Palm oil in daily life

Yeo Workshop

About Artwork

Edition of 100, Sale proceeds will go towards the support of palm oil deforestation awareness efforts

Deeply concerned about geo-political and environmental issues around Southeast Asia, particularly his home country Indonesia, Maryanto creates evocative monochrome paintings, drawings, and installations that remind us of underlying power hierarchies that invisibly demarcate our lands. On the occasion of Art Dubai 2023, Maryanto has developed a new body of work specially for Bawwaba, a section curated by independent curator Vipash Purichanot spotlighting notable artists from the Global South.

Expanding on his past research into various areas of exploitation in Indonesia such as volcanic sand mining around Mount Merapi and oil dredging in Wonocolo, East Java, Maryanto continues to bring attention to environmental issues in the country. This time, he sheds light on the rampant development of palm oil plantations in South Kalimantan and the gradual encroachment of its forests as a result. Indonesia is the largest exporter of palm oil, accounting for 68% of the world’s palm oil production. At the same time, he touches on the themes of transmigration, ownership, and capitalism. While he does not set out to frame his practice as environmental activism, Maryanto considers his works as aspirational: bringing public awareness to issues that he is not able to change on his own.

Read more about Maryanto’s Palm Oil Project here: https://www.yeoworkshop.com/viewing-room/26-maryanto-when-the-trees-fall/

Presented as part of:
Everyday Things, 1 April – 7 May 2023, Yeo Workshop, Singapore
Art Dubai, BAWWABA ‘Against Disappearance’, 1 – 5 March 2023, Dubai, UAE

Artist Profile

Maryanto (b.1977, Indonesia) is an Indonesian artist who creates black and white paintings and installations that examine socio-political structures through the depiction of landscapes. His work often explores the impact of technological development, industrialization, pollution, and resource exploitation on the natural world.

Maryanto graduated from the Faculty of Fine Art, Indonesia Institute of the Art, Yogyakarta in 2005, and completed a residency at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in 2013. Maryanto has presented solo exhibitions at Yeo Workshop, Singapore (2017 and 2015); Art Basel Hong Kong, Discoveries Section (2016); the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam; ArtAffairs, Amsterdam; and Heden, Denhaag (2013). He has also recently participated in notable group exhibitions at the Koganei Art Spot Chateau, Tokyo (2018); the Samstag Museum of Art, Adelaide; the Asia Culture Centre, Gwangju; the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels (2017); the Singapore Art Museum, Singapore (2015); and the Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam, Amsterdam (2013). Maryanto has also been featured at international biennials such as the 2nd Industrial Biennale, Labin, Croatia (2018); the Setouchi Triennale, Naoshima, Japan (2016); the Jakarta and Jogja Biennales, Indonesia (2015); and the Moscow Biennale, Moscow, Russia (2013). Maryanto lives and works in Yogyakarta.

Artist:

Maryanto

Medium:

Silk screen print on paper

Size:

51 x 35.5 cm

Year:

2023