Eko Nugroho (b. 1977) is one of the most exciting young stars in contemporary Indonesian art. Since his first solo "Bercerobong" at Cemeti Art House in 2002, the artist's career has spanned a large number of exhibitions locally as well as abroad, namely in Southeast Asia, Australia, Japan and Europe. Among some of the noted international shows he has participated in recently include the 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art at Queensland Art Gallery, Australia (2006); "Dirty Yoga", Taipei Biennale in Taiwan (2006); "Wind From the East" at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland and Busan Biennale (2008), “X Bienale De Lyon: The Spectacle od The Everyday” at Lyon, France and “Beyond The Dutch” at Centraal Museum Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (2009), “Beacons of  The Archipelago: Contemporary Art from South East Asia” at Arario Gallery, Seoul and “Heat Wave” at Lombard-Freid Projects, New York (2010), “Transfiguration – Indonesian Mythologies” at Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, Paris and “Close The Gap: Indonesia Art today” at Melbourne International Fine Art, Melbourne, Australia (2011). Some of his international residency Amsterdam Graphics Atelier (AGA), Amsterdam (2004), Artoteek Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands and Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany (2005), ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany and SAM Art Projects, Villa Raffet, Paris, France (2011).

Nugroho’s comic inspired work is “ a storytelling journey with different audience at different sites. He works across disciplines, from murals and paintings to drawings, book projects, animation, large-scale embroideries, sculptures and most recently a contemporary interpretation of wayang kulit or shadow puppets, a traditional art form performed regularly in his hometown of Yogyakarta.

Often working with thick dark outlines, Nugroho’s graphic technique and imagery reflect Indonesia’s media-rich and politically charged environment. HIs part man-part machine characters are often accompanied by bizzare, ironic and oftentimes provocative statements in thought balloons or speech bubbles saying, for instance, "please shoot me from the back."

Nugroho is also the founder of the popular "Daging Tumbuh", an independent comic published bi-annually since 2000 with of a loose collective of friendly collaborators.

EKO NUGROHO – Solo Exhibition 2011
THIS REPUBLIC NEED MORE SEMELEH
9 July – 15 August 2011
Text by Alia Swastika

Saturday, July 9th 2011 – 7PM
Special performance by WAYANG BOCOR – Eko Nugroho Studio Eko Nugroho (Artist) Ki Catut Kuncoro (Puppet Master) Yennu Ariendra (Music) Gunawan ‘Cindhil’ Maryanto (Narrative writer) Sarwoto ‘Kotot’ and Rumanto ‘Gudel’ (Artist crew) 7 pm til' finish (Open to Public) Friday, July 29th 2011 – Book Launching of Eko Nugroho