Ian Tee (b. 1994, Singapore) is an artist working across a range of materials and techniques such as aluminium, textiles, and collage. His practice is concerned with the experience of seeing and how paintings are “read.” It is a method of thinking about formal qualities, abstraction and their relationship with various cultural contexts. This could be collapsing quilting and geometric abstraction in the Fire Blanket series; or combining the sensibilities of gestural painting and comic book aesthetics in the Moby Dick works. His current research interest explores ink aesthetics through its associated forms, materials and philosophies.

 

The notion of youth is another aspect of Tee’s practice, particularly in relation to themes of rebellion, vulnerability, and identity. They manifest in the energy and visual language of youth subcultures, that appear across his body of work. The attitude carried is a statement about power, defiance, and possibility. This interest in youth has also taken form in his curatorial project ‘We’re Young Once’ (2022), a group exhibition that gathers key early works by Singapore artists across generation. It is premised around the experience of being a young artist at different points of time, and considers a non-hierarchical mode of framing Singapore art history. Tee received an Honourable Mention at the 2023 IMPART Awards, in recognition for this curatorial project.

 

Tee’s work has been exhibited in exhibitions across Singapore, Sydney, Chiang Mai and Tianjin, such as at MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Institute of Contemporary Art Singapore, Grey Projects and the Private Museum. He was a recipient of the Ngee Ann Kongsi scholarship and winner of the 2017 Cliftons Art Prize for Singapore. Recently, Tee was commissioned by the Singapore Art Museum’s Everyday Museum initiative to produce ‘DEEP CUTS’ (2025), his first public artwork. In addition to his studio practice, Tee is also Editor at Art & Market (A&M). A&M is a online art magazine focused on modern and contemporary art from the vantage point of Southeast Asia.

 

Tee is represented by Ames Yavuz.