Bahasa Public carnival
Belonging to a younger generation of artists who emerged post-Reformasi—known as generation 2000 or the internet generation—Eko Nugroho witnessed the rapid social and political changes that followed the fall of Suharto's 32-year rule. Working primarily with popular culture imagery—street art, comic books and science fiction—seamlessly woven together with traditional Javanese motifs from batik and wayang (shadow puppets), Nugroho has developed hybrid pop-figures that embody the attitude of this period. They appear in his underground zines initiated in 2000 in collaboration with other artists in the spirit of the newly won democracy, and more recently feature in sculpture, embroidery, mural painting, contemporary wayang kulit performance and installation as the artist playfully experiments with different media. Nugroho's multidisciplinary practice has grown from a central objective: to find public space, in any shape or form, to share his art.
Combining sculpture, installation and batik, Carnival trap 2018 features brightly coloured costumes made of upcycled plastic debris collected in Yogyakarta. The work addresses Nugroho's concerns regarding the crisis of plastic waste in Indonesia that affects the entire archipelago. Conceptually, this work likens Indonesia's current political situation to a carnival, charged with colourful lights, roaring noise and a seemingly collective euphoria. However, Nugroho's work is a cautionary message on the hype often created by politicians, inviting us to be critical and to look beyond this misleading masked festivity.
The complexities of democracy are further explored in the artist's vibrant embroideries Throw away peace in the garden and We keep it as hope, no more less. Here Nugroho considers democracy as a garden where politics, culture and religion entangle one another like vines and wildflowers. The artist's use of the medium blurs the boundaries between painting and textile as he seamlessly transforms his spontaneous murals and drawings by the meticulous process of manual embroidery.
