Cover Image:
Detail from Floating Emotion #3 (full image and details on pg. 5)
No part of this publication may be reproduced, except for the purpose of research, criticism, and review, without first seeking written prior permission from the participating artists and publisher.
This eCatalog is produced and published online by Artemis Corporation Sdn Bhd., and hosted on Artemis Art’s website at https://artemisartgallery.com
It is Artemis Art’s utmost pleasure to present a collection of works by emerging Indonesian visual artist Taufik Ermas for our debut appearance in this year’s edition of Volta Basel. Originally from West Sumatra, Taufik currently lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where he attended the prestigious Institut Seni Indonesia (Indonesian Institute of the Arts), obtaining his Bachelor in Fine Art degree.
Taufik’s current body of work covers two major styles, both of which have been included in this collection. His Cut-Out series are paintings done on specially modified canvases and frames, with sections cut out in the shape of figure outlines, using the resulting negative space to suggest the appearance of the central figure. In his other series, the Contoured/Layered canvas works, physical lines, either embossed or debossed (indented) as the artist chooses, are created on the canvas surface through a process that involves a mix of sewing, stuffing and edge reinforcement, resulting in the creation of visible line structures and outlines of the focal figures in his work.
Both methods of canvas augmentation produce a body of work that brings a new physicality to paintings, central to the artist’s exploration of spatial dialectics and questions of self.
For the Contoured/Layered style of works, we have also included the canvas rear views in this catalog, providing a better appreciation and understanding of the technique used by the artist in creating his works.
Artemis Art Kuala Lumpur, June 2022
Taufik Ermas: The Sentience of Subtle Intelligence
Taufik
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Taufik Ermas
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Taufik Ermas: The Sentience of Subtle Intelligence
Taufik Ermas
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Taufik Ermas: The Sentience of Subtle Intelligence
Taufik
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Taufik Ermas
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Taufik Ermas
Speechless No. 2
Acrylic on Contoured Layered Canvas
45 x 55 cm
2020
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Taufik Ermas
Speechless No. 3
Acrylic on Contoured Layered Canvas
55 x 45 cm
2020
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Taufik Ermas
Blessed Mess Theory: Rhy-Cat
Series #1
UV Print and Acrylic on Contoured
Layered Canvas
20 x 15 cm 2022
Taufik Ermas
Blessed Mess Theory: Dog and Butterflies Dialog
UV Print and Acrylic on Contoured
Layered Canvas
30 x 30 cm 2022
Taufik Ermas
Blessed Mess Theory: Rhy-Cat
Series #3
UV Print and Acrylic on Contoured
Layered Canvas
20 x 15 cm 2022
Sold Sold
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Taufik Ermas
Blessed Mess Theory: Portrait Series #1
UV Print and Acrylic on Contoured Layered Canvas
30 x 25 cm
2022
Sold
Detail: Canvas Rear View
Blessed Mess Theory: Portrait Series #2
UV Print and Acrylic on Contoured Layered Canvas
30 x 25 cm
2022
Sold
Taufik Ermas: The Sentience of Subtle Intelligence
Taufik Ermas
Taufik Ermas: The Sentience of Subtle Intelligence
Taufik
The dialectics of space and investigations into human perception are two central elements embodied within the current body of work by Indonesian visual artist Taufik Ermas. The thought processes contributing to his artistic practice are heavily influenced by philosophy and psychology, two areas of human knowledge that are closely intertwined.
In 2006, Taufik almost lost his life in the tragic earthquake that shook the city of Yogyakarta, where he lives and works. He was rescued from the rubble in which he was momentarily trapped when the structure he was in collapsed.
The traumatic experience of being trapped within treacherously constricted space during this ordeal, not knowing whether he would survive, has since become an important driver in the development of his work, marking an important inflection point, something that made Taufik reevaluate his outlook to life, and consequentially, his approach to artmaking.
In his Cut-Out series of works, human silhouettes that outline the blank three-dimensional spaces in his sculptural paintings are symbolic of Taufik’s representation of the constant human quest to seek answers about ourselves, and our place in this world. The emptiness and void in this series of works are reflections of our own feelings of being incomplete, as we struggle with questions about our true purpose.
The aesthetic strength of this series is among the key reasons why he was selected as one of the two installation artists for the 2017 edition of Bakaba, the annual Padang artist showcase held as part of Jogja Art Weeks, during the month-long period surrounding ArtJog in Yogyakarta.
As an artist, Taufik continues to experiment and explore new forms his artwork might take.
His more recent Contoured/Layered artworks incorporate a different method of augmenting canvases, a process involving sewing, stuffing, and reinforcing that creates a dual structure on either side of the canvas – linear ridges on one, and analogous mirrored indented lines on the other.
Initially created to visually depict and imply psychological scarring, this technique has been expanded to become what the artist describes as “dual-surfaced paintings”; the reverse side of the canvas depicting a mirrored analog of the central subject, either outlined or indented. Artworks created using the Contoured/Layered technique express the many paradoxes of everyday life, and the many questions often arising from them.
Collectively, Taufik’s works clearly exemplify his strength as a figurative painter. But more interestingly, he is a skilled painter who has taken painting beyond mere renderings on simple twodimensional planes, the physicality and structure of the painting themselves becoming bearers of aesthetics and ideas the artist expresses.
2022 The Sentience of Subtle Intelligence, Volta Basel 2022, Basel, Switzerland
Invisible Presence, Mono8 Gallery, Manila, Philippines
2020 In Absentia (virtual exhibition), Mono8 Gallery, Manila, Philippines
2018 Bohemian Poetry (mini solo, Peaceful Seeker #2 project), Bale Banjar, Sangkring Art Space, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2015 Triple-Solo: Desrat Fianda, Wahyu Widyardini & Taufik Ermas, Sangkring Art Project, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (curated by Sudjud Dartanto)
2009 Eksplorasi Ruang, Galeri Katamsi, Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI), Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2020 Finalist, The Sovereign Asian Art Prize, The Sovereign Foundation, Hong Kong
2010 Finalist, Indonesia Art Awards
2007 Finalist, artmosphere Academic Art Award
2018 GLO’ART Global Art Center, Lanaken, Belgium
2016 GLO’ART Global Art Center, Lanaken, Belgium
NuArt Sculpture Park, Bandung, Indonesia
Since 2005, Taufik Ermas has participated in numerous group exhibitions both in his home country of Indonesia as well as internationally. His complete profile and CV may be viewed at Taufik’s artist profile page on Artemis Art’s website, at https://www.artemisartgallery.com/artists/taufik-ermas/
Alternatively, email us at info@artemisartgallery.com for any additional information.
