Indo Pop Painting draws influences from comics and graffiti. In this essay for the Hong Kong-based webmagazine CoBo I analyze a style that goes beyond a simple market trend. From the “fathers” of the style, such as Eddie Hara, Heri Dono and Agung Kurniawan, to the “older brothers” Uji ‘Hahan’ Handoko and Eko Nugroho, and the plethora of younger 20-something artists, Indo Pop is here to stay.
Here is the link to the article
I’m happy to announce my new collaboration with CoBo as a writer on Indonesian contemporary art. Cobo is an Hong Kong-based webmagazine and dynamic community platform – bilingual English and Chinese – with the image of the collector at its core and a focus on contemporary art, especially from Asia-Pacific area.
My first piece for CoBo is an interview with the Basel-based Indonesian artist Eddie Hara, a great friend and a badass artist, who was represented by two galleries at Art Stage Singapore. Eddie Hara is known in the art world for his irreverence and playfulness and his painting style is extremely popular among the younger generation of Indonesian artists. Thus I decided to title the piece “the Punk Uncle of Indonesian Contemporary Art”.
In the interview Eddie Hara opens up about the decision that compelled him to move to Switzerland. He also recalls his decision – radical at the time – to study art, consequentially facing his family’s opposition. He talks about the comrades from the early days, who are now big names in the art world. From Heri Dono “he knows everything about my life”, to Mella Jaarsma and Nindityo Adipurnomo.
Here’s the link to the piece
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Great news! I have been invited by Prof. Antonia Soriente, professor of Indonesian language and literature at Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale, to give a presentation on Indonesian Contemporary Art.
It’s a great honour for me – L’Orientale is the oldest school of Oriental Studies in Europe and the main university in Italy specialized in the study of non-European languages and cultures. It is still regarded today as one of the most prestigious universities regarding Asian cultures and languages.
Moreover, it’s going to be super interesting to chat with the students and find connections between Indonesian art and literature. It’s going to happen on December 15 at 2.30pm at Palazzo Mediterraneo, where l’Orientale is located. If you’re in Naples, don’t miss it!
I have just came back from two weeks in Paris. It has been an incredible time. I was there for the Art Paris Art Fair and the exhibition Secret Archipelago at the Palais De Tokyo – yet again on a reporting mission for Art a Part of Cult(ure), the Italian magazine I write for. My boss at Art a Part is the M to my Bond, the Charlie to my Angels, the Xavier to my X-Men, well, you get my drift! In Paris I’ve met with a number of interesting people and had chats with artists I wanted to talk to from a long time, including Eddie Hara and Richard Streitmatter-Tran.
The first week has been a whirlwind of interviews. I already knew what it means to do three interviews in a day – I did it before, and it was crazy! But five interviews in a day? That’s don’t-try-this-at-home insane! Luckily enough, I generally feel energized by working under pressure. Plus, all the artists and gallerists I talked with have been super nice. I can’t wait to share their interviews with you! In this situation it also helped to have the most amazing sidekick a journalist can ever had, a gorgeous Sorrentinian gal called Marta, who also hosted me in Paris. We jumped from metro to metro chatting endlessly about everything from Catilina (ancient republican Rome anyone?) to haircuts, all that while chewing a pan au chocolat (aux amandes, aux pistaches…) and rushing to the next interview.
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Naima Morelli is an arts writer and journalist specialized in contemporary art from Asia-Pacific and the MENA region.
She has written for the Financial Times, Al-Jazeera, The Art Newspaper, ArtAsiaPacific, Internazionale and Il Manifesto, among others, and she is a regular contributor to Plural Art Mag, Middle East Monitor and Middle East Eye as well as writing curatorial texts for galleries.
She is the author of three books on Southeast Asian contemporary art.
Reach out: contact [at] naimamorelli.com
