Emerging artist Eko Nugroho has a bold aesthetic that is driving him forward as one of the key members of the art world to watch out for.
Winner of several awards and dallier in multiple mediums (shadow puppetry, embroidery, sculpture, and film to name a few) Nugroho offers viewers a taste of reality that merges themes of globalism and postmodernism with straightforward graphics that never depart too far from Nugroho’s roots in painting and illustration. His use of contrast, bold lines, and intricate patterning is hard to look away from.
An artist with a sense of business Nugroho nonetheless commented on the effect growing up in post-Reformasi Indonesia has had upon his subjects and style. With this conscious influence in mind Nugroho’s work stretches from paintings as simple as “Global Paranoia,” three female figures with hidden faces in a far stretching background of blank sepia, to the sculpture “It’s all about Coalition”, featuring two men reaching for a handshake- one has a many faced robotic helmet on his shoulders and a wolf’s head for a hand, the other a heart for a head and a noticeably vulnerable human hand outstretched. Interpretations can range from the personal to the political but the response in the viewer is strong and immediate. This often outrageous but powerful use of symbolism, particularly in relationship to the body, is standard in Nugroho’s work.
If you’re looking for something full of catching uniqueness and beauty, Nugroho’s colorful images, installations, and films are worth the time to appreciate – though a quick look will strike you just as hard.
● By Rose Arnold
