Biography

Dr. Adrian Tan (b. 1980) is an artist-curator whose curatorial and academic interests intersect in his research on art in public spaces, performance art, and the contemporary art archive in Southeast Asia. His doctoral research, Making Art Public in Singapore (2022), investigates how Tang Da Wu, The Artists Village, and the archival practice of Koh Nguang How shaped public engagement with contemporary art in Singapore.

Adrian’s academic contributions include teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), and LASALLE College of the Arts, where he coordinates modules in art history, museum studies, and curatorial practices. His upcoming publications include articles in Wacana Seni: Journal of Arts Discourse (2025) and Southeast of Now (2025). He has previously published in Open Philosophy Journal, Platform: Journal of Theatre and Performing Arts, co-edited Questioning Museums: Art Institutions in Singapore (2019), and presented artworks and papers at international conferences in Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, and the UK.

His curatorial projects include GRAVITAS (2020), Got Your Name Or Not? (2018), and 1×1 Metre Space for Singapore Art Week (2016). As co-founder of The Artists Company (TAC), Adrian co-creates and collaborates with artists on independent projects and exhibitions. His upcoming project, OPEN END (2024), is the result of a research and curatorial collaboration supported by NTU Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) and co-presented by The Substation and National Gallery Singapore’s Rotunda Library & Archive. He is one of two recipients of the 2024 Platform Projects Curatorial Award.

He has presented art projects in Singapore, London, Australia and Korea. These include Flaneur Gallery (2016), The Substation (2016), Your Mother Gallery (2018) and Selegie Arts Centre (2018). As part of TAC, collaborations include performance artworks Moving Arcade (2019) with Wuwei Performance Art Series, EATEN: A Capsule Museum for Future Possible Past Beings (2019) at Gillman Barracks, Allegories of Labour (2019) at Objectifs, Homecoming: Chen Wen Hsi’s Exhibition at Kingsmead Road (2019), and Meet-the-People Session (2016) at OH! Potong Pasir amongst others.

contact: adriantanpc@gmail.com