Maryanto poses with his work at G Gallery in southern Seoul, March 10. Courtesy of Maryanto and G Gallery
By Jack Greenberg
Indonesian artist Maryanto doesn’t march in the streets or shout through a megaphone. Instead, he carves, etches and paints, using his work to both directly and indirectly expose environmental destruction, corruption and the erasure of landscapes with deep histories. Born in Jakarta in 1977, his artistic journey took shape when he enrolled at the Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta (ISI Yogyakarta), where he studied printmaking.
At the time, Indonesia was in crisis, grappling with massive inflation, rising unemployment and widespread discontent. Yogyakarta, long a hub of academia and a center of dissent, resistance and solidarity, felt the strain of economic turmoil as the Asian financial crisis exposed the failures and repression of the New Order regime under Suharto (in office 1967-98). Despite the constant presence of security forces with a history of intimidating, assaulting and disappearing young activists, local students led demonstrations and played a pivotal role in the nationwide movement that brought down Suharto’s 32-year autocratic rule.
Amid the Reformasi, a period of social and economic upheaval, political instability and violent confrontations following Suharto’s fall, Yogyakarta seized the moment to establish itself as a stronghold of free expression. Citizens channeled their energy into shaping the future through art, activism and progressive intellectual discourse, an atmosphere that profoundly shaped Maryanto’s worldview.
After graduating, Maryanto worked in the nongovernmental sector, creating art focused on children’s rights and education. Through this experience, he learned from activists, deepened his civic engagement and strengthened his belief that art should do more than adorn a space — it should bear witness to contemporary issues and provoke reflection. For Maryanto, art became a tool for expressing his perspective on the world around him.
By 2008, Maryanto left the nongovernmental space to fully dedicate himself to his art. His early works, such as “Once Upon a Time in Rawalelatu,” depict fable-like narratives reminiscent of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm.” Featuring anthropomorphic beings in rapidly industrializing urban settings, these pieces came together almost like a comic book to portray laborers resisting corporate and police oppression, staging protests and fighting for justice.
A gallery view of Maryanto’s “Narratives Underneath: Shifting Landscapes and Memory” exhibition at G Gallery in southern Seoul / Courtesy of Maryanto and G Gallery
In an interview with The Korea Times, Maryanto reflected that while he had been creating art throughout his studies, a turning point in his career came when he was accepted into a prestigious two-year residency at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. It was there that he truly solidified his identity as an artist and honed his creative voice. The residency was challenging yet rewarding, offering him the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from 50 other residents in a dynamic, intensive environment.
Throughout his career, Maryanto has increasingly drawn inspiration from political and environmental struggles. His creative process extends beyond the studio, beginning with dialogue with affected communities to uncover the core causes of their challenges. He then turns to books and news sources, drawing connections between the places he has visited and other regions facing similar struggles, which are often rooted in corruption, ignorance, indifference, militarism and government arrogance.
Maryanto is currently holding his first solo exhibition at Gallery G in Seoul, but his relationship with Korea dates back to 2016, when he was selected for another Rijksakademie residency, which this time included a three-month exchange program with the Asia Culture Center in Gwangju. He returned to Gwangju for one month in 2023, finding further stimulation in the city’s efforts to preserve its history.
A gallery view of Maryanto’s “Narratives Underneath: Shifting Landscapes and Memory” exhibition at G Gallery in southern Seoul / Courtesy of Maryanto and G Gallery
Indonesian anti-communists, backed by the United States as part of its Cold War strategy, weaponized military-orchestrated violence. In 1965-66, at least half a million members and alleged sympathizers of the Indonesian Communist Party were massacred, paving the way for Suharto’s New Order regime to seize power.
Although the scale and intensity of violence differed, Gwangju shares a painful history of government-led repression justified through red-baiting. In May 1980, the Chun Doo-hwan regime falsely claimed that North Korean infiltration had incited the people of Gwangju, using this as a pretext to blockade the city and kill innocent civilians. The brutal suppression of the Gwangju Uprising ultimately consolidated Chun’s authoritarian military regime, which, like Suharto’s, was supported by the United States in the name of Cold War geopolitics.
For Maryanto, Gwangju’s commitment to preserving its painful past stands in stark contrast to Indonesia’s ongoing struggle to confront its history of state violence. Reflecting on the lessons he has drawn from the city, he explained:
“In Indonesia, under Suharto’s dictatorship, we also lived under military repression. The military had immense power, and violence was carried out without accountability. But what I learned from Gwangju is that the people truly fought and struggled — not just in the moment, but for the future. They work to ensure that their dark history is not repeated. They protect their stories, preserve the memory and pass down what happened to new generations so they can strive for something better.
“In Indonesia, we don’t do this yet. So many instances of violence remain unresolved. There is no reconciliation, no government truth-seeking mechanism. If you look at our history — 1965-66, [the 1998 riots] and other violence against Chinese Indonesians — there has been no reckoning. Even now, if people widely protest against a government program, the military is deployed, and aggression follows.”
Maryanto’s “Memory Lies Under the Nature” (2025), sgraffito and acrylic on canvas, 80 x 60 cm / Courtesy of Maryanto and G Gallery
Maryanto’s Seoul exhibition, “Narratives Underneath: Shifting Landscapes and Memory,” seeks to summon the voices of landscapes lost or barely surviving. A piece entitled “Memory Lies Under the Nature” traces its origins to Maryanto’s visit to a building that once served as the Armed Forces’ Gwangju Hospital, where covert interrogations and torture took place during the uprising. Over the years, the building faded from public memory, remaining closed due to budget constraints until the site was eventually redeveloped into a neighborhood park in 2024, with five historic structures preserved.
The works in the exhibition broadly spotlight environmental challenges, particularly those facing Indonesia. These include the threat of rising sea levels (“The Islands Feeling”) and the degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity driven by the pervasive use of human-made materials (“Anthropogenic”). The damage caused by unsustainable shrimp farming in vanishing mangrove forests, as well as the ruthless pursuit of wealth through the exploitation of mineral resources, is also highlighted in “The Shadow behind Roots” and “Ojo Adigang Adigung Adiguna” (Don’t be Arrogant, Stubborn, nor Possess the Desire to Always Conquer), respectively. However, there is also hope and respect for age-old mythology expressed through works such as “Breathe, Banyan Tree,” which depicts a sacred tree that is said to have once saved a plague-stricken village by absorbing water from a lake.
Maryanto’s “Anthropogenic” (2019), Sgraffito and acrylic on canvas, 200 x 300 cm / Courtesy of Maryanto and G Gallery
Maryanto hopes that Koreans, who, like Indonesians, have deep respect for their landscapes and natural elements, will connect with his work, especially as Korea faces its own climate change risks, such as rising sea levels and more extreme weather events. He sees his pieces as akin to a book, where it is up to the viewer to draw connections and construct their own narrative. It may even prompt critical reflection about the complicity of Korean businesses and government institutions in extracting Indonesia’s resources and the devastation of landscapes — often glossed over as backdrops of economic growth. Indeed, Korea has actively promoted the import of “sustainable” raw materials, like wood pellets and palm oil, while also engaging in mining and sand quarrying operations, all of which have contributed to the violation of local people’s traditional and human rights.
As Maryanto shared: “I can’t point to a single company and say they are solely responsible for the destruction. What I really want to convey is that what happens in Indonesia — as well as in places across Latin America — is not just their own responsibility. Many people outside the country say Indonesia is being destroyed because it cannot manage itself, but in reality, investors and corporations from China, Japan as well as Korea play a major role. I hope through the exhibition ‘Narratives Underneath,’ people can engage with it on a deeper level. I won’t tell you outright that this is your responsibility, but I hope it sparks greater awareness of what is happening.”
What is unique about Maryanto’s art is his use of sgraffito on canvas, a technique he developed through his training in printmaking, particularly with woodcuts and etching. He describes his method as a “scratching technique” that feels like coming from darkness and finding the light. Working with white on black, he adds, creates a sense of humility, with no fancy or luxurious colors, no metallics — just form. For him, it’s like reading a text that doesn’t demand an opinion but instead opens the mind for discussion, offering a more subtle way to engage the viewer.
Maryanto’s “We Are Here and Still Life” (2025), sgraffito and acrylic on canvas, 60 x 80 cm / Courtesy of Maryanto, G Gallery
As he continues to explore these themes, he encourages young artists to stay rooted in their local realities. “There is more sincerity when you express what is close to you,” he said.
His work serves as a reminder that past struggles, environmental concerns and questions of justice are deeply interconnected — and that art can be a powerful method to expose stories that are buried beneath the surface, waiting for the right voices to reveal them.
“Narratives Underneath: Shifting Landscapes and Memory” runs at G Gallery in Gangnam District, open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday until April 12.
Follow @maryantobeb and @ggallery.kr on Instagram for more information.
Jack Greenberg works as a consultant, researcher and freelance writer. His current focus is on heritage and conservation issues, historical memory debates, truth-seeking and reconciliation and civilian massacres of the 1950-53 Korean War. He was a recipient of the Global Korea Scholarship and earned a master’s in international studies at Korea University. He is also an alum of McGill University.
