This December, Gajah Gallery is pleased to present Indonesian artist Erizal As in his first solo exhibition in Singapore: Refiguring Portraiture.
Erizal is one of the emerging artists in Indonesian contemporary art, often featured at regional art fairs and exhibitions. In his previous series, Erizal became intrigued by the role of the musical conductor in an orchestra, drawn to the innate charisma and overt influence of the maestro’s presence. From this, he developed a fascination with the appearance of a ‘leader’ – and the frequently revealed disparity between their proclaimed and demonstrated personas.
“As political subjects, we are not familiar with their true substance, their true face.”
– Erizal As
This exhibition presents nine new paintings from Erizal’s ‘Faceless’ series, which form a highly-charged, distorted yet introspective view of the contemporary figure.
The artist focuses his study on the symbolic function of the traditional portrait as a reflection of identity and character. Instead of depicting a resemblance to physical appearances, his portraits seek to capture the unrestrained energies of the individual subjects while translating the artist’s own internal struggle and contemplation.
Trained at the Indonesian Institute of Fine Art, Erizal’s past exhibitions include Bakaba #5 (Sakato Art Community), If Time Stopped (Group Exhibition at Gajah Gallery Yogyakarta), Reborn Every Time (Sangkring Art Space), Indonesian Contemporary Art Exhibition (Beijing) and Bayang Islamic Visual Art Exhibition at the National Gallery in Jakarta.
