Agus Suwage’s (b. 1959, Purworejo) artistic exploration departs from the photographic image, both found photographs from the mass media and his own, which is reprocessed and altered by means of hand drawing, painting or a mix of digital manipulation. The images, objects and installations that he regenerated addresses various socio-cultural issues with cynicism, irony and a hint of parody.
Suwage’s engagement to the practice of appropriation is not only of other artists or images but also of his own works. Siregar calls it “an active process of appropriating appropriation”. Aku ingin hidup 100 tahun lagi [King Liar] (2008) came from phase of Suwage’s artistic ouvre that speaks through this constant act of tracing and retracing his own works and thoughts, Suwage constitutes a skeptical stance of someone who continues to question the different conclusions he himself have made throughout time. As curator Enin Supriyanto puts it, this stance prevents the artist from thinking that he has found the single and absolute “truth”.