[2026 Frieze London] Khairulddin Wahab

Khairulddin Wahab is a Singaporean artist who explores new ways of seeing nature and the environment through organic patterning, multilayered surfaces, and nonlinear spatial compositions. His practice unfolds along two interrelated axes: a painterly inquiry into the environmental history of Southeast Asia; and a critical reexamination of the visual frameworks inherited from colonialism. The landscapes that emerge in his paintings are places where the history of Southeast Asia, its ecological transformations, and the marks of human intervention converge and accumulate. Through them, Wahab reconsiders how land and nature have been perceived and governed under colonial expansion, maritime trade networks, and the economic systems they engendered.

For Wahab, the process of making is itself the essential language of the work, taking precedence over the representation of any given image. He understands the painted surface as a site where time, labor, and material gather and settle, and draws inspiration from traditional modes of production across Southeast Asia, he builds up a richly stratified surface structure on the canvas.  By deliberately juxtaposing dense overlays of pigment with negative space, he visually records spectral narratives. These material procedures serve as a vital means of rendering visible the accumulated layers of natural environment and historical time.

Wahab first drew international attention upon receiving the 2018 UOB Painting of the Year award. He studied fine arts at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore, and has participated in major international art events including Art SG, Asia NOW Paris, Abu Dhabi Art, and Biennale Jogja, and presented the large-scale installation The Lands Below the Winds (2024) in the PLATFORM section of Art SG 2025.

Wahab's works are held in the collections of the Singapore Art Museum, Kadist Art Foundation (Paris), Fondation Thalie (Belgium), X Museum (Beijing), and Salsali Private Museum (Dubai).