Singapore’s Gajah Gallery Opens Second Space in Yogyakarta

Alyssa Buffenstein July 13, 2015 ShareShare This Article

Singapore’s Gajah Gallery has opened up a new outpost in Indonesia’s arts capital, Yogyakarta, furthering its mission of representing contemporary Southeast Asian artists internationally and helping to foster a stronger arts scene (which might really need some revitalization).

Gajah’s original space opened in 1996 and represents six Indonesian artists: Nyoman Masriadi, Rudi Mantofani, Yunizar, Handiwirman Saputra, Yusra Martunus, and Jumaldi Alfi.

Both local and international artists will be exhibited at Gajah Gallery Yogyakarta, however. The inaugural show’s roster included the Barbados-born, US-trained, Bali-based neo-geo artist Ashley Bickerton, Malaysian painter and graphic artist Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Indonesian sculptor and installation artist Yusra Martunus, and Indonesian multimedia existentialist Ugo Untoro.

The new gallery joins Gajah’s Yogya Art Lab, an initiative that aims to forward the Southeast Asian art scene by bringing together local and international artisans and contemporary artists, bridging longstanding traditions (and Indonesia certainly does have some longstanding artistic traditions) with current practice.

The Art Lab contains a metalworking foundry and has facilitated bronze and aluminum sculptures, most recently employing the skills of Patrick Kipper, an American expert on patina.

Last year, Gajah Gallery displayed a selection of Southeast Asian art in a pop up exhibition in Havana, Cuba.

See a selection of works displayed at Gajah Gallery’s first show in its new Yogyakarta space, below.