For his second solo exhibition in Manila, Philippines with Silverlens Galleries titled Sudor, Garibaldi introduces a new video work, Sudor Klasira #1 (2020), that looks at the corporeal from the perspective of human perspiration under different environmental conditions. Under high magnification, the surfaces of skin appear like mysterious, coral-toned extraterrestrial landscapes, with emergent bodies of water that ebb and flow, eventually evaporating into the air. This is Garibaldi’s greatest strength: to engage his audience with regard to new ways of looking at the very familiar — in this case, the seemingly basic act of sweating — and through observation at high magnification, presents an immersive aesthetic experience. Included in the exhibition is a hygrometer made out of two found stones and a strand of hair, which measures the humidity conditions in the air, expressed simply through the extent by which the hair curls or straightens depending on the water content of the air around it.
Garibaldi also presents new large-scale paintings Sudor Klasira #2 (2020) and Sudor Klasira #3 (2020), which aggregate his recent projects into a comprehensive collage. These works take us into multiple complex visual languages as well as degrees of magnification while simultaneously intertwining representational forms with the abstract. In conversation with its abstraction, contained in this painting are images of an installation Garibaldi recently developed where lichen was grown on a long grid of oxidized metal bars on a hillside in Bandung, where he currently resides. Also incorporated is the digestive tract of a Tubifex worm under the microscope, as food is going through its intestines. In relation to each other, then, the video and paintings engage in dialogue regarding the moist conditions necessary for whole ecologies to come into existent, and therefore, flourish.
Artist
Born 1985, Jakarta, Indonesia
Lives and works in Bandung, Indonesia
Syaiful Aulia Garibaldi is currently pursuing his Master's Degree in Environmental Science at Universitas Indonesia. He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts, Printmaking Studio from Institut Teknologi Bandung. Syaiful, fondly known as Tepu, previously pursued education in agronomy before pursuing experimental fine arts, where he applies his scientific background to create a conceptual foundation for his art. Tepu’s works in installation, painting, drawing, printmaking and video show a remarkably strong vision of art that collides with science in a graceful manner. His creation of an immersive environment was sparked by his interest in the networked and interconnected nature of ecologies, and the evocative power of microorganisms as symbols of death and decay, as well as life. Infusion between art and science transcends through Tepu’s work and gives way to a new gateway of knowledge, which is illuminated within his prints and installations.
Garibaldi has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions, the most recent ones being tumbuh at ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia (2022); Sudor at Silverlens Galleries, Manila, Philippines (2020); Lemniscate at Mind Set Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan (2018); Limaciform at Silverlens Galleries, Manila, Philippines (2017), Quiescent at ROH Projects, Jakarta (2016); and Abiogenesis: Terhah Landscape at Pearl Lam, Singapore (2014). He has been a part of major group exhibitions in various countries, such as Indonesia, Singapore, China, Taiwan, France, Italy, Belgium, and Hong Kong. The most recent ones include 1 (2022) at ROH, Jakarta, Indonesia; Chromatic Network at Galeri Salihara, Jakarta, Indonesia; And Life Goes On (2020) at Mind Set Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan; Art Basel Hong Kong 2019, Hong Kong; Natural Capital (Modal Alam), Europalia Indonesia, BOZAR, Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium (2018); West Bund TALENT at West Bund Art Center in Shanghai, China (2017); the 2017 edition of Jogja Biennale and Art Stage Jakarta, Southeast Asia Plus (Sea+) Triennale at Galeri Nasional Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia (2016), and Prudential Eye Zone at ArtScience Museum, Singapore (2015). Tepu with Lokus Foundation is also currently part of Iron Placenta (2022), an ongoing research project by Irwan Ahmett and Tita Salina. He had residencies at ABC Learning Town, Siheung, South Korea in 2015 and Centre Intermodes, La Rochelle, France in 2014. He is awarded Best Artist for Tempo Magazine Award in 2016 and Bandung Contemporary Art Award (BaCAA) in 2013. Tepu is currently living and working in Bandung, Indonesia.
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Photography by Silverlens Galleries
Courtesy of The Artist, Silverlens Galleries, and ROH