12 – 24 April 2008
The Fullerton Hotel 1 Fullerton Square #01-08 Singapore 049178
SINGAPORE- 11 – 24 April 2008 iPRECIATION presents the solo-exhibition of contemporary Indonesian artist Budi Ubrux, which has been a project in the making for 4 years. The artist was the winner of the Philip Morris Art Award in 2000 (Grand Prize) for his work Imagology.
Casting his keen perspective over a range of social issues besieging contemporary Indonesian society, Budi Ubrux’s paintings engage with the themes of social degeneration, political and economic reform, the ironic role of the media, and the disenfranchised role of the proletariat within their restructured urban culture.
The artist cleverly conveys such social-political awareness through his works, with human figures tightly swathed in layers of newsprint. He makes a statement about decaying journalistic integrity within a politicised media that increasingly propagates materialism, vanity and political strife. The media glorification of the elite continuously fuels the oppression of the working class, leaving them faceless and voiceless. Thus, with creative deliberation, Budi drives across this point by swathing the figures in his paintings with newspapers highlighting their oppression.
Occasionally straddling both the role of a detached witness and the heartfelt emotion of one who identifies with the proletariat, Budi depicts hints of warmth that may be found in the life of the working class, such as in Moment in Truth. The junk collector sitting atop a mountain of newspaper-wrapped bottles is portrayed with a touching humanism as he converses with a young boy. Despite their generation gap, their newspaper clothing implies that both are wrapped by the same fabric of society.
This exhibition will showcase a majority of Budi’s oil paintings created between 2004 – 2007, including The Neighbour’s Wall, The Actor’s Ballad and Relief Fund painted in reaction to the earthquake in 2006 that struck Jogjakarta, where he resides now. His paintings are a dichotomy in itself: depicting snippets of everyday socio-political issues yet emerging as a timeless piece; depicting a seemingly light-hearted take on issues yet not without dark humour; and depicting complications of words in a simple, sincere painting.
Join us for a compelling journey through the fascinating world of Budi Ubrux and be astounded by this insightful artist of our times.
For further information or artwork enquiry please contact enquiry@ipreciation.com or 65 6339 0678
