Secret art spaces in Singapore to check out

Art mingles with food and retail at SPRMRKT, a bistro where local and international artists are given the chance to sell and showcase their contemporary and pop artworks for two to three months. Learn a little about the faces behind these paintings, photographs and illustrations – there are short biographies below each piece – so you can get boost your art IQ while tucking into that teriyaki pork belly sandwich or eggs Benny. Its retail corner also boasts an eclectic mix of goods: toast tongs, glass brushes and honey spoons sit alongside dinnerware and, yes, more artworks. You’ll be in good company here. 

Mad Nest lives up to its name with cocktails concocted for specific dishes from cuisines including Japanese, North Indian and Italian-Asian. But we reckon it’s the art that binds them all. After all, the restaurant was conceived out of a desire to bring good food and art together. 

Adorning the café’s walls are a mix of framed paintings and photos and even dried bouquet, all created by budding artists from schools such as Temasek Polytechnic and Raffles Institution. They aren’t for sale at the moment, but pieces are refreshed every two to three months so you’ll always return to something new.

Excelsior Shopping Centre may look like a rundown shopping complex from the outside, with nothing but camera stores, massage parlours and music centres. But art lovers should pay attention. Hidden at the basement is a small shopfront unit home to I_s_l_a_n_d_s, an experimental platform that encourages artists to reconsider the boundaries of their practise by testing novel concepts and alternative means of exhibition-making. 

The space was founded in November 2017 and originally occupied eight showcase windows situated in the third-floor passageway between Peninsula and Excelsior Shopping Centres, but has since moved into its current space in April 2020. It has hosted small-scale exhibitions exploring topics you normally wouldn't see in our major art institutions, like the alternate dimensions and the occult. 

Scooch on down to the back alleys of Muscat Street for a rad hidden gem, an outdoor art gallery. Two parallel walls burst with a kaleidoscope of colour thanks to over 30 Instagram-worthy works by artists from the region and beyond. Admire the pop culture-dominated creation by multi-disciplinary artist PrettyFreakyFantasy or take a snap of a bold, terrestrial piece by graphic designer Liyana Farzana before exiting to Baghdad Street.

Shenton House has a newly minted food court for the folks who work in the CBD. But beyond the stalls hawking delicious beef noodles, dishes of Mala, and authentic Vietnamese food, you'll find artworks by emerging names on the walls. This is part of an initiative by tech start-up ArtWallStreet to bring art into everyday spaces. Check out works by Manila-based visual artist Katrina Pallon, whose signature style includes the bold use of colour and strong imagery inspired by Pan-Asian culture.