I always like this time of year. Singapore is positively buzzing with excitement and the car, which usually generates nothing but complaints from people living here, (bad traffic/COE prices going through the roof/the general cost of them*) is exalted.

I am not a petrol-head but it is always nice to ring the changes.

Although racing may not start until Friday, the run-up to it began yesterday. Last night saw the celebration of Britain through the prism of the F1. The venue: Eden Hall for the unveiling of Icon Gallery’s new exhibition showcasing motor racing inspired art by two British artists.

28 Nassim Road looked splendid, lit with red, white and blue.  In fact, it looked so good that if we get a ‘no’ vote on the Scottish independence referendum which is happening today – i.e. the blue in the British flag will remain – I think His Excellency Antony Phillipson should light up Eden Hall in celebration (AP how about it?).

Icon’s exhibition, aptly titled Speed, is fronted by Brit talents Nikki Douthwaite and Paul Oz. Here’s a quick précis…

Nikki in a nutshell: think modern day Seurat but instead of dots of paint, her medium of choice is sticky paper dots. I love Seurat and Post-impressionism and I loved her work too. Here’s a close up:

and here’s a long shot:

Paul Oz’s art is completely different in style and his tactile impasto was deliciously tempting to touch (he actually said that he has a lot of trouble with children at his gallery who are always touching his work; he uses oil paint which can take up to six months to fully dry).

This was my favorite piece and is called ‘Taxi’, a scene from Silverstone 1991 when Mansell gave Senna a lift – echoed in last year’s Singapore F1 when Alonso stopped for Webber.

Yours for the price of $1,950 which I didn’t think was bad at all. As a matter of fact, I thought it was great value when you consider that most of the graduate art on sale at London degree shows now charts the £900 ($1,800) mark.

This is more like it (below) and will set you back $10,800 (price aside, I still much prefer Taxi).

Oz did get some extra points for the crumpled Union Jack jacket though:

I like his style.

Here’s to a year of less noise and more poise (the switch to quieter, more efficient 1.6-litre V6 engines this season may have been derided by earplug sellers, but I am rather pleased).

May the many F1 countdown events continue to make us feel that the weekend is here already.

*Read it and weep: I wrote a piece for the Telegraph on the price of an Aston Martin Vantage in the UK being cheaper than a Hyundai Sante Fe in Singapore.

For more details on Icon and their exhibition, click here.