GAJAH GALLERY – “LITTRORAL IMAGES: METAPHORS AND FOOTNOTES FROM THE SHORE”

Images courtesy of Gajah Gallery

Solo Exhibition by Adam de Boer: 25 February – 19 March 202

Gajah Gallery proudly presents Adam de Boer’s first Jakarta solo exhibition titled Littoral Images: Metaphors and Footnotes from the Shore. This solo exhibition encompasses Adam’s persistent independent research of his heritage as an Indo-American artist as well as the batik colet technique. The resulting artwork strikes the delicate balance between in-text and in-practice investigation of the nuanced interregional history between Indonesia, Europe, and America.

Adam De Boer, Long Days Wane, 2022, batik and oil paint on linen, 150 x 100 cm

Encounters at the shoreline have birthed our collective history. So much of our global narrative has been wrapped up in complicated feelings between desire and disappointment, curiosity and apprehension, comfort and fear that have been mutually experienced by those peering out to sea from the shore and those looking towards the beach over miles of water. A contestation of one’s perspective, littorally, not literally. Through this exhibition, Adam takes up the challenge of bringing up difficult conversations about globalized existence and identity by using the sea as a mnemonic for the discourse.

Pantai Pandemi (Pandemic Beach) 2022, Batik and oil paint on linen, 58 x 40 inches / 147 x 101 cm

‘Littoral’ (an indefinite border between the land and sea) encompasses Adam’s current body of work that presents an aggregate of coastal images distinct in scale, palette, and narrative. Despite the title being homophonic to the word ‘literal’, the works in Littoral Images need to be read contextually so that the seemingly disparate vistas become a cohesive tale interwoven through their associations with the sea.

Presented by Coulisse | INK

The necessity for non-literal reading of the artworks is in line with Adam’s cultural background. As a diasporic individual, Adam’s knowledge of the region and its history comes often from research rather than direct and lived observation. Because of the cultural distance Adam has gone through, his method of footnoting and referencing leaves an apparent trace in this exhibition in the way that the paintings routinely cross-reference each other. Some of the paintings in this exhibition provide context to another artwork, while some parallel each other as conceptual antitheses. More than just internal conversation within the artworks in the show, Adam also dedicates and references other traveler-artists in his work – Annah the Javanese (After Gauguin), Studio Window at Teluk Gerupuk (After Spilliaert), Littoral Images, for A.B. (After Elms), paintings that are an homage to those whom he knows personally as his contemporaries as well as those that came before him. Further than just the visual arts, Adam also references literature pieces such as Anthony Burgess’s 1964 trilogy The Long Day Wanes, Karen Tei Yamashita’s 1997 novel Tropic of Orange, and cultural artifacts such as the cordiform projection map and the Fool’s Cap map.

Ambling Along the Tropic of Orange, 2022, Batik and oil paint on linen, 50 x 50 inches / 127 x 127 cm

The indefinite nature of the ‘Littoral’ zone can also be interpreted as representing Adam’s in-between cultural identity as an Indo-Dutch-American, which Adam has explored in the past decade by incorporating traditional Javanese craft as a medium. The pieces in this series are created with the batik colet technique that imbues a pictorial quality and puzzle-like image-making logic to the artworks. In this aspect, the word ‘Littoral’ then also encompasses the tension between the inherent cultural aesthetic of the wax-resist batik painting techniques and the urban subject matter in his paintings.

Daun Dawn (Dawn Leaf), 2022, Batik and oil paint on linen, 51 x 35.5 inches / 130 x 90 cm

Lastly, just as crucial as the in-depth cultural research and technical virtuosity that the artist has, Adam’s love for surfing and frequent encounters with the sea have endowed him with a keen sensitivity to depict bodies of water both naturalistically and metaphorically, making Littoral Images a one-of-a-kind show made especially for this opportunity in Jakarta.

Fool’s Cap Map of the World no.4, 2022, Batik and oil paint on linen, 35.5 x 51 inches / 90 x 130 cm

About the artist: Adam De Boer (b.1984) graduated with a BA in Painting from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (2006) and an MA in Fine Art from the Chelsea College of Art, London (2012). Recent exhibitions include Gajah Gallery, Jakarta and Singapore (2023, 2022); Ben Brown Fine Arts, London and Hong Kong (2022); Taymour Grahne Projects, London (2022); The Hole, New York and Los Angeles (2022, 2023); Hunter Shaw Fine Art, Los Angeles (2020/2018); World Trade Centre, Jakarta (2018); and Art|Jog, Yogyakarta (2018/2015).

De Boer is currently a Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellow and in 2017 was awarded a Fulbright Research Fellowship to Java, Indonesia. Other grants include those from the University of the Arts, London + Arts for India, The Cultural Development Corporation, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and The Santa Barbara Arts Fund.

Growing up in Southern California as a first-generation American, De Boer almost unconsciously accepted his American identity. His family’s American identity, however, was deliberately adopted. Theirs was birthed by politically-forced migration from Dutch-Indonesia and reinforced by assimilation into midcentury Southern California life—a process that implicitly demanded that they pack away their grief and sense of dislocation. De Boer’s artistic practice revives his family’s Indonesian cultural history and aesthetic traditions nearly erased by acculturation. This exploration of heritage draws on Western painting history and Javanese traditional batik craft to acknowledge that rather than an exception, the trauma of dislocation, complexity of cultural hybridity, and spiritual strength required of the migrant experience are intrinsic aspects of Americanness and many other cultures as well. His work highlights how sustained engagement with cultural difference and acknowledgement of injustice is essential to build truly inclusive societies.

Gajah Gallery dengan bangga mempersembahkan pameran tunggal pertama Adam De Boer di Jakarta berjudul Littoral Images: Metaphors and Footnotes from the Shore. Pameran tunggal ini merupakan sebuah kulminasi penelitian independen Adam tentang latar belakangnya sebagai seniman Indo-Amerika serta teknik batik colet. Karya seni yang dihasilkan menampilkan keseimbangan antara penelitian kepustakaan dan praktek lapangan mengenai sejarah antar wilayah antara Indonesia, Eropa, dan Amerika yang rumit dan berlapis.

Adam De Boer, Long Days Wane, 2022, batik and oil paint on linen, 150 x 100 cm

Sejarah kolektif kita lahir dari berbagai perjumpaan yang terjadi di daerah pesisir. Begitu banyak narasi global kita yang terbungkus dalam perasaan rumit antara hasrat dan kekecewaan, keingintahuan dan ketakutan, kenyamanan dan keraguan yang telah dialami bersama oleh mereka yang mengintip ke arah laut dari pantai dan mereka yang melihat ke arah pantai setelah berbulan-bulan terapung di air. Sebuah kontestasi perspektif yang terjadi secara litoral (ambang), bukan secara harfiah. Melalui pameran ini, Adam menantang dirinya untuk membuka percakapan sulit tentang eksistensi dan identitas global dengan menggunakan laut sebagai mnemonik wacana.

Pantai Pandemi (Pandemic Beach), 2022, Batik and oil paint on linen, 58 x 40 inches / 147 x 101 cm

Kata ‘Littoral’ (Perbatasan tak terdefinisikan antara daratan dan laut) menggambarkan sifat karya Adam saat ini yang menghadirkan kumpulan gambar pesisir yang berbeda dalam skala, palet warna, dan narasi. Meski judulnya homofonik dengan kata ‘literal’, karya-karya dalam Littoral Images perlu dibaca secara non-literal atau kontekstual agar pemandangan yang tampak berlainan dapat bergabung menjadi sebuah kisah kohesif yang terjalin melalui keterkaitannya dengan laut.

Presented by Coulisse | INK

Keharusan pembacaan non-literal dalam karya seni Adam sesuai dengan latar belakang budaya Adam. Sebagai individu diaspora, pengetahuan Adam tentang kampung halaman dan sejarahnya seringkali berasal dari penelitian pustaka bukan dari observasi langsung. Karena keterjarakan budaya yang dialami Adam, metode catatan kaki dan referensialnya meninggalkan jejak yang nyata dalam pameran ini berupa lukisan-lukisan yang secara rutin saling merujuk satu sama lain. Beberapa lukisan dalam pameran ini memberikan konteks pada lukisan lainnya, sementara beberapa karya malah membantah satu sama lain dalam antitesis konseptual. Tak hanya itu, lebih dari sekadar dialog internal dalam pameran, Adam juga mendedikasikan dan mereferensikan seniman-penjelajah lain dalam karyanya seperti – Annah the Javanese (After Gauguin), Studio Window at Teluk Gerupuk (After Spilliaert), Littoral Images, for A.B. (After Elms), lukisan yang merupakan penghargaan kepada orang-orang yang dia kenal secara pribadi sebagai seniman seangkatannya serta seniman pendahulunya. Lebih dari sekadar seni visual, Adam juga mereferensikan karya sastra seperti trilogi tahun 1964 karya Anthony Burgess, The Long Day Wanes, novel Tropic of Orange karya Karen Tei Yamashita yang terbit tahun 1997, dan artefak budaya seperti peta proyeksi kordiform dan peta Fool’s Cap Map.

Ambling Along the Tropic of Orange, 2022, Batik and oil paint on linen, 50 x 50 inches / 127 x 127 cm

Sifat zona ‘Littoral’ yang tidak terdefinisikan juga dapat dimaknai sebagai metafora dari identitas kultural Adam yang berada di antara sebagai Indo-Belanda-Amerika; sisi yang telah dieksplorasi Adam dalam satu dekade terakhir ini dengan menginkorporasikan kerajinan tradisional Jawa sebagai media seninya. Karya-karya dalam seri dalam pameran ini dibuat dengan teknik batik colet yang menanamkan kualitas ilustratif dan logika puzzle ke dalam karya seni. Dalam aspek ini, kata ‘Littoral’ kemudian juga mencakup ketegangan antara estetika budaya yang melekat pada teknik melukis batik dan subjek urban dalam lukisannya.

Daun Dawn (Dawn Leaf), 2022, Batik and oil paint on linen, 51 x 35.5 inches / 130 x 90 cm

Terakhir, sama pentingnya dengan penelitian budaya mendalam dan keahlian teknis yang dimiliki Adam, adalah kecintaannya pada olahraga selancar dan kedekatannya dengan laut yang telah memberinya kepekaan yang tajam untuk menggambarkan badan air baik secara naturalistik maupun metaforis, membuat Littoral Images sebuah pameran unik yang tepat untuk pameran tunggal pertama Adam di Jakarta.

Fool’s Cap Map of the World no.4, 2022, Batik and oil paint on linen, 35.5 x 51 inches / 90 x 130 cm