Handiwirman Saputra

Handiwirman Saputra, an adept sculptor and painter, seamlessly navigates between two- and three-dimensional media, challenging viewers to reconsider their perspectives on the world around them.

Biography of Handiwirman Saputra

Handiwirman Saputra, born in 1975, is a prominent Indonesian artist who lives and works in Yogyakarta. He is a co-founder of the Jendela Art Group, Indonesia's leading contemporary art collective.

Saputra graduated from the prestigious Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) in Yogyakarta. His work has gained international recognition through noteworthy exhibitions such as "Everything You Can Imagine is Real #1" at Galerie Christian Hosp in Berlin, "Collectors Stage: Asian Contemporary Art from Private Collections" at the Singapore Art Museum, and "Contemporaneity: Contemporary Art in Indonesia" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai.

The artist participated in a six-week collaboration at STPI in Singapore, where he created life-size print casts of passageways inspired by his observations of the urban landscape.

His solo exhibitions include"Tak Berakar, Tak Berpucuk (No Roots, No Shoots)" at the Indonesia National Gallery in Jakarta, "Things, the Order of Handiwirman" at Cemeti Art House in Yogyakarta, and "In Lingo – Mapping Asia: 33 Young Asian Artists Solo Shows" at the 5th China International Gallery Exposition in Beijing.

Handiwirman Saputra's Art Style

Saputra and his colleagues in the Jendela Art Group have embraced everyday materials as a foundation for their artistic exploration. Emerging as a reaction to the politicized art of the Suharto regime, Jendala artists provoke formalist interpretations from critics while collectively addressing a variety of concerns. Saputra's work spans installation and painting, utilizing found objects that often suggest events, landscapes, and images, yet deliberately avoid symbolic and metaphorical connotations.

The ambiguity of his works is often intensified by a shift in scale, elevating the mundane to the monumental. However, the artist is hesitant to engage in the "grand narratives" that have long dominated Yogyakarta art. Saputra works associatively, infusing his works with a sense of the absurd and a visual clarity.