Ink in the Tropics is a solo exhibition of Chinese ink paintings by Singaporean artist Chen Shi Jin. It brings together four decades of work that share a single, distinctive language: Chinese ink transformed by the light and colour of Southeast Asia.
Singapore, 9 September 2026 — Chen Shi Jin Gallery is pleased to present Chinese Ink in the Tropics, a selection of paintings spanning the artist’s wide range of subjects: bird-and-flower studies, night markets, kampung life, traditional trades, and historic sites as far afield as Europe. Drawn from across his collections, the works are united less by subject than by sensibility, a way of seeing that is unmistakably his own.
That sensibility has deep roots in Singapore. In the mid-twentieth century, the pioneer artists of the Nanyang school set out to paint the region in a new way, bringing together Chinese ink traditions and Western approaches to colour and form. Chen, a graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, carries that spirit forward. His paintings are recognisably Chinese in their brushwork and their use of open space, yet they are filled with a warmth and saturation of colour rarely found in classical ink painting.
There is also something of Impressionism in his approach. Like the Impressionists, Chen works en plein air, painting directly on location rather than from photographs or memory. What he records is not only the appearance of a place but its light and atmosphere at a particular moment: the glow of lamps at a night market, the heat of midday on a kampung path, the shifting colour of foliage after rain. Ink line gives each scene its structure; bold, rich colour gives it life.
The range of the exhibition shows how flexible this language can be. In his bird-and-flower paintings, a classical Chinese genre turns towards tropical subjects, with fruit, foliage and birds rendered with freshness and immediacy. His night scenes, a subject rarely attempted in traditional Chinese painting, use deep tones and points of brilliant colour to capture the energy of markets and streets after dark. Kampung scenes and portraits of traditional trades record ways of life that have largely disappeared from Singapore, observed with patience and affection.
Perhaps most surprising are the works painted far from the tropics. Even before European landmarks such as the Colosseum, Chen’s brush retains its Nanyang character. These ancient stones are seen through the same eye that paints hawker centres and village houses, and rendered in the same bold, luminous palette. Placed beside his Southeast Asian scenes, they show that the tropics are not only a place in his work but a way of seeing.
Across these paintings, Chinese Ink in the Tropics reveals a practice built on decades of looking closely. Chen’s work honours the discipline of Chinese ink while refusing to be confined by it, absorbing the colour, heat and everyday life of the region he calls home. The result is a body of work that feels at once traditional and entirely of its place.
Chinese Ink in the Tropics is on view at Chen Shi Jin Gallery, Bras Basah Complex.
About the Artist
Chen Shi Jin (b. 1959, Singapore) is a Singaporean Chinese ink artist and educator whose career spans more than four decades. A graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), he was the first Singaporean to pursue studies at the prestigious China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China. Chen taught Chinese painting at NAFA for 21 years and has played an important role in nurturing generations of artists in Singapore.
Known for his portrayals of tropical environments in traditional ink, Chen draws inspiration from his travels across Southeast Asia and China, capturing the spirit of local landscapes, cultures, and everyday life through a distinctive blend of traditional Chinese brushwork and contemporary sensibilities. In 1996, he won the UOB Painting of the Year Award for his acclaimed work Root. His works have been exhibited internationally and are held in various public and private collections.
Exhibition Period
Date: 10 October - 10 November 2026
Time: 12 – 6.30pm (Tues - Sun)
Venue: Chen Shi Jin Gallery, Bras Basah Complex, #02-25, Singapore 180231
Contact Information
Email: chenshijingallery@gmail.com
