Goh Beng Kwan is recognised for his masterful use of collage to explore issues around identity, cultural representation, and urban life. "Nervous City" is a phrase Goh often uses to describe New York, where he lived in the 1960s, to allude to its frenetic pace, high stress level and polluted atmosphere. It may also express his sentiments towards the rapidly industrialising cityscape of Singapore upon his return in 1966. Featuring essays, interviews, and the artist's photographs alongside his artworks, this catalogue explores how the urban environment has shaped the material and cultural basis for Goh's artmaking from the 1950s to the 1990s. Goh Beng Kwan: Nervous City is part of the Something New Must Turn Up series which offers a comparative perspective of how artistic forerunners in post-independence Singapore critically engaged with the conditions of multiculturalism, developmentalism and modernisation through ground-breaking explorations of media. Something New Must Turn Up is a series of six catalogues comparing the practices of artistic forerunners in post-independence Singapore. Through their groundbreaking explorations of media, ranging from collage and printmaking to installation and digital art, these six artists actively expanded the boundaries of art. Each standalone catalogue traces the individual journeys that these artists undertook as they strove to be continuously "new." By bringing together essays, interviews, full-coloured plates and archival material, the series offers a comparative perspective of how artists critically engaged with the conditions of multiculturalism, developmentalism and modernisation in post-independence Singapore. This series accompanies an exhibition at the National Gallery Singapore.
