
28 Aug Art Jakarta 2019
Art Jakarta (previously known as Bazaar Art Jakarta) is Indonesia’s leading art fair, celebrating its 11th edition this year. To mark the beginning of their second decade, the art fair this year takes place at the Jakarta Convention Center, with an expanded lineup of galleries, and special presentation sections.
Artemis Art returns to this prestigious art fair and this year we feature the works of Dedy Sufriadi, Eston Tan, Gatot Indrajati, Indra Dodi, Syahbandi Samat, and Taufik Ermas. This also marks Syahbandi’s first appearance in a major international art fair, joining the five other artists, all of whom have been featured by us at Art Jakarta in previous years.
The collection of works is an overall mix of styles, featuring works from both the abstract and figurative genres, covering a range of artists from young to emerging, a small cross-section of the artists that Artemis Art has worked with thus far.
Art Jakarta 2019 commences on Friday, August 30 with its preview day and vernissage, continuing over the weekend until Sunday, September 1. The preview and vernissage day is by invitation, and the remaining two days are public days where the fair will be open from 1pm to 9 pm daily. Artemis Art will be exhibiting at booth B11 in this year’s edition.
See you in Jakarta!
Jakarta Convention Center (JCC)
The Jakarta Convention Center (Balai Sidang Jakarta Convention Center) is located at Jl. Gatot Subroto, Gelora, Tanahabang, Kota Jakarta Pusat, Jakarta 10270 (link opens in Google Maps). The location map on the right provides an easy reference to find the convention center, where Artemis Art will be exhibiting at booth B11.
Visit the Art Jakarta 2019 website for ticketing and other information about the art fair.
Dedy Sufriadi
One of the artists Artemis Art has been showing extensively in art fairs since 2012 is none other than Dedy Sufriadi, who makes a return appearance to Art Jakarta, and is one of the artists we have been showing consistently at this art fair since our first participation back in 2016.
Two series of works are showcased in our appearance this year, the text series of works from his larger Hypertext body of works, and his abstract works from the Tabula Rasa series. The collection of works are but a hint of the versatility of Dedy’s repertoire of artworks.
Although he has long moved away from basing his works purely on logical constructs, Dedy as a person is a living embodiment of existentialist philosophy (something he spent a decade reading up on), and this philosophical aura cannot help but be felt when viewing his works. This, despite the fact Dedy completely lets go, allowing his intuition to take over fully when he puts paint to canvas.
Eston Tan (陳鎰森)
A native of Penang, Malaysia, Eston Tan currently works and lives in Taiwan. This year marks the second time Artemis Art is exhibiting his artworks at Art Jakarta, and this time around we present the series of works that Eston is best known for – his night scenes.
Drawn from the artist’s own experience, the night series is an emotive look at the lights and sights of the nocturnal city that invitie and beguile. Recalling Eston’s recent visit to the island metropolis of Hong Kong, the two artworks subtly take the viewer in, drawing them into the work, evoking a sense of being there with the artist observing the beauty of the urban night. One can almost feel the bustle and movement as the eyes traverse through these renderings of the busy night streets.
The pinpoint of lights, Eston’s signature touch in this series of works, make us realize that there is so much more to the urban night than simply the populous concrete structures that inhabit it. The night is both the journey, and the destination, the pinpoints of light our guide as we traverse through the busy hustle and bustle, eager to take in more as we journey on.
Gatot Indrajati
Gatot Indrajati’s affinity for wood is something that has its roots from the time he was a young child. Growing up, he fashioned his own superhero toys from wood that he found, unable to afford the ready-made plastic ones like what his friends possessed. His love for wood stayed with Gatot until adulthood, playing an important role in the artist’s practice.
In addition to his paintings, this year’s Art Jakarta will see us exhibit Gatot’s wood-based toys. This is the first time Artemis Art is incorporating Gatot’s toys into our booth display, something that we’ve been planning to do for quite some time now.
Indra Dodi
The colorful naïve-style works of emerging Indonesian visual artist Indra Dodi have arrived to where they are today having gone through a gradual style metamorphosis over several years. He was well known early in his career as an abstract painter, and for his use of soft colors. Indra is, however, a storyteller by nature, distinct and recognizable form outlines already apparent in his early abstract artworks. His visual language has developed to include figurative elements and objects, distorted but distinct in their meaning and intent, skilfully composed to tell the many anecdotes, dreams, and stories the artist has to convey.
Indra Dodi’s works have captured the attention of art enthusiasts regionally, and the artist has frequently exhibited outside his home country of Indonesia in the past few years, around Asia and in Europe. Artemis Art has been showing Indra’s works at Art Jakarta since 2016 when we began showing at this art fair.
Syahbandi Samat
Syahbandi Samat makes his major art fair debut with his inclusion in our Art Jakarta 2019 line-up, a culmination of his works being shown in smaller art fairs earlier this year.
His skill with the ballpoint pen has made Syahbandi’s art a talking point wherever we have shown his works, and we think that Art Jakarta will be a good introduction point to the Indonesia art scene. Two works from his
Syahbandi is also very concerned about mankind’s treatment of the environment, reflected in two of his most recent artworks that we are exhibiting at this year’s Art Taichung.
Taufik Ermas
The dialectic of space is central to the body of work that Indonesian artist Taufik Ermas is best known for. Included are works that use the technique of utilizing negative space, relying in part on the Gestalt theory of perception. In addition, the works selected for this art fair also include those that feature a new technique of canvas manipulation the artist has been experimenting with in the past year.
Using a combination of sewing, stuffing, shaping and reinforcement, Taufik uses this technique to express the idea of scarring, both physical and psychological, in human beings. Similar to the reasons of why the utilization of space was prominent in his earlier work, Taufik Ermas addresses another aspect of the severe trauma he experienced during the major Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006 – the psychological scars that the devastating event has left him to grapple with. This “scarring” has been developed to become a central feature in the artist’s newest works, opening up different channels of opportunities to explore and examine ideas.
The continued development in his art makes Taufik Ermas an important young artist to keep an eye on. As he further explores areas of human emotions, memory, and trauma, largely linked to his own traumatic experiences, the creative application of theory to his works allows his art to resonate both with those whose thinking is emotive in nature, as with those whose outlook is more logical, and to the many whose being is governed equally by both forces.
Teaser video for our participation in Art Jakarta 2019, originally posted on Instagram.
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