The Laterals | Valentino’s Gestures of Affection Spotlighted during Singapore Art Week

Audrey Brianne, The Laterals , January 20, 2024
Maison Valentino has commissioned a series of unique works entitled Gestures of Affection by Singaporean artists, Sarah Choo Jing, in celebration of Singapore Art Week.
 
Coupled with key Maison codes and messages via the Creative Director of the SS24 L’Ecole collection, Choo’s work serves to highlight and celebrate both femininity, the female body and humanity.
 
“Choo invites a diverse ensemble of Asian women and through transformative powers of dance and performance presented through seven phases of the moon, are captured in a moment of raw, unfiltered authenticity of femininity, revealing a central value and quality inherent in the female experience- sensuality, resilience, empathy, individuality, freedom, passion, and vulnerability.”
 

The pain-stakingly staged scenes are represented in high speed and slow-motion playback (at a whooping two minutes per video). Choo confronts the audience making them observe otherwise overlooked female sect. As the various women depicted go through their daily living and existence—the portrait is undeniably unapologetic and fierce in its depiction.

 

Curated by Rita Targui, the lobby of the Soho Residency will have Gestures of Affection on display to the public from January 17, 2024 until January 20, 2024 and ending after Singapore Art Week’s run on January 28, 2024. A special VIP invite-only intimate dinner was held on January 20th for friends and family of the Maison.