Opportunity & Occasion. Panorama, an artshow by Satria Nugraha

You would not know from looking at the confidently composed art that grace the Deus Gallery’s walls for the latest show, Panorama, by Satria Nugraha that there is a singular notion from whence the germ of his ideas spring from. He wanders his neighbourhood haunts, selecting a variety of found objects. Items most people would walk past without a second glance, superfluous branches, shattered timber, damaged masonry and cracked concrete, all of them items labeled obsolete due to each of their intrinsic deficiencies; whether broken or decayed, they all represented the residue of our built-up environment. Satria lugs them off, back to his studio where he uses these metropolitan castoffs as either texture, or outlines or both.

People didn’t all arrive at once, like they do for most gallery openings, they drifted in slowly, like the tide, ebb and flow. Perhaps they were held at bay by the inclement weather or some earlier evening commitments. But over the course of the night, come they did. None were less than impressed by this perfectly balanced and mature show. The pieces evoked deep seated memories and explained forgotten times. For each viewer it’s different, for this one, there was childhood seaside adventures and Bali based mountain climbs. There is a confident simplicity in all the pieces that ultimately leaves room for the viewer to weave their memories to create their own unique interpretation.

Satria sees things differently, through opportunity or occasion, he sees beneath the surface of things, he sees below the immediately identifiable to a purer form. Chance has a heavy hand in what municipal remnants he finds and carts off to create his incredible Panoramas. 

Part of the show are two installations, one at either end of the gallery, here he’s stacked a miscellany of his stonework muses and seaside confidants, arranged in a seamless discourse with his discerning eye. They provided a rare look behind the curtain for those who would like to piece Satria’s puzzle together.

If the sale of art were a barometer for a successful show, then Satria has knocked his show, Panorama, well out of the park.

Satria T. Nugraha's (b.1986, Indonesia) latest exhibition, Panorama, is at the Deus Gallery in Canggu Bali running from 18^th Dec until 16^th Jan 2022.

Images by Didit Prasetyo Adiwibowo