Zico Albaiquni, Laboratorium Barat, 2019, oil and giclee on canvas, 200 x 150 cm
Nostalgic Utopia is Zico Albaiquni’s first solo exhibition in Singapore. The show comprises of paintings in the artist’s characteristic vibrant and multicoloured style that play with aspects of art history and painterly representation.
Albaiquni is known for his complex investigations into the genre of painting and the roles of a painter. He deconstructs the medium, particularly by analysing how Indonesia’s landscape and ideas of the country have been represented at various time periods. In his multi-layered paintings, Albaiquni interweaves numerous icons and motifs, drawing together works by a wide-ranging group of artists and settings – interplaying with different contexts and modes in which art circulates. Some of his references in Nostalgic Utopia include: the Mooi Indie (‘beautiful Indies’) tradition, pioneering Romantic painter Raden Saleh, Social Realist painter S. Sudjojono, contemporary works by Thomas Hirschhorn, and museum dioramas and exhibition settings. Blending disparate elements, Albaiquni explores the similarities between colonial and post-war representations with recent developments in nationalistic campaigns, alongside broader ideas on the relationship between the artist, artwork, the viewer and art history.
Venue: Yavuz Gallery, 9 Lock Road #02-23, Singapore 108937
Opening Hours: 11am to 7pm (Tue to Sat); 1pm to 5pm (Sun). Closed on Mondays and Public Holidays
When: 27 Jun - 14 Jul 2019,
By: Ames Yavuz
