Is Jakarta The Next Art Market Capital? Inside Indonesia's Contemporary Boom

Putting The 'Art' In Jakarta

On a rain-soaked afternoon last summer, Nyoman Masriadi sat smoking in his luxurious home studio in the north of Yogyakarta, Indonesia's unofficial art capital on the island of Java. He lit up a Marlboro and, making a gesture toward the rice paddy adjacent to his property, explained he had recently bought it. I asked what he planned to do with the land. "Maybe build a new studio," he said without any sense of urgency. Such is the demand for his wry paintings of pumped-up, cartoonish characters that he has the luxury of working when he wishes.

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