Teo Eng Seng: We’re Happy. Are You Happy?

Teo Eng Seng (b. 1938, Singapore) is one of Singapore’s foremost sculptors. Teo is best known for bringing modern art aesthetics and art as a conceptual practice to post-war generations of artists in Singapore. His sculptures which have been created from plastic waste or reused materials, continue to provoke and tease at the social norms found in the city-state of Singapore.

At the age of 19, armed with just £25, Teo embarked on an adventurous journey hitch-hiking through India, Pakistan, and Europe with five fellow Sea Scouts before reaching Britain.

To finance his studies, he diligently worked in various roles, including at a textile company, tyre factories, and cleaning railroad bridges, all while attending night classes at the Central School of Arts and Crafts (now Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design) in London for two years.

Teo graduated from the Birmingham College of Art and Design in the 1960s. Upon returning to Singapore in 1971, he taught art at the United World College of Southeast Asia until 1996. In 2006, he converted his family photo studio at Holland Village into a gallery to showcase local artworks. While there, he organised a series of five exhibitions to challenge the second-generation artists to break new grounds. In 2008, he transformed his Peranakan home in Katong into ‘Muse House’ to hold exhibitions of his works, those of second-generation artists, and new artists, for free.

Teo was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 1986 for his contributions to visual arts, and is recognised for his services to art education and for playing an advisory role to various art institutions and national committees.