Nyoman Ridi

Masriadi was born 1973, in Gianyar, Bali. Masriadi received his training in art at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Yogyakarta (ISI). In Bali, where he was born, there were two traditions of painting - a sacred one and one of words for a Western audience - but his relationship to these is indirect. Masriadi received his training in art at the Institute Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta. From the time he was an art student, he had already been recognized by peers as one of the first contemporary Balinese artists who eased himself away from an encompassing concern with Balinese life, culture and traditions in his works. He is reputed to have stood in front of the canvas on a cardboard box to restrict himself from any distractions and fidgety behavior; to learn the skill of painting.The visual imagery and narratives in his paintings are derived from keen and intelligent observations of social life and behavioural traits. His visual vocabulary is striking, continuously refreshing and contemporaneously relevant. Early works show him sparring with Western modernism in the guise of cubism but meshing it with caricature, the language of street advertising and graffiti. The way he has overdrawn his finished paintings with a marker can best be seen as a means of inscribing himself in or against that tradition."Masriadi: Black Is My Last Weapon" was the artist's maiden solo show at the Singapore Art Museum which was co organised by Gajah Gallery in 2008. The exhibit spanned Masriadi's 10-year career and explored the evolution of his signature black-skinned figures, a motif now widely copied by other Indonesian painters.