Born in 1961, Singapore, Vincent Leow first acquired a Diploma in Fine Art and Design (Sculpture) from LaSalle College of Arts in 1987 before pursuing further studies at the Maryland Institute, Mount Royal Graduate School of Art, Baltimore and graduating with a Master of Fine Arts (Painting) in 1992. He has been very active in the local art scene and international events since 1985. He co-founded the art group The Artists’ Village with Tang Da Wu, Tang Mun Kit, Wong Shih Yaw and Amanda Heng in 1988, followed by the artist-run spaces Utopia (now defunct) and Plastique Kinetic Worms (now defunct). In terms of exhibition history, Vincent Leow had participated in numerous shows, symposiums, and workshops including the 3rd ASEAN Young Painting Workshop & Exhibition, the first Asia Pacific Triennale, Australia (1993), Chiang Mai Social Installation, Thailand (1995), Art et Politique, France (1999), Gwangju Biennale, Korea (2002), 3rd GuiYang Biennale of Contemporary Art, China (2007). In 2007, Leow represented Singapore at the Venice Biennale, Italy.Engaging a range of mediums that manifested into performances, installations, sculptures, digital and mixed-media works, the context of Vincent Leow's artistic experiments often touches, if not critic, on issues relating to identity, the environment, urbanization, limits of liberty and expression, and the dominance of the state. He has always explored painting as an expressive medium. Once celebrated as an enfant terrible of the Singapore art community, Leow is a pivotal figure in the art scene of Singapore. His practice parallels the development of contemporary art in Singapore; and as a painter, he is regarded as a remarkable imagist who has dipped into an astonishing range of images from popular culture, literature, cinema, politics and the mass media. While his earlier paintings releases an aggressive brutal and emotional temperament in the field of painting, as seen in Rooster (1989) and Meat Shop (1989), Leow’s paintings after his studies in U.S.A. adopted several shifts during the 1990s. It included noisy street style mixed with kitsch, represented by Senior Partner, Junior Partner (Undated), a pop-art genre such as Dumbo (1991), and a muted noir presence as seen in Yellow Field (1990). Regardless of Leow’s stylistic choice, there in his paintings is always a highly individual visual vocabulary - prompting art writers to describe his practice as epitomizing ‘post-modern' visual strategies.“The images I create are my response to the world around me. These images are to provoke people.” – Vincent Leow, artist quote in "Man Objects Image '89", a group exhibition held at the National Museum Art Gallery 12 - 16 July 1989.
