One of Indonesia’s most successful living artists on the burly black characters that made him a star
- I Nyoman Masriadi’s fascination with comic books, superheroes and their exaggerated physiques turned into a signature style popular with collectors
- The Bali-born artist’s paintings touch on ideas including identity, technology and materialism and mix them with sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek humour
One of the secrets to Indonesia painter I Nyoman Masriadi’s phenomenal success is being a night owl.
The Bali-born artist, whose latest artwork is currently on show at Art Basel Hong Kong (ending today), likes to paint his huge bold canvases – often featuring black, impossibly muscled figures that have become his signature – in the still of night, while everyone else is asleep.
“It’s nice and cool and there is total silence: no distractions,” he says with a smile, looking slightly embarrassed to be talking about himself. “That’s the time when I feel I work best. I don’t have to go anywhere, either. I work in the bedroom – the painting’s right next to my bed.”
The artist, 45, saw one of his paintings sell at auction for HK$7.82 million in 2008 – hitting the magic US$1 million mark – which at the time was the highest price paid for an artwork by a living Southeast Asian artist.
Masriadi, whose father earned a living as a wood carver, has continued his childhood fascination with comic books, superheroes and their powerful, exaggerated physiques – which sparked his fertile imagination and helped inspire his works’ distinctive characters – into adulthood. So, too, has he maintained a devotion to video games.
“After school I’d often go to the local shop and buy a comic … only one at a time. Now my passion is playing computer games. So, when I wake up at night the first thing I do is play on my computer. After that, I’ll start to paint.” This near-obsession for video games inspired the self-portrait, No More Game, of the weary artist, head back, slumped in a chair in his study.
