial publications. Representing 32 artists from the Asia- Pacific, the gallery and its artists are active members of the arts community and participate in a wide variety of museum exhibitions, awards, residencies, events and festivals. Works are regularly acquired by institutions and key private collections, Sullivan+Strumpf has participated in major contemporary art fairs in the Asia-Pacific region since 2010, and has also exhibited in fairs in United Kingdom, Europe and the U