Anton Subiyanto

b. 1980, Indonesia

Anton Subiyanto brings the journey through the limit of a good imagination upon processes that brought up a simple surprise by absorbing the realness.  Encounter strangers in a large landscape are always growing an improvisation to picturing the comfortable vision into the artworks. Anton does adapt to the environment surrounding of his culture. The figures on his painting are talking about how the way of assimilating among society and how he creates the lines, colour and sense from the people in the particular journey.

He attributes to unmitigated consumption the general sadness and discontent people feel nowadays, but presents this message “with a spoonful of sugar, to help the medicine go down.” With stress stemming from the rat race, and the emptiness felt from the unending need to have the latest gadget or get the best of anything that is available, Subiyanto proffers a solution of a slower, more meditative stance at life and living with others, as his Javanese ancestors have. Focusing on the Javanese Hindu philosophical and ethical ideal of tepo seliro, a state of empathy and mutual respect, Subiyanto encourages us to create meaningful connections with the people we interact with, and in the process, create both social harmony and happiness.

Anton Subiyanto is an artist from Yogyakarta and was born in 1980. He is a graduate of the Indonesian Art Institute Yogyakarta majoring in Graphic Art. Starting in 2008, Anton has been active to participate in International art exhibitions. Anton was the winner of the United Overseas Bank (UOB), Southeast Asia Painting of the Year Award in 2014. In the same year, Anton has also won the fourth edition of UOB Indonesia’s Painting of the Year Award. Since 2008, Anton has participated in various group exhibitions in Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia.