Vincent Leow has carved out an important role in Singapore’s contemporary art development through over two decades of art practice that is rooted in debates over the contemporary Singapore identity. This mid-career survey of Leow’s prolific oeuvre offers a balanced perspective of Leow’s work, which has often been known primarily for the provocative and aggressive. The exhibition highlights the surprisingly meditative tone and emotive quality in many of his works, revealing an artist who still continues to explore issues of identity, memory, mortality and its legacies.

The title Tags and Treats refers both to pet identity tags, as well as military dog tags that are often used to identify the dead or wounded in war. The military dog tag is a reference to Leow’s inspiration for his new works, the Latin phrase Memento Mori (remember you will die), while the pet tag is a remembrance of Andy, his beloved late pet, which he transforms into a hybrid dog-manimage in his work. Leow, in his trademark whimsical style, uses the allegory of pets to take the severity out of the grim issue of mortality. The “treat” of a life well-lived is that of one’s legacy remembered and left behind. The exhibition, with its explorations, marks a milestone of a new direction and focus in Leow’s artistic practice.