Public Art x Roby Dwi Antono

20.06.2024 - 09.09.2024

For the first time, CAN Art Ibiza exhibits a public artwork in Ibiza, Vara del Rey. As part of the program and commitment of CAN Art Ibiza with the dissemination and contemporary creation of the island promoting art week in Ibiza. On view until September 9th. 

Nalakala
Roby Dwi Antono (b. 1990, Semarang, Indonesia)
"This work explores human relationships with time and the laws of nature. It represents the idea that the accumulation of our actions and experiences from the past will always be the root of present and future events. Time will pass, and things that seem trivial will impact our lives later on. Nalakala signifies purity and serves as a reminder for me to always do good." - Roby Dwi Antono

Nalakala's silent pose and calm gaze convey efforts to eliminate worries about the future. Her eyes are large and clear. One of them reflects the composition of microorganisms in the past when the first microscopic life in the universe occurred, and the other one reflects the star clusters and other materials that make up the cosmos. Many questions about the universe have not yet been answered and will remain unanswered, so the uncertainty and unpredictability of this mystery continuously worry and scare us. As a microcosm (small world), humans are an inherent part of the macrocosm (large world), and the two are closely related. In the past, humans always respected and maintained the harmony of the big world (the universe) by maintaining the balance of their own small world (morally and spiritually). With this in mind, human behavior is bound to eternally have future consequences for themselves and the universe at large.

Roby Dwi Antono’s stylized portraits of wide-eyed children and mythological creatures recall the works of Pop surrealists Mark Ryden and Yoshitomo Nara. Fusing fantastical imagery with classic Renaissance aesthetics, Antono draws upon themes of heroism, pop culture, and macabre humor to illuminate the contradictions of the human experience. Antono is a self-taught painter and illustrator and has been featured both in Indonesia and internationally in numerous solo and group exhibitions. He lives and works in Yogyakarta.

In collaboration with Volery Gallery and MadFaber