Famed Singaporean performance artist, Lee Wen, passed away of a lung infection on Sunday, March 3.

He died at the age of 61 at Alexandra Hospital while being surrounded by his family and friends from the art community, according to The Straits Times.

Yellow Man

Lee was best known for his "Yellow Man" performative piece, which he created by covering himself in yellow paint.

Beginning with the Journey of Yellow Man, a travelling performance art series, the Yellow Man has appeared in diverse forms, such as photography, paintings and installations.

The Journey of the Yellow Man was a commentary on identity politics.

It was influenced by Lee's experience of living in London in the early 90s, when he was pursuing a diploma in art and design at the City of London Polytechnic after he graduated from Laselle-SIA College of the Arts.

Reflecting on the experience, Lee recalled how he was being constantly mistaken for a mainland Chinese and expected to speak fluent Mandarin.

Living in a predominantly Caucasian society also gave him a greater sensitivity to prevalent racism.

The Yellow Man persona was thus an over-the-top mask created in 1992 to express Lee's identity as an Asian, as well as to explore issues relating to ethnicity and identity.

Lee's work has been shown in several international arts festivals such as France, China, Japan and Germany.

A "good teacher"

Despite only finding his calling as a performance artist in his early 30s -- he was a banker before -- Lee became a pioneering figure in Singapore's arts scene.

He helped lead the revival of performance art in Singapore after a ban on its public funding that lasted from 1994 to 2004.

The ban strengthened Lee's resolve to bring contemporary art to a larger audience.

In 2003, Lee spearheaded Future of Imagination, an annual event that brought international artists to Singapore in a bid to redefine and rekindle interest in time-based art.

Two years later, Lee was awarded the Cultural Medallion for Visual Arts for his contributions to Singapore's art scene.

During his lifetime, he also nurtured many young artists, often inviting other artists to collaborate with him.

According to the National Library Board, Jason Lee, an up-and-coming artist, said he learned "a lot" from Lee:

"He's like a good teacher to me, whether it's about art or simply about life in general -- not to mention his jokes. He's hip."

When Lee Wen won the 2016 Joseph Balestier Award for the Freedom of Art, which came with a US$15,000 cash prize, he split the sum evenly between two other shortlisted nominees and himself, saying that all of them deserved it equally.

Tributes

Hundreds of tributes poured in for Lee from all over the world after his passing.

Notably, Singapore artist Heman Chong, penned a tribute to him on Sunday.

He praised Lee for his "generosity", and described him as a "constant thinker about life, a constant critic of the institutions of art".

Poet-playwright Alfian Sa'at also paid tribute to Lee:

Lee's wake is held at Block 145 Potong Avenue 2, while the cremation service will be held on Wednesday, March 6.

Top image via Helmi Yuso/Facebook