Bazaar Art Jakarta – Sri Astari Rasjid
VIP Preview Date: 25th August 2016 (By Invitation Only)
Exhibition Dates: 26th August 2016 – 28th August 2016
Location: The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta Pacific Place
Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD) Jalan Jenderal Sudirman No. 52-53, Jakarta Selatan, DKI Jakarta 12190, Indonesia
Booth B7
OPENING HOURS
Thursday, August 25, 2016
3.00 PM – 5.00 PM VIP Preview
7.00 PM – 10.00 PM Vernissage
Friday, August 26, 2016
12.00 noon – 10.00 PM
Saturday, August 27, 2016
12.00 noon – 10.00 PM
Sunday, August 28, 2016
12.00 noon – 10.00 PM
iPreciation will be participating in Bazaar Art Jakarta this August, presenting a solo exhibition of works by Sri Astari Rasjid.
Born in 1953 in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sri Astari Rasjid briefly studied English Literature at the University of Indonesia (1973). She went on to study fashion in London in 1976 and subsequently became a fashion journalist and fashion designer. In 1987, Sri Astari honed her art education and technical skills at the University of Minnesota, USA and the Royal College of Art in London in 1998.
Sri Astari’s works often incorporate paradoxes, akin to traditional Javanese cultural expressions which have a unique and sophisticated way of managing paradoxes. Javanese courts have had a long history of brutal and bloody struggles of power, yet the Javanese are known for their fine and delicate artistic expressions. Direct encounters of conflicts, complexities and contradictions are avoided and instead arranged excellently in metaphors to subdue explosive possibilities. As the Javanese cultural expressions predicate gentleness over violence, Sri Astari’s works are characteristically gentle yet powerful in communicating their ideas. .
In this exhibition, we will be featuring ‘Armor for Change’ previously exhibited in our outdoor exhibition in Singapore, ENVISION: Sculptures @ The Garden City. The artwork features a 2.5 metre kebaya made of aluminium. This work shares the same inspiration as Sri Astari’s previous work, the ‘Kebaya’ – an esoteric metaphor she employs to contemplate feminine and masculine issues. ‘Armor For Change’ follows the trajectory of Sri Astari’s artistic interrogation on the detrimental impact of traditional concepts on women’s lives. We will also be presenting ‘Armors For the Soul’ which demonstrates Sri Astari’s work of paradox, where the cascading ripples of the garment flows in an elegant, soft, artistic rhythm, contrasting against the shine of the cast aluminum and stainless steel, a reminder of the sturdiness behind the elegance.
Other works featured are ‘Still Strong In My Memory’, ‘Eling’, ‘Contestants’, ‘La Vie En Rose’, ‘Drunken Bag’ and ’50 Years Barbie Lethal Venture’ where the last 3 mentioned artworks features the ‘bag’, another metaphor often used by Sri Astari to convey her ideas and criticisms. Like two sides of a coin, her bags carry two opposing ideas, such as La Vie en Rose (‘Life in pink’) carved on one side, and La Vie en Noire (‘Life in black’) on the other side. These works demonstrate the artist’s bold criticisms on her own social environment, of its tendencies for consumerism; highlighting ideas on society’s contemporary fetishism and prevailing social insecurity.
Besides being an artist, Sri Astari has been an active player in the arts world. As the executive director of the 9th Jakarta Biennale, she realized curator Jim Supangkat’s suggestion to introduce installation forks for the first time, and was an important mover as executive committee for the seminal exhibition of contemporary art of the Non-aligned countries in 1995. As a member of the Indonesia Art Foundation (Yayasan Seni Rupa Indonesia), Sri Astari also actively contributes to the education of young artists and the development of art in Indonesia. She was recently appointed as Indonesia’s ambassador to Bulgaria in January 2016.
For VIP tickets to visit the fair, please contact the gallery at
june.ong@ipreciation.com or brian.foong@ipreciation.com
