It is more about the spiritual power of the Dragon in Asia as part of a magma that is eager to be always awake and alert from a deep sleep. It comes out of the magma as a “power or Chi” to fulfill the humanitarian missions in life.
 

Heri Dono
 

Heri Dono (b. 1960, Jakarta, Indonesia) has developed a fantastical world of dichotomies in his paintings. With humorously juxtaposing reality with imagination, folk with contemporary art, politics with fiction, the tension between these opposing forces creates narratives that cut across a complex, multi-layered system of ideologies. Heri Dono’s artistic methodology re-examines power structures through satirical illustrations of humans versus the Other, and man versus machine, offering a kind of passage for others to survive real-life transitions during challenging times.

He is known for his uniquely contemporary Javanese style inspired by traditional Wayang Kulit (puppet theatre). Through his construction of thoughtful layers in his work, he emphasizes the more serious, underlying reflections on and criticisms of social and political issues such as military intervention, political corruption, and environmental destruction, allowing easier engagement with often difficult concepts.
 

Lender: Tang Contemporary Art