Ardi Gunawan’s first solo painting exhibition, Made Me Dirty, is filled with paradoxes and on view at ISA Art Gallery until September 2025.
The usually quiet ISA Art Gallery, located on the ground floor of Wisma 46, was buzzing with visitors that day. Familiar faces from Indonesia’s art scene had gathered for Made Me Dirty, Ardi Gunawan’s first solo painting exhibition.
“Yes, if you can even call Ardi’s works paintings,” said Hendro Wiyanto, the curator who had worked alongside Ardi for the past eight to nine months leading up to the exhibition. Hendro first encountered Ardi’s “paintings” at Rubanah in 2022. A year later, he invited Ardi to participate in ArtJog. Hendro admits that he was drawn to Ardi’s way of working. Ardi himself frequently works across installation, spatial installation, performance, sound, and other practices.
This can be seen in the way the exhibition is presented, which Ardi also helped direct. While paintings in galleries are typically hung against white walls, Ardi deliberately avoids the wall for several of his works.
He creates his own space. You can see how he considers three-dimensional space when presenting his work. This comes as no surprise given his educational background in design and architecture.
A quote displayed on one of the gallery walls reads, “My dream was to be a sculptor, but I ended up majoring in painting. I wanted to create illusions, but I couldn’t do realism… The way I hold a brush is like carving.” Ardi, in fact, had originally wanted to become a sculptor.
Perhaps it is this desire that makes Ardi’s painting technique so unique. He seems to present paint as it is. He piles it up to form whatever he has in mind. At times, what he creates is not immediately clear, or even appears abstract.
Detail di salah satu lukisan Ardi Gunawan.
When asked about the direction he gives Ardi, Hendro suggests that perhaps it is actually Ardi who has been directing him. “I don’t think a curator always has to give direction. They need to listen carefully to what the artist is saying. Of course, you don’t necessarily have to believe everything, but listening is more important than commenting. Since talking with Ardi, I have asked more questions than given directions. More precisely, the curator’s role lies in the conversation,” Hendro explains.
Hendro Wiyanto dan Ardi Gunawan
According to Hendro, the title Made Me Dirty reflects the state of Ardi’s own studio, which is messy. “There is paint everywhere, things and brushes everywhere. This is dirt wrapped in something that can be seen, or the other way around. Something visible wrapped in dirt. Because essentially, we are actually very dirty,” he elaborates.
Beyond the “dirt” found in his studio, Ardi also brings it into his paintings, where it becomes a symbol of the worlds of work, identity, and mass culture.
“What makes Ardi special is the paint, the dirt. He is painting, but his shadow is actually trying to make a sculpture. His work is full of paradoxes,” he adds.
As the curator suggests, Ardi Gunawan’s exhibition is best experienced by visiting the gallery in person. Looking at photographs circulating on social media is simply not enough. And when you visit, try to pay attention to the way Ardi uses his paint. How he pours it, lets it drip, allows it to go wrong, and imagine how he controls the paint to form something. “That is what fascinates me about Ardi,” Hendro says, bringing our conversation to a close.
The Made Me Dirty exhibition is on view until September 12, 2025, at ISA Art Gallery, Wisma 46, Jakarta, Tuesday-Sunday, 11:00-18:00.
