Featuring Agugn, Atreyu Moniaga, Budi Agung Kuswara, Gilang Fradika, Heri Dono, Kemalezedine, and Kuncir Sathya Viku
Curated by Hermanto Soerjanto
5 July – 17 August 2025
Vernissage: Saturday, 5 July 2025, 4pm – 7pm
Mizuma Gallery is proud to present Connecting, a group exhibition that brings together seven contemporary Indonesian artists whose practices explore the many ways connection can emerge—between people, ideas, materials, and environments. Curated by Hermanto Soerjanto, the exhibition reflects on the notion that connection is fundamental to all life, shaping our sense of purpose and grounding our presence in the world.
From planting a seed to composing a song, from forming a family to building a business, connection is at the core of human experience. In art, this manifests through the interplay of colour, line, form, and space—yet its impact lies in how it resonates with those who encounter it. Art’s ability to bridge the personal and the collective, the intimate and the unfamiliar, allows it to create moments of profound exchange and reflection. Connecting does not present connection as a theme to be illustrated, but as a sensibility embedded in artistic practice. The works on view do not dictate meaning; instead, they open space for unpredictable relationships to unfold—between audience and artwork, memory and material, concept and emotion.
Soerjanto referenced both contemporary and historical approaches—such as Heri Dono’s satirical political narratives or Lee Mingwei’s poetic participatory gestures for the work ‘The Moving Garden’ —the exhibition emphasizes connection as a process rather than a conclusion. Whether playful, provocative, or quiet, each work invites viewers to engage with the world and with each other in renewed ways.
Connecting offers a timely reflection on how deeply interwoven we are—reminding us that art, like life, gains meaning through the relationships it helps to build.
Connecting, an exhibition curated by Hermanto Soerjanto, will feature artworks by Agugn, Atreyu Moniaga, Budi Agung Kuswara, Gilang Fradika, Heri Dono, Kemalezedine, and Kuncir Sathya Viku. The exhibition will run from 5 July to 17 August 2025 at Mizuma Gallery, 22 Lock Road #01-34 Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108939. The gallery will open from 11am – 7pm on Tuesdays to Saturdays, and 11am – 6pm on Sundays. The gallery will be closed on Mondays and Public Holidays. In conjunction with the launch of the exhibition, an opening reception will be held on Saturday, 5 July, 4pm – 7pm.
About the Artists
Agugn (b. 1985, Bandung, Indonesia) graduated from the Faculty of Art and Design, Bandung Institute of Technology, majoring in Printmaking. He has been exploring various printmaking techniques, mostly linocuts and has comprised to push the boundaries between printmaking and installation. Fear, nature, and shamanistic culture have been his drive for making art with anthropomorphic and psychoanalysis perspectives. His first solo exhibition was Natural Mystic at Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Bali, Indonesia, as his first prize for “Triennale Seni Grafis Indonesia 4” (2012) and has since held solo exhibitions in Yogyakarta, Bali and Singapore. He was also invited for an artist residency in Machida City, Japan, with a solo showcase at Imprint MACHIDA 2020 From Stranger to Neighbor: Machida seen from the artists at Machida City Museum Of Graphic Art, Tokyo (2020). He has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Sydney, New York, Paris and Indonesia. Agugn lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Atreyu Moniaga (b. 1987, Pontianak, Indonesia) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is deeply rooted in philosophical introspection and a devotion to visual storytelling. Working across watercolor, oil, acrylic, and sculpture, Moniaga’s art navigates the intricate terrains of human psychology, internal connection, and emotional behavior. His highly symbolic and ornamental language invites viewers to engage with the unseen—those private negotiations of identity, vulnerability, and resilience that shape the self. Each piece is a personal yet universal investigation of what lies within. He has been featured in prominent publications and is recognised for his ability to merge rich personal narrative with sophisticated visual execution. A passionate advocate for emerging talent, Moniaga founded the Atreyu Moniaga Project in 2013 as a free mentorship initiative dedicated to nurturing young artists. The project has been a launching pad for many of Indonesia’s rising names. Atreyu Moniaga lives and works in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Budi Agung Kuswara (b. 1982, Bali, Indonesia) graduated with a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the Indonesia Institute of Arts (ISI), Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 2009. Trained in kamasan painting, Budi retains the intricacy and delicate linework of this traditional art form in his contemporary works. His paintings celebrate the treasury of aesthetic and cultural influences on the Indonesian archipelago, marrying these baroque sensibilities with observations on social tensions and dynamics. His notable exhibitions include Repose: Under The Sun at Kiniko Art Room, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2023), Residual Memory at Mizuma Gallery, Singapore (2021); Arus Berlabuh Kita at the Asian Civilization Museum, Singapore (2018); Love Me in My Batik at ILHAM Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2016); and The Wax on Our Fingers, a collaboration with Singaporean artist Samantha Tio (Mintio) at the Indonesian Contemporary Arts Network, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (2012); and his first solo exhibition, i.self at Komaneka Fine Art Gallery, Bali, Indonesia (2009). He has also undertaken residencies at Bamboo Curtain Studio, Taipei, Taiwan (2016); Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan (2012); and TAKSU, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2012). Budi Agung Kuswara lives and works in Singapore and in Bali, Indonesia, where he co-founded Ketemu Project Space, a visual collective and social enterprise hybrid with focus on social engagement.
Gilang Fradika (b. 1988 in Majenang, Indonesia) graduated from UNY (Yogyakarta State University), Department of Fine Arts, with a major in Graphic Arts in 2012. Gilang works mostly with two-dimensional surfaces, particularly in painting and etching. His solo exhibitions include A long way and secret garden at DGTMB versus in Yogyakarta (2015), and (UN)COVER at RUCI Art Space, Jakarta (2021). Gilang took part in projects such as Pameran POSKAD SG50 in Gillman Barracks, Singapore (2015); Folkloristics (2018) and Hopes & Dialogues in Rumah Kijang Mizuma (2019) at Mizuma Gallery, Singapore; and ARTJOG: RESILIENCE in Yogyakarta (2020). Gilang Fradika lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Heri Dono (b. 1960, Jakarta, Indonesia) is known for incorporating elements of traditional Indonesian art forms into his work, including aesthetic conventions of wayang kulit shadow puppetry. Having studied under a professional wayang master, he fuses the idioms of indigenous storytelling with contemporary methods of expression. The vibrant aesthetics and popular appeal of his practice is synchronous with its engagement with political concerns as the artist’s personal experience of the former Suharto regime profoundly influenced his works’ underlying societal critique. Heri represented the Indonesian Pavilion during the 56th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy (2015); and he has participated in several major exhibitions including SUNSHOWER: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia 1980s to Now at National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan (2017); Kochi-Muziris Biennale in Kochi, India (2018); and Visible Soul: Around the Asia Collection of Benesse Art Site Naoshima at Fukutake House, Okayama, Japan (2019). His works are in the collections of Tropenmuseum, National Gallery of Australia, Fukuoka Art Museum, and Deutsche Guggenheim Frankfurt, amongst many others. Heri Dono lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Kemalezedine (b. 1978, Yogyakarta, Indonesia) studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design at Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Bandung, Indonesia from 1997 to 2004. He is part of the Nu-Abstract and Neo-Pitamaha groups in Bali, who study traditional Balinese art, while incorporating new experimentations and ideas. Kemalezedine’s focus is to create and explore the world of painting-drawing. His paintings intertwine the genealogies of both traditional art lines and modern painting through colour planes, composition, and balance. Existing between different painting styles, his paintings explore the tension between the traditional and the modern, natural and unnatural, macrocosm and microcosm, emptiness and fullness. Kemalezedine lives and works in Bali, Indonesia.
Kuncir Sathya Viku (b. 1990, Bali, Indonesia) graduated from Denpasar Institute of Art in 2013 with a degree in Visual Communication Design, and worked as a Graphic Designer for several years before he decided to make a path of his own. Combining his training in illustrating rerajahan (visual mantra) for his father, who practiced as a balian (Balinese shaman), and his artistic experience of working with murals in the streets, Kuncir explores lines and forms rooted in the Balinese visual language.Bringing into play his satirical wit, Kuncir composes global-local (‘glocal’) disruptions where forms are enchanted between tradition-modernity. He transmits hybrid shamanistic visuals – merging comic impressions with rerajahan traits and a touch of pop surrealism. Working across drawings, paintings and installations, Kuncir creates progressive narratives and evaluations on Balinese surrealism and ‘glocal’ social issues; often where clashes between modernity-tradition, conservative-liberal, spirituality-profanity, norms-exceptions and so forth take place. Kuncir lives and works in Bali, Indonesia.
About the Curator
Hermanto Soerjanto (b. 1970, Indonesia) went to Palin School of Arts & Design in Singapore and Akademi Teknik Desain Interior (ATDI) in Jakarta, Indonesia, before joining Cipta Citra advertising agency in 1994. Since then, he has built his career in the field of advertising and currently holds a position at Pantarei Communications as Chief Creative Officer. As an art collector, Hermanto Soerjanto is familiar with Indonesian artists, having spent much time conversing with them and visiting their studios. In 2008 he established GARIS Artspace, an art gallery in Jakarta showcasing works by contemporary Indonesian artists, where he organizes and curates the exhibitions on a regular basis. To date, Hermanto Soerjanto has organized several exhibitions, most notably Ethnicity Now, a group exhibition at Galeri Nasional Indonesia, Jakarta (2010), and Unveiling Fundamentals in Contemporary Art Through Asia at OHD Museum, Magelang, Indonesia (2015). Hermanto Soerjanto lives and works in Jakarta, Indonesia.
