Zico Albaiquni’s (b. 1987, Indonesia) vibrant works are potent with complexity and self-reflexive questions about existing representations of Indonesia, its colonial past, the Eurocentrism of the art history canon, and his own commodified role as a painter, all situated within kaleidoscopic landscapes. In particular, he deploys references to the legacy of colonial painting in Indonesia such as Mooi Indie (‘beautiful Indies’) painting, which captured romanticised scenes of the Indonesian landscape and its people under Dutch colonial rule, and erased their struggles. Albaiquni’s saturated colour palette is also a deliberate choice. Often dismissed as ‘kampungan’, or vulgar, he uses these striking colours to reclaim and celebrate the aesthetics of the people. His practice explores how painting, especially in Indonesia, can become a site for decolonial thinking—a way to revisit and disrupt dominant narratives, and to bring forward the voices and aesthetics that were historically marginalized. In recent works, Albaiquni examines his own liminal position as an artist, in relation to the artists before him and colonial history.
Albaiquni is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and holds an MA and BFA from the Institute Technology of Bandung, Indonesia. He has exhibited extensively in Indonesia, as well as in Australia, Italy, France, Austria, Netherlands, Hong Kong and Singapore. Recent curated shows include: Where We Go When We Leave: Encounters Through Movement, VCA Artspace, Australia (2024), Our Colonial Heritage, Tropenmuseum, Netherlands (2022), On the Nature of Botanical Gardens, Framer Framed, Netherlands (2019), Contemporary Worlds: Indonesia, the National Gallery of Australia (2019), and the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Australia (2018-19). He was a finalist of The King’s School Art Prize (2024), the 2nd Bandung Contemporary Art Award (2012), Soemardja Award (2012) and Asia Award, Tokyo DesignWeek (2015). In 2015, Albaiquni was awarded the Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur (Ministry of Education, Art and Culture, Austria) Residency, resulting in two solo shows in the capital city of Vienna. Albaiquni is collected by the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (Australia), National Gallery of Australia, Singapore Art Museum, Museum MACAN (Indonesia), and Bega Valley Regional Gallery (Australia).