Thinkspace Projects presents:
Anjastama Hp ‘Myths of Ganendra’
(Gallery IV)
In Gallery IV, Thinkspace Projects presents Anjastama Hp’s Myths of Ganendra. Asking the question “how can a figure be created,” Anjastama displays pieces of his culture, bringing details of Java – the artist’s homeland – to his work.
Inspired by wayang (puppet shadow), Anjastama has created work that weaves the culture into his practice. In this solo exhibition, three wayang figures – Wisanggeni, Gatotkaca, and Antasena – are key to the work, both in the formation of the figures and the narrative contained. The artist deforms these three figures, creating new figures that are contextualized today. However, Anjastama has not created novelty, but rather imbued the classic wayang tradition with new creativity and freedom, using it as a narrative tool .
The result is a discourse that has become a sub-study in contemporary art, namely the gamble of form, contextualization, and aesthetic tradition. In his works, the figures he creates present the biased value of behavior, popular symbols, and ambiguity.
In this solo exhibition, Anjastama offers wayang scripts he himself has made that are executed on canvas using acrylic paint. He hacks and recreates the battle scene of the three characters Wisanggeni, Gatotkaca, and Antasena against giants. This script shares the same name as the title of the solo exhibition: Myth of Ganendra (The army of gods).
Complete Curatorial Statement:
“How can a figure be created?” is the right question to ask as a basis for reading Anjastama’s paintings. Of course, this is inseparable from how the artist grew up and consumed the culture around him. From an early age, he has placed wayang as one of his favorite ways to spend time entertaining himself while learning about culture. In Java – Anjas’ homeland – wayang (pupet shadow) culture was originally a part of local religious ceremonies. Over time and with certain factors, wayang has now become a cultural heritage that shows human stories from birth to death. Usually, these stories contain learning elements and philosophies about life.
Returning to the question above – about how figures were created in Anjas’ work – wayang culture plays a major role in his artistic practice. In this solo exhibition, three wayang figures: Wisanggeni, Gatotkaca, and Antasena are key to the work, both in the formation of the figures and the narrative contained. Anjas deforms these three figures, creating new figures that are contextualized today. However, this does not mean that Anjas has made a novelty, this thing is common in the world of wayang – the dalang (puppeteer) has the creativity and freedom to add or modify the story, although there is a core story that serves as the foundation of the story. Dalang often has the role of author and storyteller of the wayang story that takes place on stage. They can improvise, add humor, or change dialogue to make the performance more interesting and relevant to the audience.
At first glance, what Anjas has done in his artistic practice can be said to be similar to what dalang do in general. However, a closer look at Anjas’ practice shows that instead of taking and imitating it, he presents a discourse that has become a sub-study in contemporary art, namely the gamble of form, contextualization, and aesthetic tradition. In his works, the figures he creates present the biased value of behavior, popular symbols, and ambiguity.
In this solo exhibition, Anjas offers of wayang scripts made by him self that are executed on canvas using acrylic paint. He hacks and recreates the battle scene of the three characters Wisanggeni, Gatotkaca, and Antasena against giants. In this chapter, they entered the scene of encountering and preparing for war, at the end of the story in this segment the three characters gather together to celebrate togetherness and strategize the war. What needs to be underlined in this presentation is to see the practice of artists in managing tradition, identity, and their position on the global stage. This script shares the same name as the title of the solo exhibition: Myth of Ganendra (The army of gods), in addition to the title being titular for the sustainability of his artistic practice.
About Anjastama Hp:
Indonesian artist Anjastama was born in Sukoharjo, Central Java in 1996. He later completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts education at the Indonesian Art Institute Yogyakarta. Raised surrounded by Javanese culture, the artist was inspired to not only represent it within his work, but present it in a way that offers viewers a window into the culture itself. He has transformed the Javanese puppet into a human form, using it as a means to explore personal and global issues.