Dadang Christanto (b. 1957), artist, was born into an Indonesian family of Chinese descent in Tegal, a small village in Central Java, Indonesia. He studied painting in Yogyakarta, where he became an active member of the arts community. In the 1980s he was the first artist in Indonesia to undertake installation, and he was one of the first Indonesian artists to enter the international art world in the early 1990s. A frequent visitor to Australia during the 1990s, he settled in Darwin during 1999 and moved to Brisbane in 2006. With a body of work encompassing painting, drawing, sculpture, installation and performance, over the last two decades Christanto has won critical acclaim for his ability to evoke reflections on universal human suffering and communal grief. His work has been acquired by many Australian galleries and major collections in Asia and Europe. Hari Ho's photograph refers to Christanto's installation Heads From the North, in the sculpture garden of the National Gallery of Australia.
Purchased 2007
© Hari Ho/Copyright Agency, 2024
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Artist Dadang Christanto discusses his portrait taken by Hari Ho and how it relates to Dadang's sculpture 'Heads from the North'.
This exhibition celebrates Australians whose unique life experiences symbolise social and cultural forces. Uncompromising individuality defines them. The portraits are drawn from the National Portrait Gallery’s collection of contemporary photography and drawing.
