EXTENSION

Conceived as an extension of the first exhibition dedicated to the Indonesian artist, this ephemeral installation builds a literal bridge between ANGKASAPURA’s palimpsest drawings and the capsule from the Fall-Winter 2023 collection bearing the anthropomorphic creatures he carved. This season, wadded gilet, blouse and dresses are canvases for the artist’s bestiary, inspired as much by the environment in which he grew up as by Indonesian iconographic traditions – Javanese puppets or representations of the Râmâyana epic.

The garments sit alongside drawings done in biros, graphite or coloured pencil, which are displayed on the ground floor of Elzévir, echoing LEMAIRE's desire to provide a space for singular artists to express themselves. On fabric as on paper, the skeins of random lines are crossed by different mantras, JUJUR SABAR, synonymous with honesty and patience, or KI RADEN SASTRO INGGIL, one alias used by the artist who speaks about his art for the first time in front of a camera.

THE ARTIST

ANGKASAPURA was born in 1979 in Jayapura, on the Indonesian side of the island of New Guinea. His parents, originally from Java, settled in this sparsely populated region where he spent his childhood surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and lush vegetation. Deeply marked by his environment and the multicultural influences of the neighboring islands such as Borneo, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Bali or Madura, ANGKASAPURA represents what surrounds him: chiseled rocks, traced rivers or sculpted tree trunks. According to his own words, on the eve of his 24th birthday, ANGKASAPURA was visited by an intercessory spirit. « It was like a dream, but I was not sleeping. When I came back to myself, I tried to catch the spirit, but he was gone. » This spiritual power still guides him, projecting his work into an uninterrupted creative flow. The act of drawing is a repetitive prayer as well as a form meditation and a means of conveying messages from this spirit.