EKO NUGROHO EXPLORES DIGITAL IDENTITY IN STRANGE MONSTER VIEW AT STPI SINGAPORE

Images courtesy of STPI

Exhibition dates: 22 August – 10 October 2026

How do we construct identity in an age where life is constantly mediated through screens? Indonesian contemporary artist Eko Nugroho examines this question in STRANGE MONSTER VIEW, a major solo exhibition opening at STPI – Creative Workshop & Gallery in Singapore.

Eko Nugroho

Building on a decade-long collaboration with STPI following his acclaimed 2013 exhibition We Are What We Mask, Nugroho presents a new body of print and paper works that reflects on identity, visibility, and the paradoxes of digital connection. Inspired by Singapore’s hyperconnected, smartphone-driven culture, the exhibition explores how mobile devices have become extensions of ourselves—shaping not only how we observe the world but also how we are perceived by others.

WE WATCH BEHIND THE GRASS | TERALIENASI | HAPPY ALIEN NATION | SYMMETRICAL LIFE IN A SYMMETRICAL MIND

Known for merging street art, graffiti, and comic aesthetics with traditional Indonesian visual languages such as wayang and batik, Nugroho populates the exhibition with his signature masked figures and hybrid creatures. Through these playful yet incisive characters, he addresses themes of surveillance, performance, alienation, and belonging in an increasingly connected world. Many of the works also draw from his everyday experiences around Robertson Quay, from local culinary encounters to Singapore’s National Day celebrations, grounding global concerns in personal observation.

Presented by Coulisse | INK

GROWING BUT NOT GROWTH | COMEDY IN A DYSTOPIAN LABYRINTH | ALL LOVE MATTER | ABANDONED DYSTOPIAN MONUMENT

Among the exhibition’s highlights are WE WATCH BEHIND THE GRASS and WE AWARE, which reflect the unease of constant observation; CHILI CRAB MASK and WE ARE REAL TOURIST, examining identity as performance; and WE CARE, WE SHARE alongside KEEP IN TOUCH BUT NOT TOUCH, exploring the contradictions of digital intimacy. Other works, including NOW EVERYONE IS LOST, TERALIENASI, and HAPPY ALIEN NATION, capture the growing sense of alienation and reality fatigue that defines contemporary life.

WE ARE REAL TOURIST

Extending beyond the gallery, STRANGE MONSTER VIEW will also activate public spaces across Singapore. Nugroho has been commissioned to create a large-scale mural on STPI’s façade, while three of his works will appear as an artistic intervention at Fort Canning MRT station, bringing his vibrant visual language into the city’s everyday landscape.

NOW EVERYONE IS LOST | KEEP IN TOUCH BUT NOT TOUCH | WE CARE #3 | WE SHARE #2

Running alongside the exhibition, STPI will host artist talks, printmaking workshops, and public programmes that further explore Nugroho’s multidisciplinary practice. In today’s hypervisible world, identity is no longer fixed, but continuously constructed, performed, and negotiated.

TERLALU BANYAK KONSTRUKSI DI KEI UNTUK KEHIDUPAN YANG POLOS INI | WE AWARE | CHILI CRAB MASK | WE WATCH BEHIND THE BONES