Toys with Semionaut Soup, an Exhibition by Budi Adi Nugroho

Campbell’s Soup Can by Andy Warhol inspired Budi Adi Nugroho to add the word ‘soup’ in his exhibition title, where he threw crosses between semiotics & toys. Between Tintin and Pez, criticism and fun. Exploring the idea that contemporary art is ‘souvenir’, 29yo Budi Adi Nugroho marked his works with shiny resin sculpture, a material which he himself called “cheap, mass, and popular” a contradiction of high art.

Has been entitled Master of Visual Art when he graduated from Bandung Institute of Technology majoring 3 Dimensional Artwork in 2009, His newest exhibition “Toys with Semionaut Soup” taking the shape of Tintin to Inspector Gadget to Pez to Damien Hirst combine with his own critics toward shiny contemporary arts.

The exhibition opening October 15th, in collaboration with Elle Decor Magazine. The whole soup journey begin with a small sculpture of Tintin dragging the artist himself (titled They Drag Me), followed by Tintin on Acrylic on Canvas. Across the room, there are 3 giant Pez Sculptures with the head of 3 Indonesian contemporary artists, a part where he criticize their works as sweet display, also good souvenir. The other artworks further representing his idea of contemporary art in a form of popular icons.

As an artist, Budi Adi Nugroho has deliver interesting works as well as fun journey, whether or not we manage to understand the philosophy behind his every works. As he showed us in Toys with Semionaut Soup, ‘contemporary’ and ‘popular’ might as well blend together.Campbell’s Soup Can by Andy Warhol inspired Budi Adi Nugroho to add the word ‘soup’ in his exhibition title, where he threw crosses between semiotics & toys. Between Tintin and Pez, criticism and fun. Exploring the idea that contemporary art is ‘souvenir’, 29yo Budi Adi Nugroho marked his works with shiny resin sculpture, a material which he himself called “cheap, mass, and popular” a contradiction of high art.

Has been entitled Master of Visual Art when he graduated from Bandung Institute of Technology majoring 3 Dimensional Artwork in 2009, His newest exhibition “Toys with Semionaut Soup” taking the shape of Tintin to Inspector Gadget to Pez to Damien Hirst combine with his own critics toward shiny contemporary arts.

The exhibition opening October 15th, in collaboration with Elle Decor Magazine. The whole soup journey begin with a small sculpture of Tintin dragging the artist himself (titled They Drag Me), followed by Tintin on Acrylic on Canvas. Across the room, there are 3 giant Pez Sculptures with the head of 3 Indonesian contemporary artists, a part where he criticize their works as sweet display, also good souvenir. The other artworks further representing his idea of contemporary art in a form of popular icons.

As an artist, Budi Adi Nugroho has deliver interesting works as well as fun journey, whether or not we manage to understand the philosophy behind his every works. As he showed us in Toys with Semionaut Soup, ‘contemporary’ and ‘popular’ might as well blend together.