Mangu Putra

b. 1963, Sangeh, Bali, Indonesia
Lives and works in Denpasar, Indonesia

Mangu Putra began his practice as a graphic designer before turning into full-time painting in 1998. Mangu rarely adheres to one style of painting; his paintings exude acuteness and sensitivity to visual forms. He shifts between abstraction, figuration and realistic rendering, all of which contribute to his coherent yet diverse oeuvre. This wide variety of approaches ranges from a nearly perfect imitation of a noisy photograph to an extremely hyper-realistic rendition of trees verging on the point of abstraction. Although some of his works may seem true-to-life, they usually appear strangely artificial, attractive and overly idealistic. His vision of the world is hence, not a natural one but rather, a version that is contaminated by society.

Mangu Putra trained in Yogyakarta at Indonesia’s premier art school, Institute Seni Indonesia (originally ASRI, the Akademi Seni Rupa Indonesia) where he majored in Design and Visual Communications. His works have been presented in solo and group exhibitions in Indonesia as well as internationally in Singapore, China, South Korea, and Australia.

Biography information from Ocula, May 2023