Born in 1945, Anthony Poon was one of Singapore’s pioneering abstract artists. After graduating from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in 1964, Poon continued his art studies at Bynam Shaw School of Art in London and Regional College of Art in Bradford. In 1973, Poon won the UOB Painting of the Year Competition and was bestowed the Cultural Medallion in 1991. In 2002, he won the Excellence Prize at the China International City Exhibition and Symposium in Beijing for his 2006 Olympics sculpture. He passed away at the age of 61 in 2006.Although Poon’s early works are primarily figurative and instructive of the formal teachings of NAFA, they display the influence of the new styles of Modern art. In ‘Jobless Son’, a semi-abstract work, one can make out the figure of an unhappy man in the shades of green. The lack of distinct forms further conveys a sense of aimlessness and uncertainty.
