Gajah Gallery is delighted to announce its participation in Frieze Masters 2023, showcasing the work of the late artist I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih (Murni) (1966 – 2006). Amid a male-dominated Indonesian art world, Murni was a singular force, painting grotesque and honest depictions of the body, sexuality, and the depths of her subconscious. Her works are part of the fair’s Spotlight section, which is dedicated to pioneers of avant-garde art from across the world.
Working as an artist in Bali from the mid-90s to the early 2000s, Murni constantly defied stereotypes: She challenged themes that then defined Balinese art, such as myth and legend—focusing instead on the deeply personal. She defied limits imposed on women artists, unapologetically depicting sex and desire—subjects then considered taboo in Bali, especially for women. She saw art as a way to heal from sexual trauma she experienced as a child, yet painted not only her pain, but also her pleasures. For this year’s Frieze Masters, she defies what it means to be a ‘master’ — a term that has long been relegated to the realm of western, male, and academically trained artists.
Focusing on Murni’s earlier works in the 1990s, the pieces in this presentation highlight a crucial period of transformation for the artist, as she honed her artistic voice and delved deeper into her interiority. During this time, she painted alongside the veteran artist I Dewa Putu Mokoh, who exposed her to the Pengosekan style of Balinese painting. Murni, however, remained largely self-taught. The works in this presentation thus capture her evolution from paler, earthier canvases—which bear traces of the traditional Balinese style—to paintings filled with bright colours, increasingly zany and surreal compositions, and drastically evolving visions of the body. Together, they move beyond categories that pigeonhole the artist’s work as merely pornographic, but rather paint a fuller picture of an artist embracing the complexities of her subjectivity.
Melding the personal and the political, Murni’s bold, unconventional iterations of the female body reveal her evolving understanding of its agency and power—subverting the pervasive male gaze and endless depictions of women as passive objects. Murni’s subversive works washed away the shame that many women of her time felt—and through posthumous shows, generations that followed. She was a master: not because she perfected a particular tradition or style, but because she carved her own.
