Zikry Rediansyah Indonesian, b. 1994
After Coffee, 2025
Acrylic on Canvas
30 x 30 cm
Born in 1994 in Bandung, where he continues to live and work, Zikry is a graduate of the Visual Art Education program at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI). Since 2011, he...
Born in 1994 in Bandung, where he continues to live and work, Zikry is a graduate of the Visual Art Education program at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI). Since 2011, he has been actively producing paintings and performance works that excavate the absurdities of everyday life and the often awkward business of simply existing. His artistic lexicon is deeply personal, yet strangely universal, built not on grand narratives, but on the odd choreography of the mundane.
At the heart of his painted world is a recurring figure: Alex. Who is Alex? We might ask. At first glance, he might appear to be just another stand-in for the artist or a familiar kind of protagonist, a regular Joe navigating irregular circumstances. But Alex is anything but ordinary. His presence in the paintings is marked with what can only be described as a kind of existential slapstick: his movements are exaggerated, his expressions deadpan, his surroundings surreal.
lex is often joined by his girlfriend in these painted vignettes, and together they engage in activities that feel equal parts surreal and oddly mundane: drowning in an oversized swimming pool, parasailing across minimalistic skies, or simply existing in vast, uncaring landscapes. What’s remarkable is not just what they are doing, but how easy it is to overlook them at first glance. You might initially take in a beautifully restrained landscape, clean lines, soft colors, a sense of calm—before suddenly spotting tiny Alex, tumbling through the scene with casual disregard for logic or safety. It’s as if he doesn’t want to be noticed. Or perhaps he simply accepts that he never truly will be.
So, when Zikry paints his recurring character Alex, slumped mid-fall from a chair, other times adrift in a chaotic living room, the result is not merely humorous or ironic. These scenes do not ask us to admire triumph or resolution; instead, they gently insist that we consider what it means to continue under the weight of absurdity—with humor, with persistence, and perhaps most importantly, without illusion. Zikry’s practice is not just about painting characters; it is about visualizing the ongoing effort of being.
At the heart of his painted world is a recurring figure: Alex. Who is Alex? We might ask. At first glance, he might appear to be just another stand-in for the artist or a familiar kind of protagonist, a regular Joe navigating irregular circumstances. But Alex is anything but ordinary. His presence in the paintings is marked with what can only be described as a kind of existential slapstick: his movements are exaggerated, his expressions deadpan, his surroundings surreal.
lex is often joined by his girlfriend in these painted vignettes, and together they engage in activities that feel equal parts surreal and oddly mundane: drowning in an oversized swimming pool, parasailing across minimalistic skies, or simply existing in vast, uncaring landscapes. What’s remarkable is not just what they are doing, but how easy it is to overlook them at first glance. You might initially take in a beautifully restrained landscape, clean lines, soft colors, a sense of calm—before suddenly spotting tiny Alex, tumbling through the scene with casual disregard for logic or safety. It’s as if he doesn’t want to be noticed. Or perhaps he simply accepts that he never truly will be.
So, when Zikry paints his recurring character Alex, slumped mid-fall from a chair, other times adrift in a chaotic living room, the result is not merely humorous or ironic. These scenes do not ask us to admire triumph or resolution; instead, they gently insist that we consider what it means to continue under the weight of absurdity—with humor, with persistence, and perhaps most importantly, without illusion. Zikry’s practice is not just about painting characters; it is about visualizing the ongoing effort of being.
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