June Round-Up

White Cube Hong Kong, JWD Art Space, and more.
By Alana Malika

Natee Utarit, ‘11 July 2020’, 2020, oil on canvas, 60.2 x 70.2cm. Image courtesy of Richard Koh Fine Arts.

Every day, Every day I have the Blues
In a pop-up solo exhibition by Natee Utarit, ‘Every day, Every day I have the Blues’ presents a collection of still-life paintings created in the past year. Utarit portrays scenes of the “new normal” for artists in their studios as well as portraits of people he met before the pandemic. These paintings create a sense of longing through a mundane interpretation of daily life by reminding his audience of a simplicity we lost since the pandemic.

Richard Koh Fine Arts, Bangkok, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, 4 to 12 June 2021.

Norberto Roldan, ‘Incantations in the land of virgins, monsters, sorcerers and angry gods’ (recent edition), 1999-2018, 158 x 86cm. Image courtesy of the artist and JWD Art Space.

A Life Beyond Boundaries (The Geography of Belonging)
‘A Life Beyond Boundaries (The Geography of Belonging)’ features artists from across Southeast Asia, including Boedi Widjaja (Indonesia/Singapore), Citra Sasmita (Indonesia), Haffendi Anuar (Malaysia), Hà Ninh Pham (Vietnam), Irwan Ahmett & Tita Salina (Indonesia), Soe Yu Nwe (Myanmar), and more. The large group show interacts with the topic of nationality in Southeast Asia by examining its role in identity building. Curated by Loredena Pazzini-Paracciani, the collection discusses nationality as a dual concept tangibly measured based on legal codes while also existing as a shared political imagination and cultural exchange.

JWD Art Space, 1 June to 30 September 2021.

Lâm Duc Hiên: The Mekong – Stories of Man
As an exhibition for Photo Hanoi, Lao artist Lâm Duc Hiên presents ‘Lâm Duc Hiên: The Mekong – Stories of Man’ with Matca and The French Institute in Hanoi - L’Espace. The artist empathises with the subjects he photographs as he revisits the Mother of Rivers that nurtured him as a child from Paksé, Southern Laos. In capturing the present conditions of the Nine Dragon Delta to the Tibetan plateaus, these photographs reveal an undercurrent of major contemporary issues: environmentalism, urbanisation, and diplomacy.

Matca and The French Institute in Hanoi - L’Espace, May 14 to June 11 2021.

Nadiah Bamadhaj, ‘The Submissive Feminist - Part 1 (The Comb)’, 2021, charcoal on paper collage with aluminium and plywood backing, 208 x 132 x 10cm. Image courtesy of the artist and A+ Works of Art.

The Submissive Feminist
A project emerging from a transitional period of her career, ‘The Submissive Feminist’ is a solo exhibition by Indonesian artist Nadiah Bamadhaj with Kiniko Art, Yogyakarta and A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur. Bamadhaj reflects on the oxymoron of a “submissive feminist” that advocates for her own space while also yielding to the pressures of the male-dominated industry to keep the space. She borrows Javanese iconography like batik, the keris, and wayang as a metaphor of a full reclamation of her identity including her heritage, her Yogyakarta home, and her personal history.

A+ Works of Art, 5 to 26 June 2021.

Christine Ay Tjoe, ‘Blue Cryptobiosis #10’, 2021, oil on canvas, diptych, each: 200 x 170cm. Image taken from White Cube Gallery.

Spinning in the Dessert
White Cube Gallery in Hong Kong presents ‘Spinning in the Dessert,’ a solo exhibition by Christine Ay Tjoe. The Indonesian artist compares deep introspection afforded by forced isolation to ‘cryptobiosis,’ a metabolic pause that works as a coping mechanism during adverse conditions. The series of large-scale paintings centres the theme of self-actualisation during the pandemic that emerges from inward concentration.

White Cube Gallery, 18 May to 28 August 2021.

Anastasia Astika, ‘Aligning The Disarrayed #10’, 2018, Monoprint: Etching and Aquatint on Paper, 35 x 40 cm. Image courtesy of Art Agenda, JKT.

Reminiscence: Fragmented Spaces
In this duo exhibition, Indonesian artists Anastasia Astika and Satria T. Nugraha define the relationship between memory and physical space. While Astika’s etched monoprints presents the raw and mysterious snapshots of familiar spaces alongside original copper plates, Nugraha’s dreamy screenprints and hand-stitched collages reveal the simple beauty of natural forms juxtaposed with the effects of human intervention. Their explorations show the presence of hidden memories that further our awareness of the unseen.

Art Agenda, JKT, 3 to 26 June 2021.