Gajah Gallery is proud to present Indonesian artist, Ugo Untoro’s (b. 1970) highly anticipated solo exhibition, which will feature new paintings that celebrate heterogeneity, ecstatic and explosive energy that is connected to intoxicating experience that destroys rationalism and instrumental normality of dominant culture. In this new series, Untoro places emphasis on the transcendence of art; frenzy, crime, aesthetics and various levels of marginality. All of this leading up to one biographic conclusion through the painter’s spiritual experience.
Ugo Untoro is representative of Indonesia’s late-1990 generation of painters, he has created several artworks using different medias. He does not only sketch and paint; he also does installations, objects, videos and other enriching art experiments. He is an inspiration to many of the younger generations. Almost all of his artworks creation process adhere to the law of “Panta Rei” – that states everything flows. In his view, it is important to note that this “flow” theme is not fully driven by the “subconscious”. Known as the painter that paints with his emotion, Ugo deliberately and consciously creates his artworks in tune with preselected theme.
Ugo is also one of the artists who have brought contemporary Indonesian art to a new level. He has already been recognized across the archipelago for his strong character and persistence in creating artworks that reflect the conditions of existence, both at the level of being an artist as well as a human being, which showcase Indonesian contemporary culture for what it is – turbulent, but also a pure and simple part of everyday reality. Over the past decade, Ugo Untoro’s works have encompassed an elaborate collection of paintings, drawings, poems and writings. He has also had more than 10 solo exhibitions in places like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Yogyakarta, Bali, Jakarta and Surabaya, and has participated in group exhibitions in USA, France, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. His entry to the Philip Morris Art Awards in 1998 was placed within the Best 5; and he was named Man of the Year in 2007 by Tempo Magazine, an Indonesian publication that covers current affairs and politics.
