Riono Tanggul

kohesi Initiatives is pleased to present Di Timur Matahari (In the East, the Sun), Riono Tanggul’s (b. 1984, Yogyakarta, Indonesia) first solo exhibition with the gallery. The solo exhibition presents new works by Tatang (Riono Tanggul’s nickname) defined by intimate explorations and experimentations of images, techniques, and media choices. Di Timur Matahari encapsulates Tatang’s artistic achievement and mastery, consisting of 7 paintings on canvas and more than 15 drawings on paper with varying types and sizes.

The exhibition takes its title from a song by WR Supratman—an Indonesian National Hero, journalist, and songwriter who wrote both the lyrics and melody of the national anthem of Indonesia, “Indonesia Raya”—also titled Di Timur Matahari (“In the East, the Sun” in English). The song becomes Tatang's foundation in his way of life, both as a person and an artist today. The song’s four simple lines are meant to be sung repeatedly and upliftingly, with the sun rising from the east interpreted as the beginning of a struggle. This exhibition marks twenty years of Tatang’s artistic journey and is his first solo exhibition in the past 6 years.

Tatang’s body of work exemplifies his interest in constructing and distorting forms. He experiments with various painting and drawing mediums to explore the depictions of forms, transforming them from something tangible into intangible. Cropped bodies, statues, fabrics, flora, landscapes—these are some of the things you will likely encounter in his works, appropriated and stripped of their function or meaning. His works are filled with compositions and juxtapositions of forms that assemble into familiar-looking figures we thought we recognize, but they collide, stack, and combine with each other, making us question the reality that exists in them while also challenging our perception. Where an image or form has the characteristic of being absolute, Tatang manifests it into something that is in between, creating a sense of ambivalence.