Ketut Nugi: contemporary art that looks to the past

Born in Gianyar in 1996 and graduated at the Indonesian Art Institute of Yogyakarta, Ketut Nugi is a multidisciplinary artist widely recognized also for his strong stylistic imprint. Fascinated by the history of Bali, Nugi began to study the images of early 20th century colonialism, focusing above all on the Mexican illustrator Miguel Covarrubias and the German photographer Gregor Krause who contributed to the creation of a colonialist language and imagery of Bali Island. His installations are similar to posters, to denunciation postcards affixed to fragile, teetering or deformed structures. The signs have clear writing in strong contrast with the scenes portrayed or descriptive and in a commercial style. A critical return to the past which, according to the artist, has shaped today's Bali, a questioning of the commodification of culture which has transformed national identity. Nugi invites young Balinese to have a more lucid approach towards uncontrolled modernization and not to abandon traditional values, and he does so with a contemporary and disruptive language.