Artists remember. They absorb the sediments and residue of our life and of our time. Permutating exposures of the “what” through the “whom”, they capture what it means to be human.
The acceleration of our lives this past year has confounded its preexisting order. Our naked eyes unceasingly gaze upon those things within its field of vision, and the digital eye exhaustively peers into an invisible wall that transforms other points of view into windows of sorts. It is as if there exists two worlds within – the physical and the abstract— that blur the lines between each other into a universe without end but also without a distinctive beginning.
It is almost paradoxical, then, that during this more withdrawn time of life, that we become more exposed to the seemingly infinite possibilities of forking narratives unfolding in states of flux around us. Our ideals are reconfigured in relation to our contact with our immediate surroundings, as well as our inner psyche. What we perceive as ontological fragments compete with each other to become significant though never reaching a state of equilibrium in its race with time. Events and incidents around us continue to move at a frenzied pace, while the anchor points we struggle to hold on to remain unsteady. Instead of expanding and providing clarity of fundamental meaning, we find ourselves instead saturated by our enclosed spaces, with our own ideas of identity stacking on top of each other—at times even overwriting that which exists into non-existence.
In ïso, Aditya Novali and Davy Linggar present an effort to capture and comprehend a certain fermentation of thoughts and time. Through an array of approaches and imagerial impulses, that which may come into being never becomes whole, yet evoke and indexes certain more esoteric sensibilities inherent in their respective points of view. It is through the framing and layering of stories preseat in their works that capture a certain visibility of a changed world.
Artists
Born 1978, Surakarta, Indonesia
Lives and works in Surakarta, Indonesia
Aditya Novali received his Bachelor of Engineering in Architecture from Universitas Katolik Parahyangan, Bandung, Indonesia, in 2002; and an IM Master of Conceptual Design from the Design Academy Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 2008. Novali works with a variety of materials, often first conceiving an idea and then finding the right medium to transcribe his vision. His background in architecture influences his sensitivity to structure, space, and knowledge of construction – key elements of his approach and aesthetic. Addressing themes such as boundaries, identities, materialism, and urban life, Novali’s work interacts with the viewer and transforms with each viewing.
Novali’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and institutions both locally and internationally. Some of his previous exhibitions include recent solo presentations New Obsolescence: ADITYAVOVALI at ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia (2023); WHY at Tumurun Museum, Solo, Indonesia (2022); ME:DI:UM with ROH Projects at Liste Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland (2019); Significant Other at ShanghArt Gallery, Singapore (2019); Caprice with ROH Projects at Art Basel Hong Kong: Discoveries, Hong Kong (2018); and ACRYLIC at ROH Projects, Jakarta, Indonesia (2016); and notable group presentations Dhaka Art Summit: বন্যা/Bonna, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2023); On Muzharul Islam: Surfacing Intention at Dhaka Art Summit: Seismic Movements, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2020); The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, QAGOMA, Brisbane, Australia (2018); DIASPORA: Exit, Exile, Exodus of Southeast Asia, MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Chiang Mai, Thailand (2018); The 15th Asia Art Festival: Multiple Spectacle Art from Asia, Ningbo Art Museum, Ningbo, China (2017); Imaginary Synonym, Tokyo Wonder Site, Japan (2016); Aku Diponegoro, National Gallery of Indonesia, Indonesia (2015); Shout! Indonesian Contemporary Art, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (MACRO), Italy (2014); Little Water, Dojima River Biennale, Osaka, Japan (2013); South East Asia (SEA)+ Triennale, National Gallery of Indonesia, Indonesia (2013); Of Human Scale and Beyond: Experience and Transcendence, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong (2012). Novali was nominated for Best Emerging Artist Using Installation at the 2016 Prudential Eye Awards in Singapore; Finalist in the 2010 Sovereign Asian Art Prize, and awarded Best Artwork in the Bandung Contemporary Art Awards (BaCAA) in the same year.
View ArtistCopyright belongs to The Artists
Text by Yacobus Ari Respati
Photography by Margot Montigny
Courtesy of The Artists, Paris Internationale, and ROH