Mind Set Art Center is honoured to invited Keong Ruoh Ling as the guest curator to present a solo exhibition by Syaiful Garibaldi “∞ Lemniscate” from the 28th of July to the 1st of September.
Syaiful, fondly known as Tepu amongst his friends had started as a student of the agricultural department in the university but eventually graduated with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in printmaking from ITB. This exposure to the 2 disciplines would henceforth inform his art practice, an artistic expression that is cross-disciplinary where art and science meets. Tepu’s interest in the microorganism that ranges from fungus to various decomposers in biosphere probes him into observing the life cycle of fungus and more recently the decomposing phase of human flesh, which underlying the macabre and morbid subject, nevertheless comes through a source of endless life and pulsating energy. Metaphorically and biologically, the decomposition process represents a cycle of death, decay, regeneration and birth that repeats itself incessantly. Observing this infinitesimal world under the microscope allows the artist an endless source of inspiration to create compositions, which are visually intriguing and philosophically illuminating: a visual feast of colours and forms that is essentially the fundamental spring of life where decomposing, is to allow regeneration. This is a poignant commentary on the existential state of being for all things living and dead.
About the Curator
Keong Ruoh Ling joined Christie’s in 1996 as a junior specialist of the very young department of Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art and became the head of department in 2000. When she left Christie’s in 2011 the Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art department has gone through a relocation from Singapore to Hong Kong and numerous auctions which would not only established unprecedented auction records for the many artists from the region but would also eventually define the category with a distinctive mark of professionalism and scholarship. She set up at Present in 2016 that aspires to present thoughtfully curated exhibitions with a playful twist or an experimental edge by Contemporary Southeast Asian artists. At Present is a nomadic curatorial entity that will strategically presents its program in various cities with a singular purpose of exposing the artists beyond home ground whilst staying in sight of their audience and collectors back home. Keong writes and lectures on Southeast Asian Modern and Contemporary Art in English and Chinese regularly.
∞ Lemniscate Syaiful Garibaldi
Past exhibition
