The Road to San Francisco via Sungei Road
By Chris Yap
- Her World 1982
In a studio in San Francesco, talented
artist James Tan works at an art form he taught himself in between cutting
sugarcane at his father's Sungei Road stall.
He has leapt, literally, from one China-town to another. From
selling sugarcane in." Singapore to an art studio in San Francisco.
James Tan Ann Huat, 29, is today one of the most promising painters
of the Lingnan style, an art form he taught himself in between cutting
sugarcane at his stall.
Sadly, it was a death in the family that brought him home after six
years of painting and exhibiting from his studio in that windy city.
"I came home to see my mother when my father died. She cried and
cried when I left home. Mothers always suffer...you should see my phone
bills, calling her every month!"
Three months after his homecoming, one highly successful show at the
Mandarin Hotel, still others in Malaysia and Thailand and the prodigal son
(prodigious artist?) has returned with a vengeance it seems.
Art Gallery owner Delia Butcher says of James: "He is one of the
best, with lots of potential."
When James first approached Ms Butcher about setting up a show, he
was met with polite refusal. Then she saw his work. "My first response was
no, for another exhibition would bring to three, the number of shows to be
held that month by the gallery. But when I saw the quality of his paintings
it was impossible not to exhibit."
And it is not only the paintings which caught her eye. Although he
is still a young artist, his paintings suggest that he may one day be hailed
as one of the finest Chinese brush painters of this century," wrote Delia in
the brochure for the show. Still, the poignant feature in the portrait of
this artist as a young's man, besides his potential, is his perseverance.
Local artists generally struggle to gain acceptance but it is the rare breed
that pursue their dreams ?in.
James's case all the way overseas ?to
reality, to be recognized both at home and abroad. James's artistic spark
was ignited while a Primary Four student at Keng Cheng School. "Art started
as a hobby; I learned to draw out of loneliness. I had nobody to talk to or
play with as all my brothers and sisters were at work."
He was born in Johore Bahru, the last in a family of eight. Father was a
rubber estate caretaker who turned to hawking when the Tans moved to
Singapore.
There was no one to fan his young imagination about art or culture,
the family was concerned with making ends meet. "Because of the war my
brothers did not have an education. My father sold fruits for a living.
My brothers sold ice-cream. And I helped my father sell fruits,
mostly sugarcane at Sungei Road."
The family next ventured into the hardware trade and now they have a
flatted shop at Jalan Besar. When I met him, James was busy mounting scrolls
for a Bangkok show from his makeshift Singapore studio. Rolls of paintings
jostled for space with the hardware, others mounted on boards were left to
dry along the common corridor, a sign, perhaps, of the birth of refinement
amid a harsh environment.
"I have my art teacher William Tan to thank," he recalled. "I wanted
to be the best in class in art.
"And when my calligraphy was selected for display on the notice board
it greatly inspired me."
James's parents had no real objections to the only artist in the
family." "He was always drawing all kinds of things on bits and pieces of
paper here and there. At least that kept him out of mischief," explained his
elderly mother.
His first formal art lessons were short-lived. Schoolwork and helping out
in the shop caused James, then a Thomson Government Middle School boy, to
give up art tuition.
Then, art was still a past time, but a time- absorbing obsession
nevertheless. "I painted at home, attended art shows and read up about it."
When he finished school, the family rather expected James, to become a
draughtsman since he was so good at drawing. He was pressurized to be "more
practical". .His eldest brother "used to shout at me and tear up my
paintings."
His brother's opposition only spurred James on the road to turning
professional. "His actions only made me more determined to be really good. I
had to show him I could succeed and that art is not a waste of time."
National Service proved a windfall because it gave him time for art
lessons and a year later, he graduated from the Singapore Academy of Art.
He also took a correspondence course on painting from Professor Au Ho
Nine, the famed master of the Lingnan School, Taipei.
"Every month he sent me eight samples of art to copy. It was
difficult," admitted.
James. "The instructions simply said 'paint the branches first,
then the flowers, followed by the birds'. With no one to teach me I was left
to try everything out by myself."
He could however only afford six months, of this South China
style of painting. "It is a different concept of brush painting using soft,
natural colors and effective backgrounds."
Unlike the more popular Northern style, the Lingnan School relies
less on brushwork and more on the artist's interpretation of his subject.
Instead of leaving the background white, the Lingnan painter employs
"water-washing" to create a mood effect. "The haziness appeals to me, it
allows the creation of a mood, a feeling, in each painting."
Meanwhile, after his ROD, a moody James conformed to the family's
wishes and worked as a draughtsman for a Chulia Street firm. But his heart
had made up his mind to pursue his artistic ambition.
He did not have to wait long. In 1973 he met, through Prof. Au, a
painter who came here to hold an exhibition. Mr. Wong Lui-Sang, from the
United States, provided James with his dream ticket to a career in art, I
learned much from him, besides art. About organizing shows when I followed
him on a tour of Malaysia. He then .asked me to be his helper in the U.S.
There was only one snag. "You have to be classified as a professional
artist before you can work in the U.S. You must be able to offer their
people something, in this case our culture, before they accept you."
Getting the necessary credentials wasn't difficult. In 1974 he
entered and won first prize in the Singapore National Art Com- petition and
held his first one-man shows here, in Kuala Lumpur. Ipoh and Penang.
Before the end of that year he was in San Francisco, with the blessing of
his father who told him to "do whatever is good for you." Now a gallery
assistant, framer and art teacher, James said his "new life there is both
exciting and tough." He went to a community college, evenings, to learn
English.
"I grew up in a Chinese family and the American lifestyle was so
different and I had to adjust to it," he explained in his American-accented
English. "And to rid my home- sickness, I just worked and worked."
The work and work paid off with art exhibitions in many cities
?Memphis, Sacramento, Ukiah, Sonoma, and San Francisco in one-man as well as
group show.
In 1977 Mr. Wong closed down his gallery and James was left in a
quandary. "I just did not know what to do. Everything after that -was a
matter of survival. I needed money to pay the rent, transport, school fees
and art materials," he said of his bohemian experience typical of many
artists. "So I became a cashier, waiter and later a restaurant manager."
James earned more than enough to survive. In fact, he saved enough
and with a loan of US$10,000 from a bank, decided to open his own gallery in
1978.The East Art Gallery did not last long. Soon after its opening, San
Francisco's Chinatown experienced a spate of gangland violence.
When he first went to American he could only paint in between
working as a cashier, waiter and later restaurant manager and to top it all
he was shot in a gangland hit at Chinese restaurant. Business plummeted. And
James was hit both financially and physically.
"I was one of the victims," he said, pulling up a trouser leg to show
me a gunshot scar, "I was dining with a friend at a restaurant when some
gangsters burst in and started shooting at everybody."
After that "unfortunate accident," James spent the next year
recuperating and repaying the bank loan. Once again, he slogged as a waiter,
later as restaurant manager. What- ever leisure time left was devoted to
teaching art and selling his works. "I really felt free '.wiping off that
loan. Can you imagine the feeling?" he asked breaking into a broad grin. "I
made quite a bundle last year and decided to visit my mother."
His wealth of art experience in the States has been an eye-opener, "I
am quite appalled about the treatment of art and the artist here.
Once I went to observe visitors at the National Art Gallery and they
did not seem to stay around long enough."
Things can be improved to nurture a love for art, he suggested.
"Perhaps it a problem of finance but paintings in our gallery can be better
displayed. Over there (in the U.S.) it might be a more Westernized approach
but the paintings that qualify to be exhibited are given the best lighting,
the best framing.
They do not crowd their paintings and each comes with a detailed card
of information about the painting. For the artist there is usually a small
photograph and short biography."
"And for their shows," he added excitedly, "well-written, nicely
designed invitation cards and brochures are made. Usually held in the
evenings, these shows open with a cocktail reception. Guests come dressed,
not fanciful, but you will not find them in singlet and shorts. If it's a
Chinese brush painting exhibition, there is soft Chinese classical music and
Chinese sculpture arranged to give it atmosphere. They treat you as artists
and your paintings as works of art, not some pretty picture within a frame.
"In Singapore while we do not have to duplicate the west we can offer
art and artists more respect. We cannot put up a show and care only about
the number and not the standard of paintings. We need to be more
professional.
"I would like to branch into new ideas, subjects and themes. I have
experimented with watercolor using Chinese brush strokes. Lingnan style
allows me to improvise. I am aiming for an artistic blend of East and West.
But I have yet revolve my own style," he said modestly.
