If You Give Me Lemon, I’ll Make Lemonade: Tales from Tokyo and Tangkahan（SINGAPORE）

Solo Exhibition by Angki Purbandono (ID)

Mizuma Gallery is pleased to present If You Give Me Lemon, I’ll Make Lemonade: Tales from Tokyo and Tangkahan, a solo exhibition by Angki Purbandono, curated by the artist and Hermanto Soerjanto.

Angki Purbandono, one of Indonesia’s leading photography artists, has been working with scanography as his primary media for eleven years. His transition from camera to scanner was inspired by Man Ray, a 20th century modernist artist known for his photography works created with different approaches other than the camera. Angki still considers himself as a photography artist despite the medium he works with, because he believes that the essence of photography as an art form lies in the story behind.

The title of this exhibition refers to the artist’s unique awareness and perspective towards objects in his daily life, which invites the audience to consider an unexpected yet beautiful relationship between the objects and the human life. In his art making process, Angki strives to achieve a harmonious compromise with whatever imperfections life throws at us.

Angki’s works are strongly influenced by the places he visits, by objects he finds, and by his observations on how other people live in those places. This exhibition is a result of Angki’s artist residency programs in two places with very contrasting characteristics: in Tangkahan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, where he experienced the jungle environment, and in Tokyo, Japan, where he experienced a metropolitan city at its best. His month-long stay in Tangkahan was done in collaboration with Indonesian actor, Nicholas Saputra. Through 2 documentary clip videos and 34 photographic works, Angki entices us to look at the jungle and the metropolitan city from a different perspective and state of mind.

In this exhibition, Angki demonstrates his approach to various mediums by creating an installation constructed with videos, flags, banners, and lightboxes. This installation reflects people’s desire to build their lives for a better future, no matter where they are.

About the Artist

Angki Purbandono (b. 1971, Cepiring, Indonesia) studied in the Department of Photography in Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from 1994 to 1999. In 2002, he co-founded Ruang MES 56, an artist-run space in Yogyakarta specializing in contemporary photography of Indonesia. His major solo exhibitions include Happy Scan, BIASA ArtSpace, Bali (2008), Noodle Theory, Garis Art Space, Jakarta, Indonesia (2010), 2 Folders From Fukuoka, Vivi Yip Art Room, Jakarta (2010), The Swimmers, Mizuma Gallery, Singapore (2014), and most recently, Grey Area, Bangkok University Gallery, Bangkok (2017). His participation in group exhibitions spans across Asia and beyond, from The Philippines, Singapore, Korea, Thailand, and Japan, to Australia, Liechtenstein, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Angki lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.