In the exhibition "Bones after Bones: The Shadow" Riyadi attempts to lose the narrative nature in his paintings, and to insert the imagery which he considers to be the essence of violence. He states that the most haunting image, for his own perception, is the imagery of bone, particularly as an artifact of life, the structural support of human bodies, which in the end remains longest. In his search for the artistic possibilities of bones, he rejects clichéd illustrations of human skeletons, taking a more abstract visual approach. This indicates an important leap in his search for aesthetic vision; from narrative to abstract, from realism to essentialism, from representation of popular culture to conceptual reflection. Interestingly, aside from his change in form and approach, the issue that still remains is that of domestication.

In his work, Riyadi attempts to arrange several bones in the manner of the ornamental motifs of traditional wallpaper. This arrangement, imitating the repetitive motifs of home decoration, is designed to erase and conceal violence, thus the concept of beauty is contradicted by the representation of violence. Riyadi explains that this contradiction is important when perceiving violent events or forms, which on the one hand must be rejected, but on the other hand are ever-present in daily life, if not always in the shape of physical violence.

-ARNDT Berlin

Image: © Wedhar Riyadi