Wee Beng Chong

Wee Beng Chong was born in Singapore in 1938. After the Second World War, he studied under important pioneer artists such as See Hiang To and Cheong Soo Pieng at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.  Shortly after his graduation in 1958, Wee spent several years at the L’Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris between 1964 and 1969, and developed a repertoire in his artistic practice, which acknowledged his lineage as a Chinese artist as well as one who trained in the Western disciplines of painting, drawing, sculpture and print making. There he majored in sculpture and during his studies in 1966, won the International Prize for Modern Art at the 17th International Grand Prix Painting Art Exhibition in France.

Wee was the first recipient of the prestigious Cultural Medallion Award by the Singapore Government in 1979 for his artistic excellence in visual art and was awarded numerous prizes at international calligraphy competitions and accolades including the International Prize for Modern Art (France) 1966. He had also represented Singapore at the 3rd ASEAN Sculptors Symposium in 1984. Furthermore, he is a co-founding member of the Modern Art Society Singapore as well as the Shi Cheng Calligraphy and Seal Carving Society. His breadth of experience and work in fine art has enriched his teaching career at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts where he was the head of the Fine Art Department at NAFA between 1982 and 1989, and today remains a senior teaching fellow. In 1993, Wee received his long service award from the NAFA. He was the first recipient of the academy’s Distinguished Alumni Medal in 2010.