Gajah Gallery is pleased to present our latest exhibition: “Black is My Last Weapon”. We will be showcasing over 30 paintings by Indonesian artist I Nyoman Masriadi, produced over ten years from 1998 to his most recent 2008 works.
Born in Gianyar, Bali in 1973, I Nyoman Masriadi is recognised as one of the very few contemporary Balinese artists who managed to free themselves from a concern with Balinese life, culture and traditions in their works. The figures that populate his paintings are distinctly dramatic and alive despite being simply painted on canvas. The visual images and narratives in his paintings are strongly influenced by comics, anime and cyber-gaming. Many of Masriadi’s paintings are also autobiographical. Underlined by an almost detached and objective daily observation of people, the art world and society as large, his visual vocabulary is striking, continuously fresh and contemporaneously relevant.
Even though generally shying away from participating in exhibitions and other activities in the Indonesian artworld, Masriadi’s artworks consistently receive the positive reception of the art collecting world. He is presently Southeast Asia’s most well-received contemporary artist at auction; the appreciation in value in his works a testimonial to his forte and talent as a painter as well as a barometer of the ascendency of Southeast Asian contemporary art.
