Norma, Forma

Srisasanti Gallery proudly presents Norma, Forma, a group exhibition featuring the works of 8 Indonesian artists, unveiling the tension between the persistence of norms and the necessity of its transformation. The exhibition features paintings in various mediums, inviting us to consider how artists explore the liminal spaces of social norms—reframing the familiar, rewriting the rules, and reforming how we look at and live our lives.

Norms are not neutral. Cultural, political, and historical forces or legacies shape, reinforce, and regulate them. What is considered normal in one context may be questioned or rejected in another place or society. While they can create stability, they can also stifle innovation, differences, and changes in favor of conformity and continuity. Like spirits, norms are invisible, and that is precisely where their power lies—operating unnoticed, beneath the surface.

In contemporary life, tension constantly arises between holding onto norms as we know them and breaking free from them. Social conditions, technological development, and geopolitical shifts continually expose the limitations of old structures, revealing the inadequacies of many past norms in facing today’s realities. Within this dilemma, Norma, Forma invites us to reflect and challenge the invisible mechanisms of conformity and propose new forms of engagement, agency, and understanding. How are norms formed? Who has the right to enforce them?

The exhibition presents works from Indonesian artists including Agugn, Budi Agung Kuswara, Entang Wiharso, Eko Bintang, Gilang Fradika, J. Ariadhitya Pramuhendra, Lemuel E. Saputra, Riono Tanggul.