Dedy Sufriadi

Born 1976 in Palembang, Indonesia
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The use of text and iconography has been an important part of Dedy Sufriadi’s work in the last several years. As an abstract expressionist, the multilayered nature of his works provides room for deep contemplation as we delve into the philosophical approach Dedy takes in addressing matters important to him. These range from simple everyday observations of the community around him to key social issues he elects to address. Among the works exhibited are those from his Hypertext series of paintings, inspired by the idea of dynamically linked information found on the Internet, where one link leads to another pool of information, and on to the next, allowing us to navigate the vast sea of information that is the Internet.

Similarly, the text and iconography used in Dedy’s works are visual cues helping us navigate the ideas presented in his art, each element providing a clue that links to other elements as a viewer contemplates what is presented, acting as catalysts linking the conscious to the subconscious, as the mind’s eye wanders the expanse of the artwork.

Exhibited Artworks

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Indra Dodi

Born 1980 in Padang, Indonesia
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Where figurative elements in Dedy’s works may be vague, Indra Dodi’s naïve figurations are diametrically distinct, using a child-like approach to convey the many anecdotes and ideas swirling in this emerging artist’s mind. 

A sociable people-person by nature, Indra is a story-teller at heart. His works evoke a sense of fun, and are an outpouring of the artist’s keen observations of the world around him, where even the seemingly most innocuous encounter may spur expansive creative sparks within him. His style has arrived to where it is today having gone through a gradual metamorphosis over the last several years.

Indra’s visual language encompasses figurative elements, objects, symbols, and words, distorted and sometimes visually enigmatic, but distinct in their intent, all skilfully composed to tell the many dreams, encounters and stories the artist has to convey. 

Exhibited Artworks

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Nik M. Shazmie

Born 1991 in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, Malaysia
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One aspect of modern life in Asia, and certainly true of the Southeast Asian region in current times, is the obsessive attention to one’s physical beauty. This simple observation is the impetus behind the works of young Nik M. Shazmie, whose abstractions are essentially the artist becoming a virtual plastic surgeon, putting together the best features to create visually intriguing portraitures. Shazmie is the middle sibling of the very talented trio of brothers.

Among the artworks exhibited is the Rebecca series of works, created specifically for Singapore Contemporary 2017, which deals with identity crisis, where the pursuit of perfection in beauty leads some to not only alter their physical appearance, but to augment every other aspect of their natural identity. 

Young in terms of age, Shazmie catalogs the best features he can find, and then uses them where appropriate over the span of his many artworks since developing this current style of works. Over the past year or so, he has amassed a wide image library of facial components. These become his reference building blocks, reassembling them as required.

Using this basic principle of visual assemblage, a wide gamut of social anomalies observed in contemporary society have been addressed by Shazmie. One underlying idea is that the sum of parts, no matter how excellent each one may individually be, often do not amount to a whole that is in perfect balance overall.

The resulting portraitures, distorted by the process of reassembly, provides us the platform upon which to contemplate. Apt, because as we all would have experienced at some juncture, real life itself isn’t always pretty.

Exhibited Artworks

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Robi Fathoni

Born 1973 in Palembang, Indonesia
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For many artists, the pencil is an important intermediary tool, used in the initial stages of ideation or preliminary sketches. Not so with Robi Fathoni, whose figurative realist works are done predominantly using the ubiquitous graphite implement. His mastery of the medium is best appreciated through the intricate drawings he produces, done mostly on canvas, usually with black graphite as the primary medium, augmented when necessary with the sparing use of color pencils, and occasionally acrylic paint.

Those familiar with Robi Fathoni’s career will be aware that his pencil-based works were not always the mode of art the artist produced. An active visual artist since his days as a student at the prestigious Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI), Robi has actively participated in many exhibitions since his student days. He has, in the past, produced oil paintings, dabbling for a short spell with mixed media works, and even attempted a brief period of producing abstract art.

But he found his true calling when he experimented expanding his pencil drawings, at the time solely on paper, onto the canvas. He found the expanse provided to him by the canvas liberating, allowing him to do much more than he could on paper. Robi has, through his works, elevated the status of pencil drawings to become final works on fine art, and may today be considered quite unique in his approach among his artist peers. His high level of skill and mastery of technique has made him one of the emerging Indonesian artists of his generation to look out for.

Exhibited Artworks

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