Singapore - Indonesian artist I Nyoman Masriadi is killing monsters.
His fingers, with red nail varnish, hold a clove-flavored cigarette as he taps gently on one of four keyboards in the computer room of his newly built house. Under the login Hantu_Khimimaky, Masriadi plays Warcraft`s “Defense of the Ancients`` at all hours of the day and night, his relaxation from a similarly idiosyncratic painting schedule.
In the past two years, Masriadi, 35, has become a poster boy for Indonesian contemporary art. Christie`s International sold his painting “Used to Being Stripped,`` depicting one of his trademark stocky black figures, for HK$4.2 million ($538,000) in May in Hong Kong, an auction record for Southeast Asian art. In an Indonesian sale in 2006, his “Angels`` was offered for 10 million rupiah ($1,088) with no takers.
“Masriadi is one of the vanguards for Southeast Asian Contemporary,`` said Mok Kim Chuan, Sotheby`s head of department for Southeast Asian paintings. “His prices have been skyrocketing.``
It isn`t just the price increases that have made him one of the country`s most sought-after artists. His imagery is striking and easy to appreciate. Like the fantastic high-resolution characters he slays on screen, Masriadi`s painted figures are meticulously constructed, yet with unnatural anatomy -- muscular images with exaggerated features.
Depressed Superhero
Bali-born Masriadi works in the living room of his new home, built among rice fields on the outskirts of Yogyakarta in central Java. The artist squats on the floor, working to add shine to the red pants of Superman. The 3 meter (10 foot) wide canvas depicts the superhero and Batman sitting on toilets in neighboring cubicles, both looking depressed, one smoking a cigarette.
The work is a retort to critics who anger him, he said -- people who think they`re superior, but are just ordinary.
“It`s about people who think I should thank them, but I don`t see why I should,`` he said.
Masriadi`s canvases are as large as those of many contemporary Indonesian artists -- typically 2 meters high. Unlike successful Western artists such as Damien Hirst, who use assistants to help churn out works under the artist`s name, Masriadi works alone, producing less than a dozen pictures a year.
Limited Supply
The limited supply adds to the desirability. When tobacco baron Oei Hong Djien, the biggest collector of Indonesian modern and contemporary art, agreed to loan one of his Masriadis for an exhibition in Singapore, he took in lieu of insurance a promise that if the work was lost, the artist would paint another for him of the same quality.
The exhibition, “Black Is My Last Weapon,`` opens officially today at 8Q, the new contemporary-art wing of the Singapore Art Museum. It is the artist`s first solo show.
Masriadi, represented by Singapore-based Gajah Gallery, is not alone in riding the wave of demand for Indonesian works. Agus Suwage, Putu Sutawijaya, Rudi Mantofani, Yunizar, Handiwirman Saputra and dozens of others are being swept along.
“The cause is China,`` said Oei in an interview at his home in Magelang, Central Java. “China contemporary has gone up so fast.`` Overseas collectors then realized that there were Indonesian artists of equivalent quality selling for a fraction of the price, he said.
Finger Nails
Masriadi`s Singapore exhibition shows 32 works, all from private owners, including another Batman picture from Oei`s collection. In “Biasa Saja Tidak Sakit`` (“It`s normal, it doesn`t hurt``) the hands of a beautician sculpt the eyebrow of a wrinkled and cringing man, who also has red-painted finger nails. (Masriadi`s red nails at his home were painted as a joke by his wife Ana while he slept, she said.)
“Many regard him as Indonesia`s answer to Chinese contemporary art,`` said Michael Koh, chief executive officer of Singapore`s National Heritage Board, which hosts the 8Q show. “He`s hot and never had a solo show, so it`s quite groundbreaking for us.``
The rapid rise of Indonesian artists and the slump in global financial markets have prompted some collectors and critics to suggest that art prices may fall.
That will be tested in October, when Masriadi`s new work and his 4.5-meter-wide triptych “The Man From Bantul -- The Final Round`` from 2000 go under the hammer at Sotheby`s first evening sale of Asian art in Hong Kong. “Bantul`` has a top estimate of HK$1.5 million ($192,000).
A successful solo show and more records in Hong Kong may help cement the artist`s reputation as a rising star of the Asian market. For Masriadi, the success has brought a home with swimming pool, twin sun terraces, poolside bar and a stable of new cars. It has also brought pressure to keep the market supplied with his works, he said.
“I was happy before, when I didn`t have to work so much,`` he said. “Now it`s stressful. It`s a good thing for the people around me; my wife, my family. For me it`s hard. I am busy working all the time.`` By Adam Majendie
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com (August 21, 2008)