For more than 5 years, Arin Dwihartanto has intensely explored the "body" as the subject matter for his artworks. He spent a lot of time observing, reading and studying the various forms drawings of the human body can take, including the depictions contained in scientific and medical books. Motivated by a strong desire to play around with visual images, Arin has been creating images of the human body in his own way that results in versions of human shapes that are specifically individually his. He copies the various drawings he encounters in books on human anatomy to his canvasses, even though the structure and details shift in the process. The forms of the human body appearing on Arin's canvasses frequently take the shape of superheroes, robots, monsters, or even fantasy animals under his hands.

His habit of changing the shape of the human form is taken even further through a number of conceptual considerations. Critically, Arin questions the underlying construction of the understanding of the term "human being" which has been set forth as a result of modern scientific knowledge. The depictions of human beings in Arin's works seem to express the desire to point out that the existence of the "body" in the midst of the contemporary society of today has become increasingly alienated from the attitude and context of humanity. The body, now, is following the trends set by mechanistic industry that are slowly erasing the belief in the human 'soul' or 'spirit' which has always been seen as the binary complement to the body.

Through Project of Hypnalgenesis Hyper Hero (H3) which he is showing in this exhibition, Arin explores even further than before the subject matter of the human "body" and of the human "being" by questioning the existence of the "super hero" so ubiquitous in popular culture, in particular in comic books for children. The super hero is always depicted as the defender of truth whose concern is the safety and security of all human beings on the face of the earth, as if , there were no exception or alternative. Even so, Arin is of the opinion that the human imagination about super heroes is, in fact, an ideal perception of a collective conception that is in many ways highly political. In general, the depiction of super heroes represents the concept of perfection. A mysterious identity, body proportions that speak of great strength, and super capabilities are conceptual ideals about the "body" and the "human being" because a super hero must generally hide any sign of human weakness, such as desire, the libido, or the conflicts that occur within the various aspects of human existence, and which are always hidden away as secrets not exposed to the world at large.

The work, "Project of Hypnalgenesis Hyper Hero (H3)" is put together in such a way that it deliberately invites a reaction from and initiates interaction with the public in order to induce a deeper exploration of the political representation that emerges through mass culture and the realities behind the human physique which is expected to be "perfect".

Agung Hujatnikajennong

Born on January 21, 1978 in Bandung.
Studied at Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Bandung (BFA; 2001).

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1998 Group of Students, YPK Building, Bandung.
1999 ASEAN 'Philip Morris Art Award' , National Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
2000 'From Russia With Art', Russia Museum of Modern Art, Moscow; ASEAN International Art Exhibition, Taiwan;'Asia-Europe Young Artist Painting Competition', South Korea.
2001 Travelling Exhibition : 'Asia-Europe Young Artist Painting Competition', Singapore.
2002 'The 17th ASEAN International Art Exhibition' , Daejeon Municipal Museum of Art, Daejeon, South Korea; 'Indofood Art Award 2002', National Museum, Jakarta.
2003 'Saving Babakan Siliwangi', Art Process Gallery, Babakan Siliwangi, Bandung.

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