Carte Blanche: Anxiety

PRESS RELEASE 

27  May  – 24 June 2017

Anang Saptoto, Bambang “Toko” Witjaksono, Cinanti Astria Johansjah, Cut and Rescue, Handiwirman Saptura, Iwan Effendi, Julia Sarisetiati, Kokok P. Sancoko, Krack, Priyanto Sunarto, and R.E. Hartanto

Curated by Grace Samboh

Mizuma Gallery is pleased to announce Carte Blanche: Anxiety, a group exhibition of works on paper by Indonesian artists.

Visible things can be invisible. If somebody rides a horse through a wood, at first one sees them, and then not, yet one knows that they are there. In Carte Blanche (1965), the rider is hiding the trees, and the trees are hiding her. However, our powers of thought grasp both the visible and the invisible – and I make use of painting to render thoughts visible.” — René Magritte

When someone says, “I have it on paper”, it usually refers to something that binds two or more parties in a legal sense. It is an official promise that something must be done, more likely within a certain time frame. This marks the end of a negotiation. In the arts, however, it is almost the complete opposite. Paper is treated as a start, as a beginning. It is used for sketching, it is used before things become paintings, sculptures, installations, or whatever. It is okay to be wrong on paper. Paper represents ideas, thoughts, and try-outs. There is no certain time frame for things on paper to be executed. This exhibition begins with questioning the idea of paper as a representative of ideas. What power does paper have? What power does it render?

Curated by Grace Samboh, this exhibition showcases works by Anang Saptoto, Bambang “Toko” Witjaksono, Cinanti Astria Johansjah, Cut and Rescue, Handiwirman Saputra, Iwan Effendi, Julia Sarisetiati, Kokok P. Sancoko, Krack, Priyanto Sunarto, and R.E. Hartanto.

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