I Nyoman Masriadi

Masriadi was born 1973, in Gianyar, Bali and received his training in art at the Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta, where he lives with his wife Ana and his 3 children.

Something of a phenomenon, his career is a rags-to-riches story combining creative genius, cultural sensitivity, and a refusal to conform. Masriadi’s paintings frequently depict superhuman figures whose narratives, while rooted in Indonesian cultural history, offer witty and often biting social commentary on contemporary life and global pop culture.

As Ashley Bickerton explains; Masriadi’s visual vocabulary is continuously refreshing and contemporaneously relevant. Nicholas Olney, director of New York’s Paul Kasmin Gallery, recalls his initial impressions of this exhibition: “The humor and biting wit came through immediately”, he says. “This guy was speaking on a global level”.

Through his expert control of light, shadow and volume, Masriadi endows the monumental characters of his artworks with a sculptural, almost three-dimensional presence. Sometimes these characters appear in the archetypal roles of comic book heroes, cowboys, soldiers and athletes, but just as frequently, they are simply powerfully built men and women engaged in solitary acts of strength or captured in private moments of vulnerability.