Poetical Vector

“G. Sidharta always sought opportunities for discussion amidst conflicts. This attitude deeply inspires me. His reluctance to be boxed into any specific style gave him the freedom to express himself. He freely experimented with both form and color.

I disagree with a few of his approaches, such as his appreciation for material character. However, this does not diminish my admiration for G. Sidharta. I still greatly admire his achievements and the history he created as the foundation of Indonesian fine arts.”

Framing an influential, historical figure of modern art in the context of Indonesian contemporary art contains its own effort and challenges. In Poetical Vector, Gregorius Sidharta Soegijo, a maestro of Indonesian modern art who already demonstrated several key premises of contemporary art in his body of works: fluid, inclusive, and pluralists, will be presented along with his younger counterparts of Bandung emerging artists, that of Erwin Windu Pranata, Gabriel Aries Setiadi, Rendy Raka Pramudya, and Mujahidin Nurrahman.

It is not an overstatement to say that Dharta's attitude in approaching art making is interestingly, still relevant even by 'contemporaneity' standard. By juxtaposing his works and his contemporaries, this exhibition aims to unveil Dharta's particular gesture in embracing pluralities, while also proposing his particular 'vector' of interconnectedness between non-representational form and reality.