ANTARA; BETWIXT & BETWEEN NOV 17 – DEC 21, 2023 Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Taking over Artotel's gallery spaces in her idiosyncratic style, this exhibition will mark the artist’s first show in Indonesia. Hanis Farisa will present a suite of new paintings and constructions in her signature visual lexicon of vivid colours and innovative artmaking.

Expanding the language of her paintings onto the walls and into the centre of the gallery space, Hanis’s distinctive approach to art making is immersive and deeply stimulating. At the core of the artist’s practice is an exploration of form, colour, and space through subversive and unexpected means. Firmly centred in the practice of painting, her work draws inspiration from a myriad of visual sources that range from the modernist architecture and furniture to functional objects. Hanis Farisa conceives her exhibitions as a total work of art, painting the walls with a bespoke design that activates the gallery space and constructs a visual rhythm through which dynamic dialogues between painting and object are formed. This all-encompassing conception of an exhibition speaks not only to the relationships between objects, but also the viewer’s place within the space.

Displayed in the centre of the gallery, Hanis's art constructions represent a very recent development in her practice, bringing her paintings into three-dimensions to be seen from multiple vantage points. Replete with spatial tension, her visual lexicon is rooted in juxtaposition. Likewise, earth-toned hues of blue, green, beige, and brown contrast brilliant reds and yellows. The result is a vibrant and expressive energy that draws viewers into Hanis’s unique vision. Her use of unmodulated colour obfuscates traditional perceptions of depth, confounding expectations to provoke engagement with the forms themselves, as well as the qualities inherent to canvas or wood. Instead, some works use colour to suggest a sense of perspective; grey or black forms may recall a sharp shadow in the vein of artists such as Giorgio Morandi and Giorgio de Chirico, whose mysterious, unsettling compositions hold significant inspiration for Hanis.

Borrowing its title from a well-known Malay adjective, ANTARA is a lesson in pauses, ambiguity. Hanis Farisa is inviting viewers to engage with artworks and gallery spaces with fresh eyes.