“I want my viewers to be intrigued by the figures in my paintings and their realities that exist beyond the prints covering them”
Budi Ubrux is an award winning Indonesian Master Artist. Ubrux’s paintings are alarming and haunting, yet aesthetic and alluring. His works are characterized by faceless mummified figures covered in newsprint, illustrating powerful satirical observations on topical social and political degeneration.
He vehemently opposes the ironic role of media in the disenfranchisement of individuals and feels a strong sense of disappointment in the prevalent ideologies. While media was historically supposed to serve as the "the eyes and ears of the people" with ethical integrity, today it has evolved into something the artist describes as "the ulcer of corruption". Exploring how reality is mediated and distorted by media, the artist wraps his subjects in newsprint entirely, referencing the way media wraps around human life. The viewers are intrigued by these figures and their realities that exist beyond the prints covering them.
The newsprints in the artist's works are executed in such intricate detail and texture that many viewers mistake his works for mixed media. While Ubrux is primarily a painter, he also applies this unique technique to statues, installations, and even vehicles.
Ubrux's works have held a special place in the hearts of many art collectors from all over the world. Prior to winning the Philip Morris Indonesian Art Award in 2000, Budi Ubrux was a billboard artist and painter based in Switzerland.
INDONESIA, National Gallery of Indonesia, Indonesia
Nggiring sapi neng PWI, Gedung PWI, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Togetherness, Parco Sculpture Park, Delchianti, Italy
Beyond the Headlines, iPreciation, Singapore
"If Walls Could Speak", MayianArt Show, ION Art Gallery, Singapore
Jogja Contemporary Artist, Art:1, Jakarta, Indonesia
Indonesian Artists: Works in the Gallery, iPreciation Gallery, Singapore, Singapore
Art: 1 Selected Contemporary Art, Art:1, Jakarta, Indonesia
Land Before Our Time: A Vernacular in Southeast Asian Art Making, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
Membaca Pager Piring: Mengenang Romo Mangun, Bentara Budaya, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
ARTJOG|14 – Legacies of Power, Taman Budaya, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
ARTJOG|13 – Maritime Culture, Taman Budaya, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Batang Community Group Exhibition, Batang, Central Java, Indonesia
Art Stage Singapore, Singapore
Closing the Gap, MIFA Melbourne, Australia
Maximum City, Jakarta Biennale, Jakarta, Indonesia