15 Indonesian Artists to Watch These Days
— I intend to set my sights on the Indonesian archipelago to find 15 young and emerging artists who are making their mark in the lively art scene. —
Indonesia, an archipelagic country with 17,000 to 18,000 islands straddling the equator in Southeast Asia, is nestled within the eastern continent as the Cradle of Art. There is an artform catering to the palate of every individual emerging from the prism of artists live there, ranging from colorful and dynamic abstract abstractions to very refined and detailed photorealistic paintings. Art Republik sifts through the country’s talent pool to discover 15 Indonesian artists who will be trailblazers these days.
I Nyoman Masriadi
When it comes to the paintings of the 37-year-old Yogyakarta-based artist, exaggeration is the word of the game. Masriadi’s figures, which are frequently clad in bulbous bodily features, are frequently derivations of video games and comics. He recalibrated perceptions of the human figure through the deformation of his figures, which he materialised as his trademark style. His painting, The Man From Bantul (The Final Round), broke a record for contemporary Southeast Asian art when it sold for US$296,800.
Lugas Syllabus
Surrealistic in a Dali-esque manner, Lugas’ paintings and sculptures capture the attention of the viewer almost immediately. Pop culture and folklore motifs protrude from various portions of his works, prompting his viewers to create comparisons and relive past memories and experiences. In essence, Lugas’ works highlight modern society’s ironies and paradoxes, renewing debates that are frequently labeled as the elephant in the room.
Soni Irawan
The creator of Jogjakarta experimental band Seek Six Sick has managed to incorporate the vibrancy and energy of his music into his paintings, which are as multi-layered as his art. The musician and painter embraces chaos as the basis of his creative production, with his making of noise rock music serving as the foundation for his work. Soni’s jam sessions frequently entail him filling in the gaps between his bandmates’ existing sounds with his own, and he duplicates this approach in his paintings as well, creating visual compositions of rock music.
Dedy Sufriadi
Dedy Sufriadi needed to find an outlet to express his academic interest in Existentialism because post-Suharto art in Indonesia was frequently addressed with realism. Atop bold colors applied to large canvases are frequently scrawls of phrases or evocative imageries typical of the Expressionism style, and it was in this style that Dedy chose to demonstrate the sheer power of his artistic technique. Through this, he questions and re-presents the concept of existence in the midst of its absurdities.
Justian Jafin
But not collage-like, 34-year-old Justian Jafin’s works are interwoven with commentary on contemporary cultural challenges. His acrylic painting method involves producing overlapping layers that cover and reveal the variety of subjects in the piece. Viewers will be required to pay close attention as a story unfolds before their eyes, drawing their attention to their roles in contributing to society and, perhaps, empowering them to effect change.
Naufal Abshar
Laughter is an instant outcome of delight, but Naufal’s works aim to deconstruct the layers of the act. Naufal draws attention to normally banal things in his daily life and brings them to light. His fascination with the human condition provides depth to the intellectual parts of his art, which compliments and contrasts with the humorous imagery in the pieces.
Anton Afganial
Anton’s paintings, which are intricately brilliant and chaotically managed, are heaps of clashing that spell out his Madurese background, where bold and vibrant colors are highly valued by his people. Perhaps the nuances refer to the works of batik paintings, but Anton explains that this is largely due to his use of lines in the paintings to emphasize his shapes and forms. Anton, who is frequently inspired by circumstances such as interpersonal conflicts, love, balance, and cultural identity, wishes for his artistic approach to be as intuitive as it is spontaneous. Overall, his paintings exemplify energy, excitement, emotions, paradoxes, and curiosity.
Agus Saputra
Classical Batuan-style artworks from South Bali are frequently dense, lively, and intricate projections of legendary situations or themes from everyday life. Agus incorporates this aspect into his contemporary interpretation of the style to reinterpret traditions through his own viewpoint. His tight landscape of parts that correlate and interact with one another generates a combination of storylines that unfold in different ways for each audience that comes into contact with his art, ultimately making the story-telling process unique to each individual.
Iwan Suastika
According to Iwan Suastika, the premise is straightforward: “I am the universe,” “You are the universe,” and “We are the universe.” Surrealistic scenes of humanoid animals and pop culture references are infused with symbols and metaphors in Iwan’s visual narratives. Each artwork sparks a dialogue between the artist and his work, which is then relayed to his audience as enigmatic messages to be understood. This is most likely why Iwan stands out as an artistic enigmatologist who never stops creating visual puzzles and storytelling prowess.
Dodit Artawan
“No, they are not pictures; yes, they are painted,” the dialogue generally goes. When looking at Dodit’s artworks, a doubletake is often required. Dodit’s hyperrealistic Barbie Dolls and alcohol bottles are clear critiques of the consumer capitalism problem that is rife on the island of Bali, where he lives. When underage kids have unrestricted access to purchase alcohol in stores, the absence of restriction on alcohol consumption becomes a question of ethics, and he seeks, through his work, to remove the carpet off this issue that has plagued the locals for decades.
Nana Tedja
Nana Tedja, one of Indonesia’s premier female artists who displays no fear in expressing herself within the male-dominated art industry, is one of the most naturally inclined. Nana’s artistic approach is bold, passionate, and unabashedly wild, blurring the lines between herself and her art. She has always intended her art to be an immediate representation of her character and personality, and she has been true to herself in every aspect. Although she has chosen an abstract expressionism approach, Nana has indicated that the sole basis for her painting method was based solely on her liking and mood.
Kencut
Putu Adi Suanjaya, also known as Kencut, creates his trademark stuffed doll creatures with protruding button eyes. The human eye is sometimes referred to as the “window to the soul” since it easily reveals information about the person and their emotional state, whether purposefully or unintentionally. In his works, he chose to remove the windows and replace them with the unassumingly mundane buttons. However, the lack of an indication on the beings’ feelings leaves no trace on the lies that they may bear, and it is in this ignorance of all things unpleasant that he creates a pocket of optimism for his audiences to reside in; a place without lies is certainly a joyful place.
Aurora Santika
Aurora’s paintings, with their flat colors and strong contours, began as a hobby, then as a cry for help, and last as a call for debate. She used art as a vehicle to express ideas that would elicit action from people as she probed and poked at faults in society’s socioeconomic dynamic. These are challenging themes to bring up without adding gasoline to the fire, but Aurora feels that art, regardless of form, is the ideal tool to start talks about them, particularly those about mankind as a whole. Most of the themes addressed in Aurora’s art are inspired by real-life contacts with people who are either perpetrators of those issues, victims of them, or fighting to abolish them.
Petek Sutrisno
Petek Sutrisno is a young artist whose works are greatly influenced by comics, cartoons, graphics, and pop culture. He purposefully blends his daily life into each piece of work to express meaningful and accessible messages with which his viewers can readily identify. Most of his work are visual translations of his childhood experience and current political challenges. Flowers appear frequently in Petek’s paintings, and the artist explains that they represent the elements of love, beauty, and serenity, which he weaves religiously into all of his work. Natural elements became a constant in his pieces as a reminder to everybody that environmental issues remain unresolved and that it is everyone’s responsibility to maintain them.
Bahaudin
Bahaudin means “the magnificent of the Faith” in several cultures. Bahaudin’s wide-eyed heroes are ambassadors of peace and love, as young men with a powerful name and an equally powerful set of skills. Child-like characters with recognizable superhero funny and cartoonish qualities are frequently at the core of his pieces as he calls for a post-conflict settlement of the world around him in order to work towards world peace. “Aren’t people already tired of disputing and spilling their blood on the land we love?” the artist asks incredulously.
Conclusion
Art thrives best in an environment that allows for unrestricted expression of creativity; as Indonesia entered its post-Suharto era, this became the place where artistic thoughts, ideas, and concepts were constantly taking shape and reshaping themselves in accordance with the shifting sands of modern political perspectives and the evolution of traditions held firm.
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