Entang Wiharso (b. 1967, Tegal, Central Java) confronts the universal issues of power, loss, and love through investigations of ideology, philosophy, and identity. Particularly known for his large-scale paintings, wall sculptures, and installations, his work heightens our ability to perceive, feel and understand human experiences centered on love, hate, fanaticism, belonging, and home. Wiharso’s work is layered with social, political, and sexual critique, revealing a complex picture of the human condition by integrating narrative tools and placing unconventional materials together.

A 2019 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient who maintains studios in the U.S. and Indonesia, Wiharso’s research activities were cut short by the Covid crisis and he returned to isolate and work in his Rhode Island studio. He developed a distinctive use of glitter to create lush, detailed surfaces that draw viewers in while offering biting, humorous and poignant commentary. The exhibition Double Horizon features Wiharso’s newest works along with select works from the past three decades. The selection of works focuses on the duality of cultures and experiences in his two homelands—Indonesia and America.

Wiharso states, “This exhibition is a way to see and re-present my artistic practice over a span of three decades. I believe Art is knowledge and we should share it with others. Having spent significant portions of the last three decades outside the city of Jogja working in the national and international arena, I want to share this exhibition with the Jogja community where I have lived and worked.” Wiharso notes, “The ideas underpinning this body of work reverberate across geographic and national boundaries, but are rooted in an awareness of the land and horizon as witness to history, immune to our trials and tribulations.”

Key motifs in his work–cars, floating islands, the night sky, vast landscapes–are stages upon which a narrative about history, geography, and family are presented. He looks at the land and seas as a site of history, migration, and trade and considers the personal reasons and motivating factors that shape social systems, interconnections, and conflicts that still impact us today. The tableaux of the family reflect a timeline of events unfolding over generations and is a narrative about conflict and compromise, examining how external pressures and expectations unfold within private relationships and communities.