(b. 1971, Indonesia)
Born in 1971, Yunizar is a painter whose works may be described by an attempt to advance his preoccupation for still-life. Bottles, potted-cactus, apples and other elements are painted singly, and later reproduced in simplified outlines, eventually multiplying exponentially as miniscule elements on a vast canvas, as crammed two-dimensional landscapes choking on its own reproductive capacity. At other times he obliterates this multiplicity, displacing it with a single figure, or a head, unsmiling, disfigured and consumed by a sense of estrangement or exile. In a distinctive series Coretan (Marks), lines and markings are deployed as frantic utterance, obfuscating and never declaring any form of intent. However, the sense of narrative is kept remaining in the fringes of the frame, is eternally held in anxious tension.
One of Indonesia’s most dynamic new artists, Yunizar draws from a rich heritage to create images that evoke memories of dreams and myths as well as the mundane.
Yunizar spent his formative years at the Indonesian Institute of Arts in Yogyakarta. This is a school of national pride and the heart of progressive art-making in Indonesia. Historically, Yogyakarta is the seat of traditional, global and popular fused in a fertile and stimulating environment, culminating in an art scene that is bold and original.
Yunizar’s training and maturity reveal themselves in his sophisticated and expressive style, articulated through a playful composition and subtle palette. Executed primarily in acrylic and pencil, his works stand out in terms of texture, colour, brushwork, volume and rhythm. A restrained palette of cool colours- yellows, browns and greens- is deliberately dirtied and smudged in his working and reworking of the canvas. The result is a highly tactile work that entices the viewer to feel the piece.
The simplicity of the artwork belies a complex narrative. There are recurring themes in Yunizar’s works, themes intimately linked in the timeless dream world. Stiff figures and mask-like portraits, mythical creatures and floating objects inhabit his canvasses. In this fantasy world, Godzilla-like creatures battle, goats howl and giant dogs swallow snakes for breakfast. It is a place of play and danger, of child-like whimsy fraught with menace.
This psychological suspense is further evident in Yunizar’s portraits. In his figures, mask-like faces are surrounded by an ominous dark haze, or share a space with ambiguous floating objects as in Pesta. The faces look out with insouciance, but the expressions are curiously concerned at the same time. There is a sense of brooding anxiety, a certain worrisome emptiness. His figures pose in similar states, whether stiffly in their own confined spaces like in Sanda Jepit, or in pensive reveries (Berharap), all psychologically charged.
Despite the disquiet in these little narratives, Yunizar bestows on them a poetic presence. They are also landscapes of reflection. In the cool meditative abstracts like Berdikir Tentang Alam and Sesuata, mountains are contemplated, identities explored. In these beautifully balanced compositions, there is a spiritual searching of the mind, a quiet journey in a quest for self and identity.
Yunizar
Yunizar was born in 1971, Indonesia. He completed his high school at the Indonesian Fine Arts High School, Padang in 1988. In 1993 he successfully completed the Fine Arts Degree Programme at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Yogyakarta.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2010
Jogja Psychedelia, Galeri Soemardja, Bandung, Indonesia
JogjaPsychedelia, Sangkring Art Space, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Jogja Psychedelia, Gajah Gallery, Singapore
2007
Coretan– Recent Works by Yunizar, National University of Singapore Museum, Singapore
2006
Biasa Aja, Gajah Gallery, Singapore
Coretan Rasa, Emmitan Fine Art Gallery, Indonesia
Petualang dalam Rasa, Sin Sin Gallery, Hong Kong
Alam Garis, Andara, Jakarta
2005
Reborn, Sin Sin Fine Art Gallery, Hong Kong
2002
Chouinard Gallery, Hong Kong
2001
New Sensation, Gajah Gallery, Singapore
Exploring Spacing, Mien Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Room, Space & Wilderness, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Selected Group Exhibitions
2012
Paperworks, Group exhibition with S Teddy and Anusupati, Gajah Gallery, Singapore
Art India, New Delhi, India
2011
Art Stage, Singapore
2009
Jendela- A play of the Ordinary, NUS Museum, Singapore
Jogja Biennale X, Jogja, Indonesia
Reach for the Heart, Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong
2008
Expose #1 – A Presentation of Indonesian Contemporary Art by Deutsche Bank & Nadi Gallery, Four Season Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia
Manifesto, The National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
Tribes, Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong
Indonesian Invasion, Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong
2007
Indonesian Contemporary Art Now, Nadi Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
Keindahan dibalik karya garis, Jogja Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Cilukba,Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
40 Plus, 40 Minus, Sin Sin Fine Art, Hong Kong
2006
Angkor- The Djin Within, Gajah Gallery, Singapore
2005
Indonesian Contemporary, iPreciation, Singapore
The Ordinary- KSRJ (Kelompok Seni Rupa Jendela), Nadi Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
2004
Merahnya Merah (How Red is Red), Nadi Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
Object(ify), Nadi Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
2003
Interpellation – CP Open Biennale, National Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
EPIC, Gajah Gallery, Singapore
Borobudur International Festival, H.Widayat Museum, Mungkid, Magelang,Indonesia
2002
Alfi – Yunizar – Mantofani, Chouinard Gallery, Hong Kong
ECSTATICUS MUNDI – KSRJ (Kelompok Seni Rupa Jendela), Group Exhibitionof the JENDELA, Selasar Sunaryo Art Space, Bandung & AIR Art House, Jakarta, Indonesia
2001
Not Just the Political, H.Widayat Museum, Mungkid, Magelang, Indonesia
ias Batas, Edwin Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
New Sensation, Gajah Gallery, Singapore
2000
Indonesia Expression, Singapore
Exhibition of Contemporary Arts, Bali, Indonesia
1998
Refleksi Zaman, Yogyakarta
1997
Jendela, First exhibition of KSRJ(Kelompok Seni Rupa Jendela), Purna Budaya,Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Festival Kesenian Yogyakarta IX, Museum Benteng Vredeburg,Yogyakarta,Indonesia
Philip Morris Indonesian Art Awards exhibition, Agung Rai Museum of Art, Bali & Braha Lukisan TMII, Jakarta, Indonesia
1996
Dialog Dua Kota I Exhibition, Yogyakarta
Gelegar 10 Exhibition, Yogyakarta
Dialog Dua Kota II Exhibition, Yogyakarta
1995
Eksplorasi Hitam Putih Exhibition,Yogyakarta
Dies Natalis Exhibition, ISI, Yogyakarta
1994
Prashida ’93, Yogyakarta
