Uji “Hahan” Handoko Eko Saputro

(b. 1983, Indonesia)

Uji Handoko Eko Saputro (also known as ‘Hahan’) creates works characterized by an ongoing tussle between ‘high art’ and ‘low art’, blurring realism with decoration. His works illustrate a point of contact that exists between urbanization and agrarianism — or between the local and the global — that both critiques and admits complicity with the structures and mechanisms of the commercial artworld. Indeed, themes of rejection and success are present throughout Hahan’s practice, which spans painting, sculpture, drawing, and print-making.  These works offer insight into the psyche of a post-boom Southeast Asian artist navigating the complexities and challenges of an expanding global art world. 

Hahan creates a sense of movement and spontaneity in what can be described as a topsy-turvy reality steeped in satirical humor. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Indonesia and abroad, such on Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2019,  NGV TRIENNIAL 1st 2017 Melbourne and APT 7th 2012 Brisbane. His art works have been collected by several art museums, including the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) in Brisbane, Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne, Australia, and the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) in Canberra, Australia.

He was also a co-founder of the Ace House Collective — a young artists’ collective and initiative space based in Yogyakarta which tries to capture the culture of Indonesian contemporary society through multidisciplinary work.

In recent years, Hahan attempts to display art that emphasizes interaction with visitors and relates to the development of art in society and across the globe. Grounding his interest in the realms of value, time and speculation, Hahan lays his nonpareil craft by employing metaphor full of satirical humor. He would then elucidate the mapping of production / consumption in the cutting-edge art market, packing its gleaming ironies with an alluring spirit of artistic exploration.