Handiwirman Saputra

This work is in good condition overall, as are the two canvases, which are both clear and taut. There is light wear and handling around the edges of the painting. Examination under ultraviolet light reveals no evidence of restoration. Unframed, on a stretcher.
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Handiwirman Saputra is well known for experimenting with alternating viewpoints in his artworks. The present piece Patahan Baru (New Fracture) is demonstrative of the artists’s desire to challenge existing creative paradigms within Indonesian contemporary art. The diptych work reflects his deviation from the usual motifs that color his paintings. As per the title of the artwork, the painting is a gathering of body parts, arranged into a unified display that is curiously pleasing to the eye. The artist is playing with visual language, and different forms of perception. Patahan Baru (New Fracture) is a deliberate break away from conventional aesthetics.

Saputra is a member of the Jendela Art Group, a local contemporary art collective based in Indonesia. This group of artists is at the forefront of the contemporary art scene in the country, with their artworks a continuous analysis of society, and the traditions that make up cultural norms. He has established himself as a dynamic artist locally and overseas, and has exhibited his paintings in Taiwan, Singapore, Berlin, Australia and Beijing, to name a few places.

The artist’s paintings are reflective of Jogja Surrealism, an art movement that emerged in Indonesia during the 1980’s, and had a transformative effect on future contemporary artworks. Unlike the Western understanding of surrealist artworks, this specific movement was unique to Indonesia, and embraced by many national artists of that generation. Patahan Baru (New Fracture) makes reference to still-life paintings, and the technical rigor of painting as an art form. By creating artworks that attack convention, and question popular ideologies, Saputra has carved out an identity for himself within the Indonesian contemporary art movement.