ENTANG WIHARSO

Entang Wiharso (b. 1967) majored in Painting and obtained his BA in the Art at the Indonesian Art Institute in Yogyakarta.  A painter and sculptor, his hyper realistic imagery gives the impression of surrealism, as he juxtaposes the past with the contemporary, the imaginative and the real.  Entang uses bronze, graphite and aluminium mixed with other materials for his sculptures and installations, interspersed with large paintings. He is inspired by personal and public memory and experiences, Javanese myths and legends, the Candi reliefs, and by popular iconography in which political, social and historical facts and situations are interwoven.

His installation for the pavilion, The Indonesian: No Time to Hide, features a large gate covered with reliefs referencing the Borobodur Temple, but depicting contemporary life. “Keep our dreams alive” and “Your perception is not my reality” are the two sentences appearing on the entrance gates. The sculptures around a meeting table outside the fortress have distorted faces of the country’s past and present presidents, which refer to perception versus reality, and to how negative notions of the country are countered by the inner strength of its citizens who stand tall, a feat of Sakti.

© 2015 BUMI PURNATI