Sign up for the world premiere of the documentary “Kim Lim: The Space Between”. Directed by Alex Turnbull, the film features anecdotes and insights from family and friends of the artist Kim Lim, as well as from curators, artists and art world luminaries from across the world.

The screening is followed by a conversation with the director, moderated by curator Joleen Loh.

  • When: 19 January 2025, 5pm
  • Suitable For: Families, Visitors 65 and above, Visitors with accessibility needs, Students and Educators
  • Where: City Hall Wing, Level B1, The Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium
  • Free, registration needed
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About

As part of National Gallery Singapore’s SG Artist series, Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective marks the most comprehensive exhibition to date of Singapore-born British artist Kim Lim. Once overlooked, this exhibition acknowledges Lim’s profound impact by tracing the evolution of her practice over four decades, highlighting her unique approach to Minimalism, influenced by material cultures across her travels.

Featuring key sculptures and prints spanning her career, along with maquettes, previously unseen photographs and archival materials, the exhibition reveals how Lim’s cultural in-betweenness shaped her artistic style and her resistance to the pressures of identity labels. Discover how she masterfully balanced space, light and rhythm through the power of suggestion and metaphor, creating works of profound subtlety and depth.

Kim Lim: The Space Between. A Retrospective runs from 27 September 2024 to 2 February 2025 at the National Gallery Singapore's Singtel Special Exhibition Galleries 2 & 3.

About the artist

The Singapore-born British artist Kim Lim (1936–1997) devoted over four decades to abstract sculpture and printmaking. In 1954, Lim left Singapore for London to study art at the St. Martin’s School of Fine Art and later the Slade School of Fine Art. During her student years, Lim’s works were characterised by the use of wood and industrial materials. After her first retrospective exhibition in 1979, Lim returned to carving in stone.

Throughout her career, Lim pursued printmaking and drawing in tandem with her sculptural work, moving between these mediums with material and technical deftness. Although works from both periods have different aesthetic sensibilities, they are connected by her enduring interest in the qualities of light, space and rhythm.

About the speaker

Alex Turnbull is a musician, filmmaker, skater, and original member of the International Stüssy Tribe. In 2011 he directed the documentary “Beyond Time: William Turnbull”. Together with his brother Johnny Turnbull, he manages the Estates of their parents, the artists Kim Lim and William Turnbull.