Gallery Associate, Dadang Christanto, M I S S I N G, solo exhibition, Wei-Ling Gallery

Throughout his career, Dadang Christanto has produced a body of works that honours the countless victims of political violence and crimes against humanity. The sincerity and rawness of emotion portrayed in his works stem from his personal narrative with references to the year 1965 appears repeatedly. Dadang Christanto’s works engage with the interconnected personal trauma and collective history. 

When he was eight, Christanto’s father was dragged from their home by soldiers, never to be seen or heard from again. His abduction highly affected Christanto, making his art inseparable from this tragedy. From graphic, stylized paintings, to monumental installations, all of his work relate to loss and disappearance, and act as memorials to victims of violence in all its forms. 

Beyond its particular historical and political origins, his unbounded practice leads to a broader reflection on the nature of violence and unjust death and suffering. 

As a Gallery Associate, Amanda worked closely with the artist. Her role ensured smooth exhibition planning, supported the alignment of artistic vision with research-driven insights for a thoughtful and cohesive curation, and managed the technical aspects of the exhibition with an experimental, critical, and inclusive approach, fostering engaging and meaningful experiences and dialogues around contemporary art.

Click here to visit Wei-Ling Contemporary’s page and learn more about this exhibition.

About Dadang Christanto

Dadang Christanto (b.1957, Tegal, Indonesia) was born in Tegal, a small village in Central Java, Indonesia, into an Indonesian family of Chinese descent. His diverse body of work, encompassing painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, and performance, is deeply rooted in the portrayal of human experience and emotions. Christianto has the ability to sensitively evoke reflections on universal human suffering and communal grief. He was amongst the first Indonesian artists to enter the international art world in the early 1990s. He now resides and works in Central Java and the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia.