"Remembering Yeo Eng Meng” art exhibition is a tribute to the late Singapore artist Yeo Eng Meng (1944-2023) who lived and breathed fish. He did not only paint fishes, he bred and reared them too. 
He ran a fish farm at Seletar West Farmway 1 with his family. Straits Aquariums is one of the oldest aquarium farms in Singapore. Besides the import and export of ornamental fish, they also breed and rear fishes such as guppies, angelfish, and bettas (fighting fish).
Yeo was naturally gifted with fish. The bettas he bred won numerous international awards and he is well known in the betta collectors community in Singapore.
He extended his love for fish from the water to the paper, where he painted them in Chinese ink, putting together his passion for fish with his interest in art. The majestic arowanas, the classic goldfish and the elegant angelfish were his favourite subjects. 
Yeo’s fish in his Chinese ink paintings are always lively. They are moving and swimming on the paper, just as he observed them in the tanks.
He was meticulous in reproducing the details of the fish in his paintings, from the fins to the scales, from the gills to the nostrils, from the eyes to the mouths.
His arowanas are portraits, stately portraits of the fish known as the four-feet dragon of the water, each with their own expressive faces. He challenged himself to capture the grace of the arowana when it moves its long and elongated body, twisting in different positions.
Yeo’s repertoire of goldfish in Chinese ink is as wide as the varieties of goldfish in real life. The colourful and cute fishes are portrayed in multiple views, from top to side. He carefully arranged them in groups or placed them in different settings. When he painted them in pairs, he made them shine with playful personalities in their faces. 
His favourite is the angelfish, a fish that he sees day in and out in his fish farm, where he strived to improve himself in painting them, as seen in the many works of the angelfish he produced. From the arrowhead shaped bodies to the long spectacular fins, his angelfish glide gracefully on rice paper, just as they do in water. 
Looking at Yeo Eng Meng’s Chinese ink paintings of fish is as therapeutic as watching live fishes in a tank. Whether the fish are quiet and still, energetic and spirited, or carefree and relaxed, his paintings draw us into another world. And of course, the fish in his paintings are way easier to maintain and enjoy than fishes kept in a tank at home. 
Yeo Eng Meng may have left us, but his beautiful works of love will keep us company for a long time, till we meet again. 
"Remembering Yeo Eng Meng 杨应明水墨画遗作展" art exhibition runs from 25 to 28 October 2024 at Chui Huay Lim Club, in Singapore.
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