Kurt Wenner at the National Museum of Singapore

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By Veron Ang

Hey folks! I just have to make sure everyone here knows this. Kurt Wenner, the master street painter that does the most amazing street art, is here on our little island! I’m sure many of you have received one of those forwarded emails with his incredible anamorphic paintings. If you haven’t, just google for his name. I guarantee you’ll be awed by his work. Here are some examples: [1] [2] [3]

He is painting live at the newly revamped National Museum of Singapore over a period of five days. It was raining heavily and I cabbed down specially to catch him at work!

Kurt Wenner hard at work

Quoted from Channel News Asia:

In anamorphic art, paintings are meant to “deceive the eye”.
A painting may look ordinary from one angle, but view it with a curved lens and it becomes 3-dimensional.
When standing at a particular point in space, the architecture also blends with the anamorphic painting, forming an extraordinary combined image for the viewer.

Over here, Kurt Wenner is drawing a picture of Iskandar, the last king of Singapore in the 14th century. This picture spans a 5.6 by 2.6 metre area on the floor.

Kurt Wenner hard at work

A couple of images that zoom in more closely. You would notice that the painting looks somewhat distorted from these angles. This is because you have to look at it through a special lens to be able to see how it’s intended to look.

Kurt Wenner's painting, Iskandar

Through the lens, this is what the painting actually looks like:

Kurt Wenner's painting, Iskandarn, through a special lens

And these are the chalks and crayons he uses to draw out the huge picture.

Kurt Wenner's tools of trade

At 6pm he calls it a day. And at the end of each day, he would take a photograph of his work in its half completed state.

Kurt Wenner taking a photo of his work

Some kids from a school were performing opera nearby. He rounded them up around his artwork to get a picture of them together, sort of like what he did in another of his works, “sky woman”. The white bearded old man is my favourite!

Kurt Wenner taking a photo of his work

Finally, we had the privilege of taking a photo with the man himself! Wow!

My friend Ruwan, Kurt Wenner and I

Kurt Wenner is currently painting live at the National Museum from 10am to 6pm daily, ending on Tuesday when he would finish his painting. The completed artwork would be on display at the museum until end of the month.

National Museum of Singapore
Glass Atrium
93 Stamford Road
Singapore 178897
Tel: +65 6332 3659

Opening hours: 10am — 6pm
Admission: Free

Ends December 19, 2006

Tags: National Museum

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About the Editor

Veron Ang is the Founder and Chief Editor of Sparklette, a Singapore restaurants guide, lifestyle and travel blog. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and runs a web design firm at Sparklette Studio. To get in touch, head on over to the contact page or follow @Sparklette and @VeronSG on Twitter.

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Responses Leave a comment

kw
1 comment

eh… i’m juz a poly student.. and has been wanting to do a website for myself for some time.. and this website is the best self made website i’ve ever seen..
beautiful !!
realli impressed >.
Reply
Posted December 18, 2006 at 5:33 am
Richardm
2 comments

Hello from California,
Kurt’s work reminded me of a, um, “different” kind of street art which I discovered recently:
http://www.banksy.co.uk/
Thought you might enjoy the provocative works of this self-proclaimed “art terrorist”.
Reply
Posted December 18, 2006 at 8:54 am
Veron
3439 comments

Wow, I sure hope that guy has got permission to do what he does! As for Kurt Wenner, his paintings are rather similar to what Julian Beever does too.
http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/
Reply
Posted December 18, 2006 at 7:16 pm
py
183 comments

Now, Veron, I am dead envious that you managed to take a photo with him. *winks*. I had done a short post on him on my blog and I shall put a link to this post on that post of mine.
Reply
Posted December 18, 2006 at 11:38 pm
Veron
3439 comments

Thanks py! I didn’t think of getting a picture with him until the very last moment! We were very lucky we went there right about the time when he was done for the day.
Reply
Posted December 19, 2006 at 10:52 pm
coolinsider
72 comments

Nice post and nice pics. Sigh…. I always feel the blues when I see how talented these artists can be. I can’t draw for nuts, so I have to rely on my ability to write for a living. ;0
Reply
Posted December 19, 2006 at 11:28 pm
Veron
3439 comments

We’re all talented in our own way.
Reply
Posted December 21, 2006 at 10:49 am
VnChewie

Very nice photos. Drats!! I missed this!! I wonder if his work is still in the museum and not washed off yet!
Reply
Posted December 24, 2006 at 12:42 pm
Veron
3439 comments

The painting would remain at the museum until the end of this month. If I were you I would call them up to double-check, and scoot off for some serious picture-taking!
Reply
Posted December 24, 2006 at 1:16 pm
py
183 comments

And do check out the recent post that Viv & Chewie have posted: Kurt Wenner – google eye extraordinaire
She has found out that Kurt Wenner’s work will still be on display till end of Dec 2006 because of your post. :)
Reply
Posted December 25, 2006 at 9:19 am
Beni
30 comments

Damn!! I was late in reading up this post, and of course too late to catch up with his painting. How I wish I was in Singapore! *sigh*
Anyways thnx a lot for the post and the pix of course. The white bearded old man is my fave too :)
Reply
Posted December 28, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Edmund
16 comments

wow! I love street art! Kurt Wenner is certainly up there with the best. Banksy as well – one is a considered a more refined and a publicly acceptable form of street art (Kurt) whereas Banksy’s is more graffiti stencil and polictically satirical/critical as times.
The only “legal” street-art in Singapore can be found at the youth park. Graffiti art is finally gaining acceptance and maturing in Singapore. cool! We’ve come along way from the crap that was Michael Fay and ruining the good image of Graffiti ‘art’..
Reply
Posted January 2, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Richardm
2 comments

Michael Fay… Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a very long time.
Reply
Posted January 3, 2007 at 4:52 am
Veron
3439 comments

When I was in Dallas, one of the first things that people associated with Singapore was Michael Fay.
Reply
Posted January 3, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Karen Schmidt
1 comment

Hello all and thank you for your comments. It may interest you to know that Kurt is the artist who first developed the technique of illusionistic street painting in the early 1980s in Europe. His early work and development of this street painting technique was documented by National Geographic in a documentary film “Masterpieces in Chalk.” He has taught a few artists and has had many others try to imitate the technique, which he considers a compliment. For more information on Kurt and his work, please go to his web site at http://www.KurtWenner.com .
Reply
Posted January 4, 2007 at 1:59 pm
Veron
3439 comments

Thanks for your comment Karen. I recognised your name from the business card I got when Kurt was here at our museum. His art is truly amazing. I practically leaped out of my chair when I found out (from a museum brochure I was reading) that he came to our little island. The folks here are pretty lucky!
Reply
Posted January 4, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Philippenzo
1 comment

Hello, Veron!
Let me show you my 3D-drawings too.
Look: http://philippenzo.livejournal.com
I hope you will like it. :)
Reply
Posted January 19, 2010 at 10:55 pm