Marjorie Chu: Her Life’s Work

“Choose a job that you love and you will never have to work again in your life.” 

This line is often quoted but rarely do I actually meet people who live and breathe it for real, until I met Marjorie Chu, owner and founder of Art Forum Singapore. 

Marjorie Chu at her gallery Art Forum, July 2021

Marjorie savours time. She lives in the present, with no regrets about the past or anxiety for the future.  She acts as the spirit moves her.  She is a lady in love with what she does, compelled to share her knowledge, passions and enthusiasm, infecting everyone she meets.

Empress. Doyenne of South-East Asian Art. Leader of the pack. These are just some terms of endearment expressed by Marjorie’s friends when they greeted her by video on her 80th birthday recently. 

After having three separate conversations with her (more of that later), I now appreciate that Marjorie has indeed earned such honourific titles since she ventured into the Singapore art scene 50 years ago. Back in 1971, she opened Raya Gallery, the precursor of Art Forum, a well-established gallery located on Cairnhill Road. 

Raya Gallery, 1971

Preparing for an exhibition

Raya Gallery, early days

Marjorie was a chartered accountant for 10 years before opening Art Forum. The desire for flexible hours compelled her to seek a different career.  

“I couldn’t bring my children to the dentist if I was working full time in the office,” she muses. 

But why art? And why South-East Asian art in particular?

“I had a difficult time understanding artists. I guessed other people might be experiencing this, too. Then I thought I could do this: be the in-between person bridging artist with the eventual client,” she recalls. 

With Ibrahim Hussein and Goh Beng Kwan,1983

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Singapore art scene was nascent. Elsewhere in South-East Asia, European colonisers had introduced art to the local elite: the Dutch in Indonesia, the French in Vietnam and the Spaniards in the Philippines. 

Marjorie travelled to meet all the artists that she could.  She went to the Silpakorn University (also known as the University of Fine Arts of Thailand) to meet professors and students. 

She visited far-flung villages, in South-East Asia at first then added India, China, Japan and Australia later, to see where artists live, where they paint, to understand their religion, to immerse herself in their world.  There was a strong desire to know them deeply, to almost live their lives so that she could best represent them. 

With Rudra, Suranjana and Sourav Jana, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India, 2018

To better communicate with the artists, Marjorie took lessons in local languages like Thai, Bahasa Indonesia and Japanese. She also learned to paint from a few masters as part of her art discovery and appreciation journey.

“I wanted to experience everything the artists go through,” reflects Marjorie, who is also fluent in three Chinese dialects.

Over 50 years, Marjorie developed enduring friendships with her artists.  Some of them she met when they were just starting out and she nudged them on and nurtured them. Others were a little more established, more than she was at that time, and she learned from them. 

With Den Warnjing, Ayutthaya, Thailand, 2020

There is usually no commitment at the first encounter. There are open-ended questions: Is there a spark? Can I represent this person and his or her body of work?  Is there initial trust, can it grow?  

“Do you have a checklist?” I asked. 

Marjorie seemed surprised at the question. “Maybe he or she has a checklist! No, I just listen and see where things go.” (Note to self: drop the agenda!)

I guessed that she must have met many famous artists. 

“Famous?  I don’t use that term.  Just because an artist’s work is in a certain auction house, does that make that artist famous? Just because the artist’s work is in the collection of a rich family, does that bring fame?  Just because the work commands a high price, does that mean the artist is famous?” she quips. Listening to her say this, I get a glimpse of the non-commercial dimension of art, as it should be. 

With Jo Darvall, Peter Kane and Fredric Berger-Cardi, 2018

At the Affordable Art Fair, 2018

What about the source of inspiration for her exhibitions?

“It’s like doing a Sunday sermon. There is a topic that just comes up that I feel I need to explain.  This current one is About Ink: Techniques and Materials.”  

It takes approximately six months to mount an exhibition. After focusing on a theme, Marjorie selects the artists but “you have to be open to some surprises” she says gleefully.  

Preparation for an exhibition also means research, writing essays, organising publicity, curating the work, framing, installation and quality checks throughout.  It could mean looking for sponsors or personal financing. 

“Once I was dubbed the Peggy Guggenheim of South East Asia” she shares light-heartedly, referring to the American art collector, bohemian and socialite in the 1900s.

When Marjorie explains these steps you don’t feel any burden. I suppose that is true mastery because it sounds effortless. 

“I’ve been doing this for fifty years. In the beginning, I was raw, not so good. Now, I'm too good. In other words, I can afford to be very fast and I can afford not to sell because I am focused on explaining to people the things I know and I feel an amateur or someone who is just beginning to appreciate art should understand” she emphasises. 

“Was there any exhibition you remember fondly which you were particularly proud of?” I asked.  

“I remember the disasters more!” Marjorie answers immediately.  “There was an exhibition where I carefully selected all the art. But everything was too good. People who came in couldn't make up their minds and ended up not buying anything. You need to provide variety!”  

I counted at least 94 artists listed on the Art Forum website. That’s as many enduring friendships in Marjorie’s circle. But that still does not include the whole art ecosystem of suppliers, collaborators and happy clients who have become friends as well.

With friends and artists, 2017

Trip to the Manila, with artist Linds Lee and Tessie Fajardo, 2017

Call it serendipity. I have my mother to thank for my fortuitous meeting with Marjorie.

My mother asked me to meet her friend’s daughter, Ishka Que, who moved to Singapore on a clinical fellowship with a leading hospital. Ishka is currently Marjorie’s houseguest. She invited me and some friends to the ‘About Ink’ exhibition at Art Forum. The plan was to walk around and appreciate the paintings, share a take-away lunch, then sit around and catch up. Easy and casual enough. It was my first encounter with Marjorie. 

Giving the background story behind the paintings, 2016

Marjorie enthusiastically took us around the striking black and white artwork on display, illuminating us on the differences between Chinese, Japanese and Indian ink (apparently there is no substantial difference), educating us on how ink is made, the use of different painting instruments, varying types of paper and their absorbency, methods of framing, etc. 

Any topic we asked about she elaborated on.  More fascinating, she introduced to us the ten artists behind the work we viewed, sharing insights and anecdotes that deepened our appreciation. 

“With Marjorie, you get the background story,” one frequent guest conveyed.

We had salads for lunch, and though Marjorie didn’t join us, she plated our take-away salads. Who does that? I guess aesthetic presentation is in her DNA. Anyone who comes in contact with Marjorie is elevated when common everyday things are offered up in their best light. On the receiving end, one feels very special. 

I was intrigued to find out that after I left that afternoon, one friend had her husband come to collect her and ended up staying until midnight.  Marjorie makes you feel comfortable and relaxed; there is always stimulating conversation along with some wine or champagne and Art Forum is transformed into a pleasurable haven of joyful musings and reverie. My friend took some of that joy home with her in the form of 3 bold, bright canvases that weren’t even on display.

A touch of Marjorie: plating our take-away salads

Happy guests at Art Forum, 2017

I brought my husband to Art Forum the week after my first visit. There was one piece I had fallen in love with but wanted to make sure he liked it, too.  We both owned paintings before we got married, some of which hang in our home, but only those which we agree deserve the space on our walls.  

In addition, there are paintings we bought as a couple. I don’t consider these compromises. They represent the highest common denominator, almost a spiritual union that is a source of our joy.  Fortunately, ‘Tales from Dispersed Memories’ by Singapore-trained Frederic Cardi-Berger is an abstract painting we both love, a new commitment we shall treasure. I am grateful for Marjorie and her life’s work.

Screenshot from one of Marjorie’s video tutorials

I was back in the Art Forum again just last week, this time to interview Marjorie for Weekly Sparks. Needless to say, it was an afternoon of sprightly conversation filled with inspiring nuggets of wisdom about art and life.

“Sit down and have a chat,” she invites you, and the Art Forum walls bear witness to wonderful surprises and meandering moments of bliss with Art Dame Marjorie.

When travel restrictions ease, Marjorie has no plans of flying out: “I need to stay here because my artists are all quite desperate to meet me. They will come and visit!  Some stay here at the gallery where I have spare bedrooms and we chat until midnight.” This is quintessential Marjorie. 

Roxanne | ws

‘About Ink: Techniques and Materials’ runs until 10 August 2021
Details on www.artforum.com.sg 

Watch Marjorie impart her knowledge in six very interesting 3-5 minute videos about Print featuring Woodblock, Silkscreen, Stencil and Photography, Etching and Drypoint, Mezzotint, and Lithography. Click here www.artforum.com.sg/publications

The blog also features two educational videos about Painting with Oil which can be viewed with these links: 

Part 1: www.artforum.com.sg/single-post/video-1-painting-with-oil-part-i  

Part 2: www.artforum.com.sg/single-post/video-2-painting-with-oil-part-ii