Chieu Shuey Fook (1934 - )

Chieu Shuey Fook was born in 1934 in Singapore. He studied Western Painting at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts where he was taught by pioneer artist Cheong Soo Pieng. After his graduation in 1953, he pursued a career in advertising for over 20 years at one of the top advertising agencies in the world. This had a significant impact on his artistic endeavours as he was given the artistic freedom by his company and clients to explore and create. Although his initial interest was in batik painting, he began to experiment with unconventional media and steered towards metal relief works. In 1970, his work Water House won the first prize at the Instant Asia Art Competition, and in the following year, Demon Fish was chosen by the International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation for their worldwide advertising campaign, garnering him international recognition and commendation. Other major commissions include aluminium relief murals for a fleet of 20 Singapore Airlines Boeing 707s and 747s and a copper frieze displayed for over 20 years at Orchard MRT.

Although Chieu retired from the corporate world in 1982, his contributions to art did not stop. He was the president of the Modern Art Soceity, Singapore from 1981 and 1983, and later taught Applied Arts at his alma mater. In 2008, he helped to set up the Black Earth Art Museum and led the organisation for two years as Chairman. Throughout his artistic career, Chieu has participated actively in group exhibitions and to date has held 16 solo exhibitions. Today, the artist continues to do research on new materials and techniques, developing his artistic endeavour further.