Marvin Chew nws
Watercolour Artist
Ambassador
Marvin is a professional watercolour artist, a Signature Member of National Watercolor Society (NWS), and former Vice-President of the Singapore Watercolor Society, who usually paint in semi-realistic, impressionist style, using transparent watercolors that highlight the play of lights and shades, using spontaneous, bold brushstrokes which imbues the energy of Chinese calligraphy in his works.
He paints on location regularly and his favourite subjects are landscapes, urban scenes and lifestyles of the locals. He likes transferring mundane scenes, into impressionistic works of art with the emphasis of evoking a sense of nostalgia and belonging in the viewers.
Plein air painting offers him the opportunities to observe his painting subjects more closely and intimately, to study their shapes and forms, their relationship and effects with lights and shades, which are then communicated and depicted through his deft brushstrokes in his colourful and brilliantly executed watercolours.
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Solo Exhibition
2012 Held 1st solo exhibition “In Living Colours” at Galerie Sogan & Art, Singapore
2014 Held 2nd solo exhibition “Eat • Drink • Paint” at Utterly Art Gallery, Singapore
2016 Held 3rd solo exhibition "My Watercolour Story" and launch of art book of the same name at ArtSafe Exhibition Hall, Singapore
2018 Held 4th solo exhibition "Impressions of Three Islands" at ArtSafe Exhibition Hall, Singapore
2020 First Virtual Exhibition "Points of View - A Virtual Exhibition of Watercolours by Marvin Chew", supoorted by National Arts Council, Singapore
2023 Held 5th solo exhibition "Moments" at ArtPlus/ Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery, Singapore
Selected Group Shows, Awards and Other Achievements
2003 Merit Award - Project Search, Discover South East Painting Competition, Singapore
2004 – 23 Participated in SWS 35th to 54th Annual Exhibitions, Singapore
2005 Juried into the 28th International Exhibition of Watercolor Art Society-Houston (WAS-H), USA
2005 Participated in the 17th Asia International Watercolour 2005, Singapore
2006 & 08 Participated in the Singapore Chinese Cultural Festival Grand Art Exhibition, Singapore
2006 Participated in Penang-Singapore Watercolour Exhibition 2006 in Penang, Malaysia
2007 Participated in Sarawak Cultural Arts & Craft Festival 2007 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
2008 Participated in Telok Kurau Studios - Commemorating A Decade Exhibition, Singapore
2008 Participated in Folk Art Forum exhibition held in conjunction with Rainforest World Music Festival in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
2008 Telok Kurau Studios Annual Exhibition 2008 - Mountains As Non-Mountain, Singapore
2009 Participated in Singapore Art Show 2009, “The Call of Tradition”, Black Earth Art Museum
2009 Participated in Singapore Hainanese Association Art Exhibition 2009, Singapore
2010 Participated in National Day Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition 2010, Singapore
2010 Juried into the National Watercolor Society 90th Annual Exhibition 2010, Los Angeles, USA
2011 Participated in Tiong Bahru Revisited Exhibition, White Canvas Gallery, Singapore
2011 Participated in the first group exhibition of Urban Sketchers Singapore (USk-SG) and its book launch at URA Centre, Singapore
2012 Participated in $uper $ingapore $ale Art Exhibition at ION Orchard Gallery, Singapore
2012 Participated in “Our Journey” Watercolour Exhibition with Loy Chye Chuan & Students
2013 Juried into the 36th International Exhibition of Watercolor Art Society-Houston (WAS-H), USA
2013 Juried into and won the “Christopher J. Doré Memorial Award” - 43rd Louisiana Watercolor Society (LWS) International Exhibition, USA
2013 Participated in “Unity-In-Diversity” 7-man Group Exhibition, National Library Board, Singapore
2013 Participated in “Artist’s Favourite II” Group Exhibition, Penang State Museum, Malaysia
2013 Represented Singapore in “China-ASEAN Youth Artists Workshop & Residency” in Beijing, where 6 paintings are permanently collected by China's
Ministry of Culture
2014 Participated in “A Changed World” exhibition jointly organized by Urban Sketchers Singapore and National Museum of Singapore
2014 Juried into the 37th International Exhibition of Watercolor Art Society-Houston (WAS-H), USA
2014 “Re-Interpretation” International Watercolor Exhibition 2014, Suzhou, China
2014 Participated in “National Day Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition 2014”, Singapore
2014 Participated in “Langkawi Art Biennale 2014”, Langkawi, Malaysia
2014 Participated in World Hainanese Calligraphy and Art Exhibition 2014, Singapore
2015 Selected and Participated as one of the 50 artists in “A Brush with Singapore Art Society”, Singapore
2015 Juried into the 38th International Exhibition of Watercolor Art Society-Houston (WAS-H), USA
2015 Juried into 2015 Watercolor Missouri International Exhibition, USA
2015 Juried into the 45th Louisiana Watercolor Society (LWS) International Exhibition, USA
2015 Participated in World Artists Alliance Exhibitions in Penang, Malaysia and Hua Lien, Taiwan
2015 Participated in “National Day Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition 2015”, Singapore
2015 Juried into the National Watercolour Society 95th International Annual Exhibition 2015, USA
2015 Participated in “50 Cultural Landscapes of Singapore” Watercolour Exhibition by jointly hosted by Lianhe Zaobao and SWS in conjunction with
Singapore’s SG50 jubilee celebration
2016 Participated in the National Watercolor Society Invitational Plein Air Painting Exhibition at Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Los Angeles, USA
2016 Participated in the International Festival of Watercolour Artists for the 234th anniversary of Rattanakosin (Bangkok), Thailand
2016 Participated in “Memoirs of City Port Scenes” exhibition jointly organized by Maritime Port Authority and Singapore Watercolour Society, held at Visual
Arts Centre, Singapore
2016 Participated in “A Journey to Hue” Watercolour painting tour and exhibition in Hue City, Vietnam
2016 Featured in “Singapore’s Visual Artists Directory”, published by National Arts Council (NAC)
2016 - 23 Participated in the Singapore Art Society's Annual Exhibitions
2016 One-page feature in the 23rd issue of “The Art of Watercolour” magazine, “Revelations”, June-September 2016 issue
2016 “Fruit Stalls in Penang, Malaysia” selected for publication in “Splash 17 Inspiring Subjects” by North Light Books
2017 Participated in “Commemorating NS50 Through Art” series of exhibitions in conjunction of 50th Anniversary of National Service in Singapore, jointly
organised by Singapore Art Society and Singapore Armed Forces
2017 Participated in the 4th Silk Road International Art Exhibition 2017 held in Xi’an, China
2017 Participated in “Water Rhyme On the Maritime Silk Road” Singapore-Shantou (China) joint exhibition, China
2018 Participated in "Interlace" - A group show featuring sketches by 20 artists on The Perfect Sketchbook, Singapore
2018 Participated in the inaugural "International Watercolour Masters Exhibiion 2018" at Weston Park, United Kingdom
2018 Painting entitled “Red Floor, Bedok South Wet Market” selected for publication in “Splash 19 – Illusion of Light” by North Light Books
2019 Participated in “Our Colourful Journey” exhibition with Scenic Rangers plein air group, Singapore
2020 Participated in “Geylang Si Paku Geylang” group exhibition at Wisma Geylang Serai, Singapore
2020 Participated in “Beyond the Walls”, four-person virtual exhibition, supported by National Art Council, Singapore
2021 Juried into the National Watercolour Society 101st International Open Exhibition 2021, USA
2021 Appointed as Brand Ambasador of Royal Talens art materials
2022 Participated in "Re-Kindle", a six-person group exhibition by Artsafe, Singapore
2022 Participated in the second "International Watercolour Masters Exhibition" held at Lilleshall Hall, United Kingdom
2022 Participated in "Pulau Ketam International Art & Culture Festival 2022", Malaysia
2022 Participated in "Sarawak-International Art Camp" organised by Sarawak Artists Society (SAS), Malaysia
2023 Juried into the National Watercolour Society 103rd International Open Exhibition 2023, USA
2023 Juried into San Diego Watercolour Society’s Plein Air Exhibition 2023, USA
2024 Invited as guest artist to the "Vietnam In Aquarello - Colours of Cultures" watercolour exhibition in Hanoi, Vietnam
2024 Invited as guest artist to the "3rd International Watercolour Exhibition" organised by Watercolour Society of WA in Perth, Australia