Budi Santoso

(b. 1980, Cilacap, Central Java, Indonesia)

Budi Santoso spent his formative years with the Taring Padi Collective from 1999, and under the apprenticeship of Dolorosa Sinaga in Somalaing Studio, Jakarta, before he moved back to Yogyakarta to establish Manualism Art Studio in 2018. He graduated from the Sculpture Department of the Indonesian Art Institute in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2007.

His socially-engaged sculptures are typically dictated by the character of their (often found) material: stone, marble, or wood. Yet, Budi is also known for his mastery in working with modelled sculptures, as demonstrated in his work Anatomi Kerja/ Anathomy of Working (2023), which is part of this show. He has been participating in group exhibitions since he was a student, and has held solo shows in Yogyakarta and Jakarta. Santoso lives and works in Yogyakarta with his wife Ivana and their daughter Ning.