OFCA International
Office For Contemporary Art (OFCA) International is an artists’ office – a self supporting initiative, founded in Yogyakarta – which has been established to advance the activities of artists in their studios. The primary purpose of OFCA International is to support active skilled artists, either in Indonesia or abroad, within an international context. Criteria for artists to join this Initiative are based on a mission to develop quality human resources in order to advance the artists’ role in society through a varied, open and practical dialogue about contemporary fine art.
The history of OFCA International began in 2004 when Astrid Honold, a Berlin-based art historian, curator and editor with almost one decade of experience in management for the renown international design label droog, opened Office in Amsterdam. In 2011, OFCA International moved from Amsterdam to Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Besides focusing on artists’ activities, OFCA International is concerned with developing exhibition concepts, lectures, and research in fine art. It actively collaborates with other institutions such as Black Cat Publishing for producing catalogs and monographs or artist initiative PartNER for programs such as the exhibition format Re-PLAY, which has shown the works of Heri Dono, Entang Wiharso, Anusapati, and others over the course of 2013-2014.
Artists with work at this location:
Fendry Ekel (b. 1971, Jakarta) graduated from Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam and went on to study at Rijksakademie van BeeldendeKunsten, Amsterdam. His monumental layered works often painted after black and white photographs explore the shadow side of human ambition and investigate the line where ethical and aesthetical values cross. Through his depiction of appropriated portraits, architecture or other remnants of historic events from our collective memory, he investigates the use of art, architecture and figuration as propaganda for ideology of any kind. A recipient of an International Studio & Curatorial Program ISCP residency in New York, he has exhibited throughout Europe, USA, South America and Asia. Recent exhibitions include Kindred by Choice I, ARNDT, Singapore; Prague Biennale 6, Prague; Estate, Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York; HVCCA, New York and Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Belgium. Fendry lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Desrat Fianda (b. 1983, Padang Pariaman) graduated from Institut Seni Indonesia, Yogyakarta in 2009. His work, which is primarily installations and paintings, explores critical aesthetic values by reconstructing the basic principles of the media used. Desrat’s most recent works are stone carvings of books and texts and paintings depicting books made from stone. A finalist in the 2013 Indonesian Art Awards, Desrat has exhibited throughout Indonesia. Recent exhibitions include Triennale Scluptures, Indonesia National Gallery, Jakarta; SEA+ Triennale, Indonesian National Gallery Jakarta; Duo Show Desrat Fianda and Taufik Ermas, Fragments of Lie, Bentara Budaya, Yogyakarta and Pandora, OFCA International. Desrat lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Abdi Setiawan (b. 1971, Sicincin, West Sumatra) majored in sculpture at Institut Seni Indonesia, Yogyakarta. His installation-based work in metal and wood features life-sized sculptures that depict scenes of modern Indonesian life with incisive social commentary. Abdi is sympathetic towards marginalized figures such as sex workers, transvestites, buskers and becak drivers, who often appear as subjects in his work. Abdi has participated in numerous international exhibitions and art fairs in Europe and Asia. Recent exhibitions include The Future is Here, Redbase Contemporary Art, Jakarta; SEA+ Triennale, Indonesian National Gallery, Jakarta; Indonesian Pavilion, ArtStage Singapore, Singapore; 5 Artists from Indonesia, Marc Straus Gallery, New York; and Re-PLAY #4 Abdi Setiawan, OFCA International, Yogyakarta. Abdi lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Jumaldi Alfi (b. 1973, Lintau, Indonesia) graduated from Institut Seni Indonesia, Yogyakarta and is a founding member of the Kelompok Seni Rupa Jendela. His paintings are epitomized by emotive gestures and symbolism and have a complex and highly diverse style, marked by innovation, sophistication, skill and emotional depth. Through the chaos of lines, colors, and symbols, Alfi explores life, death, the spiritual, the supernatural, and the physical in a concrete, visual space. His work is exhibited across Asia and Europe and pivotal recent exhibition include Jumaldi Alfi’s Blackboard Paintings, Primo Marella Gallery (Milan); Life / Art # 101: Never Ending Lesson, Sangkring Art Space, Yogyakarta; and The Collectors Show – Weight of History, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore. Alfi lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Heri Dono (b. 1960, Jakarta) studied painting at Institut Seni Indonesia, Yogyakarta. Dono is mainly active as an installation artist and works with materials that come from varying places in the world. His style of mixing humorous comments on political and social problems in Indonesia in his work is often placed in the art form of new internationalism. His work is influenced by the life of the ordinary man and Indonesian cultural traditions such as wayang kulit or tau tau sculptures of the Toraja death cult in Sulawesi. He presented his work worldwide in a great number of solo and group exhibitions. In 1998 he won a Prince Claus Award granted by the Dutch Government. Heri lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Linda Sormin (b. Bangkok) has a BA in English Literature and worked in community development for four years in Thailand and Laos. She studied ceramics at Andrews University, Sheridan School of Craft & Design Diploma ’01 and Alfred University MFA ’03. Through objects and site-specific installations, Linda Sormin’s work explores issues of fragility, aggression, mobility and survival. Sormin’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently at Jane Hartsook Gallery New York, NY; the West Norway Museum of Decorative Art , Bergen, Norway; Denver Art Museum, Denver, USA; gl Holtegaard, Denmark; Vallauris, France; and Middlesbrough UK. She has taught ceramics for 10 years at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, British Columbia; 2003-06 the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 2006-11, and Sheridan Institute, where she is currently Professor and Head of Ceramics, Oakville, Ontario; in the Faculty of Animation, Art & Design. Linda lives and works in Toronto, Canada.
Taufik Ermas (b. 1984, Bukittinggi) studied painting at Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta. In recent years his work, which includes both painting and sculpture, has rigorously considered the human body and its forms, especially hands and feet. In his paintings he explores how gestures can convey narratives, while his sculptures add another dimension to this examination of forms, condensing the values of painting, both in terms of form and finish. He has exhibited in Indonesia and Asia and recent exhibitions include Trienalle Sculptures, Indonesia National Gallery, Jakarta; Manifesto, Indonesia National Gallery, Jakarta; Fragments of Lie, Bentara Budaya, Yogyakarta and Maximum City, Jakarta Biennale, Indonesia National Gallery, Jakarta. Taufik lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Anja Teske (b. 1964, Minden) studied Fine Art with Heinrich Riebesehl at the Hochschule Hannover as well as in St. Petersburg and at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, where she took her MA in Media. Her works are portraits of persons and spaces in the outer and inner sphere. The examples presented are Juwelia alias Stefan and Werner Unverzagt. Juwelia combines facets of life such as identity, love, individualism, artwork-man; a person who questions her identity permanently and is forced to create it a new. Werner Unverzagt, the last of the Unverzagt Family, lived 12 years in his hotel „Villa Balzer“ without any guests until his death; but being prepared for guests every minute. The hotel reflects the history of the last 150 years. A recipient of several awards like the one-year Schloss Balmoral grant, the Lower-Saxony Art Prize for Young Artists, the Jean Spencer Award, advancement from Berliner Senat, she exhibited extensively in Germany, Austria, Spain, Denmark, USA and her upcoming show Du/You at Fotogalerie Wien. Recently she worked in residency programs in China and Island. Anja lives and works in Berlin, Germany.