Gajah Gallery


Gajah Gallery is an art gallery in Singapore that hosts artwork related to the socio-cultural interests of Asia. It was established in 1995 by Jasdeep Sandhu and promotes Southeast Asian Contemporary Art with an emphasis on Indonesian Contemporary. The gallery holds exhibitions, some of which have been collaborations with the Singapore Art Museum and the National University of Singapore Museum. Gajah Gallery is also a member of Art Galleries Association in Singapore.

Description

Gajah Gallery displays, promotes and researches Southeast Asian art. The collection was previously housed at the MICA building, adjacent to Singapore City Hall and close to the Singapore Philatelic Museum, Singapore Art Museum and National Museum of Singapore.
The MICA building, formerly known as the Old Hill Street Police Station, was erected in 1934 to house the Hill Street Police Station and Barracks, and was gazetted as a national monument in 1998 and transformed into premises for MICA.
In 2015, Gajah Gallery moved to an even bigger space located at Tanjong Pagar Distripark. The new space features white walls over 18 ft high and 4500 sqft of floor space. It is situated in a fully operational shipping warehouse on the historic port of Tanjong Pagar.
Following that, Gajah Gallery also opened up a second space in Indonesia's arts capital, Yogyakarta. Yogya Art Lab is an experimental platform for prominent and emerging artists to come together to produce works across various mediums such as paper, sculpture, performance and digital visual production. As for now, the lab has collaborated with established artists like Yunizar and Ashley Bickerton in producing some of their finest bronze and aluminium sculptures respectively.

Collections and exhibitions

Gajah Gallery focuses on displaying contemporary Southeast Asian art from the region, including art from Singapore. The Gallery exclusively represents six of the leading Indonesian contemporary artists, Nyoman Masriadi, Rudi Mantofani, Yunizar, Handiwirman Sahputra, Yusra Martunus and Jumaldi Alfi. This limited scope ensures that the Gallery fulfill's their primary mission which is to gain representation for the artist before increasing their stable of artists.
YearExhibitionArtistCountryVenue
1996A celebration of CultureTruong Dinh Hao, U Aung Soe, Wayan Paramartha, Surachet KaewchamrasVietnam, Indonesia, ThailandAlliance Francaise -
1997Illusion Myth and RealityEntang Wiharso and NasirunIndonesiaGajah Gallery-
1998Bleeding in the SunGorbadhan AshIndiaGajah Gallery-
1998Mystical Monsters in Contemporary SocietyHeri DonoIndonesiaThe American Club -
1999Myths and MysticI Made Djirna and Wayan ParamarthaIndonesiaGajah Gallery-
1999Waiting for NothingVasan SitthiketThailandGajah Gallery-
2000Between Abstract and FigurativeSporean artists including Thomas Yeo, Koh Sia Yong, Tang Da WuSingaporeGajah Gallery-
2000SauDinh Quan, Bui Huu Hung, Phan Cam Thuong, Bang Sy Truc, Hong Viet Dung, Nguyen Thanh BinhVietnameseGajah Gallery-
2000Heart of YogyaNasirun and Pupuk Daru PurnomoIndonesiaGajah Gallery-
2000In Full BloomOlga PoluninSingaporeGajah Gallery-
2000Rustic CharmChandra Bhattacharjee, Gautam BasuIndiaGajah Gallery-
2001Unbound LinearityJogen ChowdhuryIndiaGajah Gallery-
2001Vietnamese AffairDinh Quan, Bang Sy Truc, Dao Ha Phong, Le Thiet Cuong, Quach Dong Phuong, Nguyen Quoc Hoi, Nguyen Xuan TiepVietnamGajah Gallery-
2001Of Land and TraditionPham Cam Thuong, Bang Sy TrucVietnamGajah Gallery-
2001Silent SpacesAli EsmaelipourIranGajah Gallery-
2001InteractionsJaya GangulyIndiaGajah Gallery-
2001Fingerprint of an ArtistHaji WidayatIndonesiaGajah Gallery-
2001The New SensationYunizarIndonesiaGajah Gallery-
2001Fortress of the HeartHeri DonoIndonesiaGajah Gallery-
2002Truth and TraditionNyoman SukariIndonesiaGajah Gallery-
2002TaksuI Made DjirnaIndonesiaGajah Gallery-
200210 Wasted YearsJason LimSingaporeGajah Gallery-
2005Expressions on PaperMochtar ApinIndonesiaGajah Gallery-
2005Between A Glass and two BottlesNguyen Trung and I Made DjirnaVietnam and IndonesiaGajah Gallery-
2006Drawing GroundSrihadi Soedarsono and Chua Ek KayIndonesia and SingaporeSAM and Gajah Gallery-
2007Coretan : Recent Works by YunizarYunizarIndonesiaNUS Museum and Gajah Gallery-
2008Silent WordsMangu PutraIndonesiaGajah Gallery-
2008Black is my Last WeaponNyoman MasriadiIndonesiaSAM and Gajah Gallery-
2009JENDELA: A Play of The OrdinaryHandiwirman Saputra, Jumaldi Alfi, Yusra Martunus, Rudi Mantofani, YunizarIndonesiaNUS Museum and Gajah Gallery-
2009Being:Ahmad Zakii AnwarMalaysiaNUS Museum and Gajah Gallery-
2009Spacing IdentitiesJ. Ariadhitya PramuhendraIndonesiaNUS Museum and Gajah Gallery-
2010Masriadi Diary 2010Nyoman MasriadiIndonesiaGajah Gallery-
2010Jogja PsychedeliaYunizarIndonesiaSoemadja Gallery, Faculty of Art and Design, Bandung Institute of Technology and Gajah Gallery-
2011Nyoman Masriadi- Recent WorksNyoman MasriadiIndonesiaPaul Kasmin Gallery, New York and Gajah Gallery-
2011Those the Gods Love Grow MightierTeng Nee CheongSingaporeGajah Gallery-
2012The Fountain of LamnethGroup Exhibition-Badung ArtistSingaporeGajah Gallery-
2012Art Stage 2012Nyoman Masriadi, Yunizar, M.Irfan, Rudi Mantofani, Handwirnan Saputra, Ahmad Zakii AnwarGajah Gallery-
2012India Art Fair 2012Nyoman Masriadi, Yunizar, M. Irfan, Handwiriman Saputra, Aye Tjoe ChristineIndiaOkla, New Delhi, India
2012Art Hong KongNyoman MasriadiHong KongHong Kong Convention Centre
2013Art Stage SingaporeNyoman Masriadi, Yunizar, Ashley Bickerton, Nam June Paik, Lotta de Beus and Teng Nee CheongSingaporeMarina Bay Sands
2013Art 13Nyoman Masriadi, Yunizar, Ashley Bickerton, Handiwirman SaputraUKOlympia, London, United Kingdom
2013Art Basel Hong KongNyoman Masriadi, Yunizar, Ay Tjoe Christine and Ashley BickertonHong KongHong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
2013I Made Djirma – Logic of RitualI Made DjirmaIndonesiaSangkring Art Space, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2013Jason Lim – Bukit MusingsJason LimSingaporeGajah Gallery
2013Lokanat – Ground ZeroNyoman Masriadi, Handiwirman Saputra, Putu Sutawijaya, Mangu Putra, Yunizar, Ai Wei Wei, Ashley BickertonSingaporeGajah Gallery
2013Seeing Paintings: Conversations Before The End Of HistoryAy Tjoe Christine, Handiwirman Saputra, I Made Djirna, Jumaldi Alfi, Koesoema Affandi, M Irfan, Mangu Putra, Nyoman Masriadi, Putu Sutawijaya, YunizarIndonesiaSangkring Art Space, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2014Art Stage SingaporeAbdi Setiawan, Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Ashley Bickerton, Gu Wenda, Li Jin, Qiu Deshu, Rudi Hendriatno, Ugo Untoro, Wang Tiande, YunizarSingaporeMarina Bay Sands
2014Abstraction and Refinement: Contemporary Chinese Ink PaintingsGu Gan, Qiu Deshu, Wang Tiande, Wei LigangSingaporeGajah Gallery
2014Junk AnthropologiesAshley BickertonSingaporeGajah Gallery
2014Art Basel Hong KongAbdi Setiawan, Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Ashley Bickerton, Gu Gan, Gu Wenda, Qiu Deshu, Ugo Untoro, Wang Tiande, Wei Ligang, YunizarHong KongHong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
2014Bazaar Art JakartaAshley Bickerton, Gu Gan, Gu Wenda, Mangu Putra, Qiu Deshu, Rudi Hendriatno, Ugo Untoro, Wang Tiande, Wei Ligang, YunizarIndonesiaThe Ritz Carlton Pacific Place Ballroom
2014Tempus Fugit Jason LimSingaporeGajah Gallery
2014Intersections: Latin American and Southeast Asian Contemporary ArtAhmad Zakii Anwar, Handiwirman Saputra, Putu Sutawijaya, Ugo Untoro, Yunizar, Adonis Flores, Douglas Arguelles, Ivan Capote, Yoan Capote and Maykel LinaresIndonesiaSangkring Art Space, Yogyakarta
2014Yunizar Solo ExhibitionYunizarSingaporeGajah Gallery
2014TrajectoriesAshley Bickerton, Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Mangu Putra, Yunizar, Yusra Martunus, Putu Sutawijaya, Jumaldi Alfi, Handiwirman Saputra and Ugo UntoroCubaGallery Habana
2014Zheng Lu: ResurfaceZheng LuSingaporeGajah Gallery
2015Yogyakarta Art Lab Opening ShowAhmad Zakii Anwar, Ashley Bickerton, I Made Djirna, Jason Lim, Ivan Capote, Kumari Nahappan, Mangu Putra, Sabri Idrus, Suzann Victor, Ugo Untoro, Jumaldi Alfi, Yunizar, Rudi Hedriatno and Abdi SetiawanSingaporeGajah Gallery
2015Bermain RasaYunizar and Ugo UntoroYogyakartaGajah Gallery
2015Sabri Idrus Solo ExhibitionSabri IdrusSingaporeGajah Gallery
2015Gajah Gallery Grand Opening at Tanjong Pagar DistriparkAshley Bickerton, Yunizar, Kumari Nahappan, Ugo Untoro, Li Jin, Yusra Martunus, Sabri Idrus, Ahmad Zakii Anwar, R.Yuki Agiardi, Teng Nee Cheong, Suzann Victor, Wei Ligang, Wang Tiande, Gu Wenda, Chua Ek Kay, Ho Ho Ying and Ng Joon KiatSingaporeGajah Gallery
2016Gajah Gallery 20th AnniversaryAshley Bickerton, Li Jin, Yunizar, Kumari Nahappan, Vasan Sitthiket and Putu SutawijayaSingaporeGajah Gallery
2016Archaeology of the PresentAshley Bickerton, Jason Lim, Yunizar, Suzann Victor, Yusra Martunus, S. Nandagopal, Kumari Nahappan, Rudi Hendriatno, Handiwirman Saputra, Ugo Untoro and AfdhalSingaporeGajah Gallery
2016Erizal As: Re figuring Portraiture Solo ExhibitionErizal AsSingaporeGajah Gallery
2016Galeri Petronas – Southeast Asian ShowHandiwirman Saputra, Yusra Martunus, Jumaldi Alfi, Rudi Mantofani, Yunizar, Ugo Untoro, Kumari Nahappan and Vasan SitthiketSingaporeGajah Gallery and Galeri Petronas, Kuala Lumpur
2016Gobardhan Ash: Famine and Empire Solo ExhibitionGobardhan AshSingaporeGajah Gallery
2016Mangu Putra: Between History and Quotidian Solo ExhibitionMangu PutraSingaporeGajah Gallery
2016Semsar Siahaan Solo ExhibitionSemsar SiahaanYogyakartaGajah Gallery
2016Wakidi: The Light Before Dusk Solo ExhibitionWakidiSingaporeGajah Gallery
2016Yunizar: The Garden In EdenYunizarSingaporeGajah Gallery
2017Art Stage Singapore 2017Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Ashley Bickerton, Erizal As, Jason Lim, Kumari Nahappan, Li Jin, Mangu Putra, Rudi Mantofani, Sabri Idrus, Semsar Siahaan, Suzann Victor, Wei Ligang, YunizarSingaporeMarina Bay Sands
2017Art Fair Philippines 2017Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Ashley Bickerton, Erizal As, Mangu Putra, Rudi Mantofani, Sabri Idrus, Suzann Victor, YunizarPhilippinesThe Link Carpark
2017Art Basel Hong Kong 2017Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Ashley Bickerton, Jason Lim, Kumari Nahappan, Li Jin, Mangu Putra, Rudi Mantofani, Sabri Idrus, Suzann Victor, Wei Ligang, YunizarHong KongConvention and Exhibition Centre
2017SupernaturalChong Weixin, Jason Lim, Lavender Chang, Maxine Chionh, Melissa Tan, Robert Zhao, Ruben Pang, Zen Teh, Sarah Choo Jing, Warren Khong, Kumari Nahappan, Ng Joon Kiat, Suzann Victor, Ian Woo and Adeline KuehYogyakartaGajah Gallery
2017Matters and ManipulationsSabri IdrusSingaporeGajah Gallery
2017Thinking Ink: Improvisations on Cultural CriteriaChua Ek Kay, Gu Gan, Gu Wenda, Wei LigangSingaporeGajah Gallery
2017Knowing IncompletenessAgung Santosa, Fika Riasantika, Gusmen Heriadi, Iabadiou Piko, Nofria Doni Fitri, Ridho RizkiYogyakartaGajah Gallery
2017Art Stage Jakarta 2017Ashley Bickerton, Erizal As, Kumari Nahappan, Li Jin, Mangu Putra, Rudi Mantofani, Sabri Idrus, Semsar Siahaan, Suzann Victor, Wei Ligang, YunizarJakartaGrand Sheraton Jakarta, Indonesia
2017The New NowBenedict Yu, Charlotte Lim, Gabrielle Tolentino, Kayleigh Goh, Kuat Zhi Hooi, Leonard Wee, Wong Jia YiSingaporeGajah Gallery
2017Under The Shadow of the Banyan TreeJason LimSingaporeGajah Gallery
2017Gajah Open HouseAyu Arista Murti, Dery Pratama, Erizal As, Fika Ria Santika, Iabadio Piko, Loli Rusman, Suzann Victor, Rudi Mantofani, YunizarYogyakartaGajah Gallery
2017Semsar Siahaan: Art, LiberationSemsar SiahaanSingaporeGajah Gallery

Fairs and Projects

Gajah Gallery contributes to research into Southeast Asian art. The gallery consistently exhibits in various local and international art fairs such as Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Stage Singapore, Art Stage Jakarta, Art Fair Philippines, Art Fair Tokyo, India Art Fair and Art021 Shanghai. The artists that they represent not only gain valuable exposure, but the fairs serve as a platform through which ideas are exchanged and better ties are built with other exhibitors.

Publications

Commemorative postcard set

A set of 15 postcards were designed as a commemorative piece for the gallery's 15th year anniversary celebration. The set is a compilation of work by Ahmad Zakii Anwar, J. Ariadhitya Pramuhendra, Jumaldi Alfi, M. Irfan, Mangu Putra, Nyoman Masriadi, Rudi Mantofani, Teng Nee Cheong and Yunizar.

Nyoman Masriadi, ''Reconfiguring the Body''

's work Reconfiguring the Body offers a review of Nyoman Masriadi's works, his life and inspirations – through the words of art critics, TK Sabapathy and Goenawan Mohamed. Masriadi is Southeast Asia's most well-received contemporary artist.
The visual imagery and narratives in his paintings are derived from observation of social life. Reactive against formalism, his early works show him sparring with Western modernism in the guise of cubism but meshing it with caricature, the cutting street language Indonesians use and graffiti. The wit and humor embodied in his works are shaped by the computer game culture that he grew up with. He overdraws finished paintings with a marker.

Nee Cheong, ''Those The Gods Love Grow Mightier''

Teng Nee Cheong's book Those the Gods Love Grow Mightier offers an insight on the life, works and thoughts of renowned Singaporean artist Teng Nee Cheong that span a period of 40 years. Art critic TK Sabapathy, art curators Low Sze Wee and Lindy Poh, as well as Jasdeep Sandhu, Suteja Neka and Teng Nee Cheong himself, have provided a commentary, uncovering the artist's works, as well as inspirations that have influenced him.
Nee Cheong's works encapsulate the influences of culture and traditions around Asia by using symbols of Balinese mythology, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

''Seeing Paintings: Conversations Before the End of History''

Seeing Paintings: Conversations Before the End of History highlights the development of painting in Indonesia over the past 70 years, from the late 30s – 40s to the late 90s – 2000, and the historical contributions by both artists and writers to painting in Indonesia. The artists included in the publication, such as Affandi, Oesman Effendi, Djoko Pekik, Lucia Hartini, Made Djirna, Mangu Putra and Yunizar, have contributed significantly to the field of history and are presented in a comparative framework. The publication shows the history of Indonesian art as a mode of discourse that consists of an intricate journey due to the process of acculturation and enculturation in the form of vocabulary, speech, criticism, polemics, writings, doctrine, bureaucracy, schools, social institutions, and so on.

Mangu Putra, ''Between History and Quotidian''

Mangu Putra: Between History & the Quotidian introduces the artist's efforts to re-examine historic archival footage of the Dutch colonisation in Bali in the early to mid 1900s and to draw together visual and verbal narratives to stage an untold account of history. With essays from art historian Adrian Vickers and curator Jim Supangkat, the publication explores how Putra re-imagines historic scenes, changing the emphasis by placing the Balinese people at the center, and shifts his attention towards the degradation of the natural world and the neglect of those who made Indonesia, as part of a search for spiritual meaning.

Semsar Siahaan, ''Art, Liberation''

Semsar Siahaan: Art, Liberation is the most extensive printed publication on the late Indonesian artist Semsar Siahaan – a seminal figure of the progressive movement in Indonesia, who tirelessly campaigned and used his art as a tool to advocate social justice. Art critics TK Sabapathy, Astri Wright and Aminudin TH Siregar discuss Siahaan's emergence and his art in relation to prevailing sociopolitical conditions. They propose perspectives for relooking at the often-overlooked artist, appraising him historically and projecting him with fresh impetus for critical attention, presently.