Dadang Christanto has spent his career honouring the countless victims of political violence and crimes against humanity. His work expresses the suffering of victims and lays bare the anguish and grief that is endured in silence by those left behind. Despite the raw socio-political nature of his work, Christanto continues to produce art which pleads for compassion, regardless of differing faiths and political beliefs.
Dadang Christanto is an internationally acclaimed artist who has been curated into major art events worldwide including the Sydney Biennale (2010), the Venice Biennale (2003), Yogyakarta Biennial, Indonesia (2003), Kwangju Biennale, South Korea (2000), the Bienal de Sao Paulo, Brazil (1998) and the first and third Asia-Pacific Triennials of Contemporary Art, Brisbane (1993 & 1999). His work is held in major public and private collections around the globe.
The series of heads exhibited in ‘austral-asia zero three’ (Sherman Galleries, 2003) and shown previously at the Alliance Française Gallery in Yogyakarta, refer to the relentless cruelty of humankind among those of different faiths or political systems. The disappearance of multitudes of Indonesian political dissidents during the mid-1960s purges, when Dadang’s father was lost without trace, is a recurring theme in the artist’s oeuvre.
Born:
Central Java in 1957
Education
1975–77 Pawiyatan Sanggarbambu, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (painting)
1975–79 Sekolah Menengah Seni Rupa (SMSR), Yogyakarta, Indonesia (painting)
1980–86 Indonesian Fine Arts Institute (ISI), Yogyakarta, Indonesia
1999–03 Lecturer, School of Art and Design, Northern Territory University, Darwin
2004 Lecturer, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney
Artist Bio
Show moreSolo Exhibitions
2014
Once Upon a Time, Gallerysmith, Melbourne Survivor, Lumpur Lapindo Sidoarjo, Indonesia
2013
Dadang Christanto, painting and sculpture, Sydney Contemporary 13, Sydney Lost and Found, Jan Manton Art, Brisbane
2012
Remembering Silence, Yuz Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia Seeing Java, Sangkring Art Space, Yogyakarta
Hidden, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
2011
Lost Horizon, Jan Manton Art, Brisbane
2010
Dadang Christanto: Wounds in our Heart, Drill Hall Gallery, ANU, Canberra
Behind the Veil, Gallerysmith, Melbourne
The Rivers, Jan Manton Art, Brisbane
2008
Batik has been Burned, Jan Manton Art, Brisbane
2007
Work of Body, Jan Manton Art, Brisbane
2006
Pilgrim Project, Gaya Fusion Gallery, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
2005
Testimonies of the Trees, CP Art Space, Jakarta, Indonesia
Heads and Trees, Sherman Gallery, Sydney
2004
Head from the North, Marsh Pond, Sculpture Garden, NGA, Canberra
2003
Count Project, Northern Territory University Gallery, Darwin, NT
They Give Evidence, Asian Gallery, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2002
Unspeakable Horror, Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
2001
The Dark Century, Raft Art Space, Darwin, NT
2000
Beginning of the Dark Age, Centre de Reflexion sur I’Image et ses, Sierre,,Switzerland Reconciliation, 24 Hour Art Gallery, Darwin and Watch This Space, Alice Springs, NT 1998 Cannibalism or Memoir, Guarrant Gallery, Canberra School of Art, ACT
Switchback Gallery, Faculty of Art and Design, Gippsland, Vic
1997
About the Heads and Hearts, LIP Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
1996
1001 Earth Humans, Marina Beach-Ancol, Jakarta, Indonesia
1995
Terracotta or The Case Land, Bentara Budaya, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
1991
Contemporary Indonesian Artist, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA and VCA, Melbourne, VicSelected Group Exhibitions
2012
Controversy, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Melbourne 2010 Setouchi International Art Festival, Kagawa, Japan
In the Balance: Art for a Changing World, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
2009
Temperature 2, Museum of Brisbane, Brisbane
Niigata Water and Land Art Festival, Niigata, Japan
2008
Recovering Lives, Drill Hall Gallery, Australian National University, ACT
Handle with Care, Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, AGSA
2007
Three Ways : Contemporary Sculpture from the Collection, Queensland Art Gallery
2006
Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial III, Niigata, Japan
Artery-Inaugural Exhibition, Singapore Management University, Singapore
2005
Echoes of Home, Museum Brisbane, Brisbane
2005-06
Open Letter, touring exhibition, Sydney, Bangkok, Manila and Kuala Lumpur
2005
Future Tense: Security and Human Right, Dell Gallery, Griffith University, Brisbane
2004
Contact pre Text Me, Sherman Galleries, Sydney, NSW
Contemporary Territory, Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory, NT
2003
They Give Evidence, opening exhibition for contemporary Asian space, Art Gallery of NSW Country-bution, Yogyakarta Biennial, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Interpellation, CP Open Biennial, Jakarta, Indonesia
Witnessing to Silence: Art and Human Rights, School of Art Gallery, ANU
Mourning Lost Paradise, Indonesian Pavilion, 50th Venice Biennale, Italy
Austral-Asia Zero Three, Sherman Galleries, Sydney, NSW
2000
Kwangju Biennale 2000, Kwangju, South Korea
From Asian Forests, Yokohama open-air art exhibition, Japan
1999
From Asian Forests, Kanazu Forest of Creation, Fukui, Japan
The Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 1999, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
1998
XXIV Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil
Begegnung 3:3 in Yogya, Taman Budaya, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Plastic (or Other Waste), Center of Resources, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok Art Project, Bangkok, Thailand
1997
Art in Southeast Asia 1997: Glimpses into the Future, MCA Tokyo, Hiroshima CMCA, Japan Befragung Der Raume, Magdeburg Museum, Magdeburg, Germany
Yokohama International Open Air Art Exhibition’97, Yokohama, Japan
1996
Tradition/Tension: Contemporary Arts in Asia, Asia Society Gallery, New York, then Vancouver and Perth
Linkage and Leakage, The Tanks, Cairns, Ql
Mata Perupa, Pagelaran Kraton Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
1995
Realism as an Attitude 4th Asian Art Show, Fukuoka Art Museum, travelling exhibition
Asian Peace Art, War and Art
1995, Osaka International Peace Centre, Osaka, Japan
Osaka Triennial 1995: Sculpture, Dome exhibition Hall, Osaka, Japan
1994
Quinta Bienale de la Habana, Nasional Museum, Havana, Cuba
Nur Gora Rupa, Taman Budaya Surakarta, Solo, Indonesia
1993
The First Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Qld
The 9th Jakarta Art Biennial, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, Indonesia
1992
Binal, Senisono Art Gallery, Yogakarta, Indonesia
New Art from Southeast Asia II, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Apace Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Kirin Plaza, Osaka, Japan Mobile, Museum City Project, Fukuoka, Japan
Performances
2012
Survivor, Gallery 4A, Sydney (touring to regional Qld, NSW)
2010
Survivor, Museum of Contemporary Art forecourt, Sydney
2007
For those: Who are poor, Who are suffer(ing), Who are oppressed, Who are voiceless, Who are powerless, Who are burdened, Who are Victims of violence, Who are Victims of a dupe, Who are Victims of injustice (1993), Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Qld
2005
Searching Displaced Bones, Old Canberra House, Australian University, Canberra
Litsus, Griffith University, Brisbane
2004
Family Portrait, Old Canberra House, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
For Those Who Have Been Killed, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
2003
Litsus, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
2000
Reconciliation, 24 Hour Art Gallery, Darwin and Watch This Space, Alice Springs, NT
1999
Api di Bulan Mei, The Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 1999, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
1998
Violence, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, WA
For Those Who Have Been Killed, Switchback Gallery, Gippsland, Victoria, Australia
1997
Violence, Western Front, Vancouver, Canada; Magdeburg Museum, Magdeburg, Germany For Those Who Have Been Killed, Dock 11, Berlin, Germany
1996
Earth Man in Jakarta, Marina Beach-Ancol, Jakarta, Indonesia Violence, Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns, Qld
Violence, Z Gallery, New York
1995
Man in Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
1994
Earth Man in Solo, Solo City, Indonesia
1993
For Those Who Have Been Killed, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Museum Affandi, Yogyakarta and UNS, Solo, Indonesia
1992
I’m Human Being, Daimaru Shopping Center, Fukuoka, Japan
Earth Man in Tenjin, Tenjin Area, Fukuoka, Japan
Grants and Awards
2004
Australia Council Grant
1997
The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York
Residencies
2007
School of Visual Arts, Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand 2004 School of Art, Australian National University
2003
School of Art, Australian National University
1999
Ecole Cantonale d’ Art du Valais (ECAV), Switzerland
1998
Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
Monash University, Gippsland Campus, Vic
1997
Western Front, Vancouver, Canada
Magdeburg and Berlin, Germany
1991
University of South Australia, Adelaide, SABibliography
Courtney Kidd, ‘Voice for Freedom’, Profile, Art Collector, July-September issue, 2013
Agung Hujatnikajennong, ‘Mengingat Senyap (Remembering Silence)’, ex. cat. 2012
Caroline Turner & Nancy Sever (eds), Wounds in our Heart, ex. cat. ANU Press, 2011
Alison Kubler, ‘Temperature 2: New Queensland Art’ (Review) ARTWORLD Issue #8, APR-MAY 2009, pp. 162-163
Wolfe, Ross., ‘Visual Arts in Adelaide’, Eyeline Magazine, Number 66 2008, p. 41
Anne Kirker, ‘Dadang Christanto’ , ARTWORLD Issue 4, Aug / Sep 2008, pp. 180 – 183 Felicity Fenner, ‘HANDLE WITH CARE’ Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, 2008
‘50 Most Collectable Artists’, Australian Art Collector, Issue 43, Jan – Mar 2008, p. 122 Sally Butler, ‘Dadang Christanto’, Art and Australia, Volume 45. Spring 2007, p. 132
Louise Martin-Chew, ‘Works of nature’s betrayal honour life’s preciousness’, The Australian, May 2007
Andrea Stretton, ‘Reading; Dadang Christanto’, Art & Australia, Volume 42, No. 2, summer 2004, pp. 271-273
Collections
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Australian National University, Canberra
Fukuoka Museum of Modern Art, Fukuoka, Japan
Kanazu Forest of Creation, Fukui, Japan
Magdeburg Museum, Magdeburg, Germany
Murdoch University Art Collection, Perth
Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory (MAGNT), Darwin Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Oie Hong Djien Museum, Magelang
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane
Wesfarmers Collection, Perth
Yuz Museum, Jakarta, Indonesia
Private collections national and international