About this Event
The Private Museum is pleased to present Reverie: Paintings for the Observer and the Observed — A Survey of Works from 2020 – 2026 by Justin Lim. Marking the artist’s first museum survey showcase, the exhibition brings together over 50 paintings from a pivotal six-year period in Lim’s practice, with works drawn from private collections from Singapore, Malaysia, and beyond. Presented together for the first time, these key bodies of work offer the most comprehensive presentation of this period of his practice to date, tracing his sustained engagement with painting as a space for reflection, memory, and lived experience.
Emerging during the global Covid-19 pandemic, these works reflect a period marked by isolation, uncertainty, and prolonged confinement. Returning to the fundamentals of painting, Lim turned his attention to domestic interiors and everyday objects, rendering familiar spaces with a keen sense of cinematic framing and meticulous attention to detail. Together, these recursive worlds condense time, memory, and experience, transforming the domestic interior into a site of contemplation, refuge, and emotional resonance.
Presented as a survey, Reverie highlights the continuity and evolution of Lim’s visual language over the past six years. While rooted in deeply personal experiences, the works resonate with broader questions of how individuals construct meaning through the spaces they inhabit and the objects they surround themselves with. In a world fundamentally reshaped by recent global events, these interiors have acquired renewed significance as places of sanctuary and reflection.
By inviting viewers to move between the roles of observer and observed, the exhibition encourages reflection on the reciprocal relationship between people and the environments they create. Through acts of looking, remembering, and dwelling, Reverie suggests that even the most familiar spaces can become profound sites of imagination, connection, and human experience.
Reverie: Paintings for the Observer and the Observed is the final instalment of The Private Museum’s 2026 programming, offering a fitting closure to a year of artistic and cultural exploration.
Guided tours are presented in partnership with Friends of the Museum (FOM), and will also include an introduction to The Private Museum and the historical Osborne House.
Registration:
Free of charge. Registration is required.
Meeting Point:
The Private Museum
11 Upper Wilkie Road, Singapore 228120
Getting There:
Nearest MRT Train Station is Little India (Exit A via Mackenzie Rd, 750 metres, 10 mins walk)
Cancelled Tours:
Tours are subject to a minimum number of registered visitors. Please contact us at +65 8068 1151 or [email protected] if you are unable to join the tour you've registered for.
In case a tour is cancelled, we will notify you as soon as possible.
Please Note:
In registering for the tour, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions:
- Your personal data may be used and/or disclosed for purposes of data analysis and identity verification and such other related purposes.
- Photos and videos may be taken by the organisers during the tour and used for publicity purposes.
- The visitor will not hold The Private Museum, Friends Of The Museums, and the volunteer guide liable for any loss, damage, illness, personal injury or death or third party claims relating to the volunteer guide's provision of his/her volunteering services.
Event venue & nearby stays
The Private Museum, 11 Upper Wilkie Road, Singapore, Singapore
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