Kelvin Atmadibrata (b.1988, Jakarta, Indonesia) recruits superpowers awakened by puberty and adolescent fantasy. Equipped by shōnen characters, kōhai hierarchy and macho ero-kawaii, he often personifies power and strength into partially canon and fan fiction antiheroes to contest the masculine meta and erotica.
He works primarily with performances, often accompanied by and translated into drawings, mixed media collages and objects compiled as installations. Approached as bricolages, Kelvin translates narratives and recreates personifications based on RPGs (Role-playing video games) theories and pop mythologies.
His recent works converse in the language of minimalist erotica, illustrating his survey of the mecha and transhumanist fantasy. Also motivated by the craft of contemporary tattoo, he experiments on the process of image markings on skin as a continuation of his attraction to living sculptures, breathing mannequins and bodies as pedestals.
He is the first recipient of Ivan Ladislav Galeta Prize, awarded by Academy of Arts in Osijek for his touring performance, Forcing Hyacinth in Međunarodno studentsko bijenale, Zagreb, Croatia. The awarded work has also been presented in performance and fringe festivals in thirteen cities around United Kingdom and Europe since its London premier in October 2018. He is also the finalist of the national Indonesian Art Award in 2015 followed by Bandung Contemporary Art Award in 2017.
Kelvin completed his Bachelor of Fine Art majoring in Interactive Media from School of Art, Design and Media in Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and has been practicing, exhibiting and participating in exhibitions and festivals since 2010. In 2017 he established Sepersepuluh, a performance-focused gallery in Jakarta, Indonesia which currently focuses as nomadic curatorial, collaborative and investigational project since he moved to London in 2018.
He is a recent Master of Art graduate in Contemporary Art Practice (Performance) from Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom and currently lives and works between London and Jakarta.
Kelvin also has a registry with Visual AIDS.
108
studio
Deptford Triangle
34 Watson's Street
London SW8 4AU
SOLO EXHIBITION
2024 My dearest friend, welcome to my fabulous stage! Did you get the script? Well, well... how grand. I hate violence yet the war is gallant. You must be tired from it, no? Sing a sad song for me. But please fear not I am ever at your side. I shall die for your friendship, so I refuse to accept this! P-P-P-Please forgive me! I have decided upon a way to ensure that I forget neither this battle nor our friendship, for as long as I live. I shall plant a commemorative rose bush upon my return to my home. All the rose petals floating in the water!! You're an exceedingly fine gentleman. I speak the truth, you are a fine specimen of a man. Please be at peace. (There's a drawing here that looks just like a ......), Parlour Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2018 BEAST, Sepersepuluh, Jakarta, Indonesia
2015 Carbuncle, SPACE Galeri Pasar, Jakarta, Indonesia
2014 たけくらべ, Japan Foundation Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
2013 GHB, Asbestos Art Space, Bandung, Indonesia
2013 GHB, Pasar Pagi Mangga Dua, Jakarta, Indonesia
2012 Tangkuban Perahu, The Pigeonhole, Singapore
2009 Dipped In Red, PLU Hangout Cafe, Singapore
COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS
2023 hello, who's there? what's your name?, with Putri Wartawati, Destian A. Kurniawan and Puri Puti Raie, Feelioum Galler & Studios, London, United Kingdom
2023 Intersect, with selina bonelli, Live Art Development Agency, London, United Kingdom
2021 WARNING! The final boss is coming!!, with Chunlin Men and Nick Wong, VSSL, London, United Kingdom
2020 Platform Project, with Luca Bosani, online, Athens, Greece
2019 Solitude, with Zoncy, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany
2019 Neuron, with Aziz Amri, Woo Gateway Project Space, Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom
2017 Om, Telolet Om!, with Dwinanda Agung Kristianto, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gent, Belgium
2017 Membangun Tanpa Paku, with Aziz Amri, Ivan Tan, Rummana Yamanie and Yuzuru Maeda, Galeri Cipta, Tamain Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta, Indonesia
2017 Qahwah, with Rummana Yamanie, Kopikalyan, Jakarta, Indonesia
2016 Liar vol.3: RIPE, directed by Agnes Christina, Kedai Kebun Forum, Jogjakarta, Indonesia
2015 Magpalitan Tayo ng mga Alingawngaw, with Magpies, Electrical Engineering Building, University of Los Baños, Laguna, the Philippines
2014 Vois sur ton chemin, with Ivan Tan Eng Hong, Post Museum Pop-Up, Gillman Barracks, Singapore
2013 Coming Back to the Underwater Kingdom, with Ezzam Rahman, Supermarket: Stockholm Independent Art Fair, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
2012 Darshan, with Mariona Vilaseca, The Substation, Singapore
2011 Black Light District, with Dey Irfan Adianto, DYMK bar, Singapore
2011 Romantic Fluid, with Desiree Lau, tocaMe bar, Singapore
2010 Ignudo, with Vincent Chow, DYMK bar, Singapore
2008 Mobile Garden: an origami project, with Rin Ioka, Forth Gallery, Singapore
PERFORMANCE ART FESTIVALS
2024 Emergency, Contact Theatre, Manchester, United Kingdom
2024 artikulationsprozesse, Stadtteilbibliothek Kalk, Köln, Germany
2024 QUEERCALL, Sunny Sand, Folkestone, United Kingdom
2024 Time, Hundred Years Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2023 Emergency, Contact, Manchester, United Kingdom
2023 International Multimedia Art Festival, SULUV Gallery, Odžaci and Novi Sad, Serbia
2023 And Here We Test Our Powers, Avalon Cafe, London, United Kingdom
2023 Molasses Vases, hARTSlane Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2023 SUPERMARKET Performance Program, Stadsgårdsterminalen, Stockholm, Sweden
2023 Sofia Underground, Krasno Selo Cultural Center, Sofia, Bulgaria
2022 One Hundred Evenings of Loneliness, The Island, Bristol, United Kingdom
2022 Ending the Void, Hundred Years Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2022 Convergence, Milford House, Tipperary, Ireland
2022 Tiding, Parish Church of St Mary & St Eanswythe, Folkstone, United Kingdom
2021 @Disturbance, Ugly Duck, London, United Kingdom
2021 Emergency, Contact Theatre, Manchester, United Kingdom
2021 Spill Yer Tea, online
2021 Kaum Festival, Oyoun Hall, Berlin, Germany
2020 Stockholm Fringe Festival, online
2020 Online Performance Art Festival, online
2019 Spill Yer Tea, Constellations, Liverpool, United Kingdom
2019 DISKURS34, taT-studiobühne, Gießen, Germany
2019 Athens Festival of Queer Performance, fac_research, Athens, Greece
2019 Performance Art Bergen, Grand Hotel Terminus, Bergen, Norway
2019 F U T U R E R I T U A L, Kunstraum, London, United Kingdom
2019 Emergency, NIAMOS, Manchester, United Kingom
2019 A Performance Affair, Vanderborght Building, Brussels, Belgium
2019 Starptelpa: Riga Performance Festival, RISEBA H2O 6, Riga, Latvia
2019 UnShut, Local Theatre, Sheffield, United Kingdom
2019 LEAD, Headington Hill Hall, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
2019 SEA Currents, Raven Row, London, United Kingdom
2019 LAPSody, Theatre Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
2018 Interested?, GROW Tottenham, London, United Kingdom
2018 Performance Art Resource Orchestrator, Mox, Singapore
2017 Melaka Art and Performance Festival, St. Paul's Hill, Melaka, Malaysia
2017 Performance Art Resource Orchestrator, Zach Collaboratives, Singapore
2017 Tobong Arts Performance, Festival Kelud, Kediri, Indonesia
2017 Bandung International Arts Festival, Batu Curug Templek, Bandung, Indonesia
2017 Dhaka Live Art Biennale, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2017 Kolkata International Art Festival, Kolkata, India
2016 Undisclosed Territory 10, Studio Plesungan, Solo, Indonesia
2016 Rapid Pulse International Performance Art Festival, Defibrillator Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
2016 ArtStage 2016 After Party, CHIJMES, Singapore
2015 Melaka Art and Performance Festival, St. Paul's Hill, Melaka, Malaysia
2015 Zentai Performance Day, Japan Creative Centre, Singapore
2015 Fringe Manila, National Commission for Culture and the Arts Gallery, Intramuros, Metro Manila, the Philippines
2014 Melaka Art and Performance Festival, St. Paul's Hill, Melaka, Malaysia
2014 Cross-Cultural Live Art Project, the Proud Archivist, London, United Kingdom
2014 Sydney Fringe Festival, Camperdown Memorial Park Newtown and 5 Eliza, Sydney, Australia
2014 PADJAK #3-6, Jakarta, Indonesia
2013 PADJAK #1-2, Jakarta, Indonesia
2013 Senam Sore, Jakarta, Indonesia
2013 Surabaya Move On #2, Surabaya, Indonesia
2013 NIPAF Asian Tour; Bandung, Asbestos Art Space, Bandung, Indonesia
2012 Me and Dedication, Taman Makam Pahlawan, Solo, Indonesia
2012 Undisclosed Territory 6, Padepokan Lemah Putih, Solo, Indonesia
2012 Future of Imagination 8, Goodman Arts Center, Singapore
2012 Performance Art Touring, Asbestos Art Space and ruangrupa, Bandung and Jakarta, Indonesia
2012 S.P.A.M, The Substation, Singapore
2012 Fetterfield, Crawford Park, Singapore
2011 Corpologia, Els Jardins de la Mercè, Pujada la Mercè, Girona, Spain
2011 Future of Imagination 7, Goodman Arts Center, Singapore
2011 NOW! for the second time, School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
2011 Stockholm Fringe Festival, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
2011 Open Space Performance Art Festival, Asbestos Art Space, Bandung, Indonesia
2011 NOW! The Artist Is Present, School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
2010 existence: a festival of performance art, Judith Wring Center, Brisbane, Australia
2010 Roving Artist, Night Festival, The Substation, Singapore
2010 Festival Kata dalam Performa, Jakarta Cultural Center, Jakarta, Indonesia
2010 RITES [Rooted in Ephimeral Speak], Brother Joseph McNally Gallery, LaSalle College of the Arts, Singapore
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 inter/pose, Laidlaw Music Centre, St Andrews, United Kingdom
2024 Invisible Visible, hARTSlane Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2023 Who's been sleeping in my bed?, 44AD Artspace, Bath, United Kingdom
2023 Dream of the Day, Ilham Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2022 28. slavonski biennale, Muzej likovnih umjetnosti, Osijek, Croatia
2022 Art on a Poscard, Bomb Factory South, London, United Kingdom
2022 The Coming of Age, Milsom Place, Bath, United Kingdom
2021 PSX: a decade of performance art in the UK, VSSL, London, United Kingdom
2021 Residency Competition Group Show, The Muse, London, United Kingdom
2020 Out the Window, Centerstage Gallery, Bristol, United Kingdom
2020 Međunarodnog Studentskog Bijenala (Award Exhibition), Knifer Gallery, Osijek, Croatia
2019 Međunarodnog Studentskog Bijenala, Lauba, Zagreb, Croatia
2019 Stages of Life, Harrow Arts Center, Harrow, United Kingdom
2018 Paradox, Lawangwangi Creative Centre, Bandung, Indonesia
2017 I too am untranslatable, RUCI Art Space, Jakarta, Indonesia
2016 Pameran Besar Seni Rupa Indonesia, Cultural Park of North Sulawesi, Manado, Indonesia
2016 Two-way Mirror, Objectifs, Singapore
2016 Imaginary Synonym, Tokyo Wonder Site Hongo, Tokyo, Japan
2015 Radiant Presence, VisualAIDS, various sites
2015 Shibuya Eggs, Shibuya City Hall, Tokyo, Japan
2015 Nir Absolut, Japan Foundation Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
2014 The Pleasure of Improbable Placement, Casa de Cultura de Salt, Bernades, Spain
2014 Manifesto #4, Keseharian, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
2014 It Is Not A Trap, Asbestos Art Space, Bandung, Indonesia
2014 ARTE Indonesian Art Festival, Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia
2013 Young Curator Workshop, ruangrupa and Jakarta Arts Council, Jakarta, Indonesia
2013 Dirty, Poorly Dressed, and Filled with Love, Erehwon Art Center, Quezon City, Manila, Philippines
2013 New Nationalism, Light and Space Gallery, Quezon City, Manila, Philippines
2012 tranSport: Madrid/Singapore, Factoria de la Arte y desalloro, Madrid, Spain and Goodman Arts Center, Singapore
2012 Pulau, Stockholm Pride, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
2012 Plasticity, Viridian Arts House, Singapore
2012 Life.Body.Existence, MICA Building, Singapore
2012 Handsome:IVSG, The Substation, Singapore
2012 A Reflective Dialogue; ADM Graduation Show, Old School, Singapore
2012 Portraits of Defacement, Your Mother Gallery, Singapore
2012 Queer Creatures, Supermarket: Stockholm Independent Art Fair, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
2010 HIV- show me the love, ChanHampe Galleries (Tanjong Pagar), Singapore
2010 Rooftop Access, the attic@my art space, Singapore
2010 IMPRINTS, red dot museum, Singapore
2010 Eat With Family, the Arts House, Singapore
2010 12x, Evil Empire, Singapore
2009 Green, UE Square, Singapore
2008 Apple, fill your walls Gallery, Singapore
COMMISSION PROJECTS
2019 workshop, Across RCA, Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom
2011 installation, Shine Youth Festival, *scape, Singapore
2010 drawings, Action For AIDS, Singapore
2008 installation, Yellow Ribbon Project, Botanical Garden, Singapore
AWARD
2020 Awardee, Ivan Ladislav Galeta Award, Akademija za umjetnost i znanost u Osijeku, Osijek, Croatia
2017 Finalist, Bandung Contemporary Art Awards, Lawawangi Creative Center, Bandung, Indonesia
2016 Finalist, Chimera Art Award, Chimera Project, Hungary
2015 Finalist, Gudang Garam Indonesian Art Award, National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
RESIDENCY
2024 Works Ahead Radiator, with Peader Kirk, Manchester Metropolitan University and The Yard, Manchester, United Kingdom
2023 Present to Presence, with Melati Suryodarmo, IKON Gallery, Birmingham, United Kingdom
2021 Seeding Space, London Performance Studios, London, United Kingdom
2020 VSSL, London, United Kingdom
2019 In Between Time, with Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Arts Mansion, Bristol, United Kingdom
2019 STALKER with Franko B, The Foundry, Maubourguet, France
2019 DIS-SENSUS with VestandPage and Andrigo&Aliprandi, c32 Performing Arts Workspace, Forte Marghera, Venice, Italy
2018 Asia Discovers Asia Meeting (ADAM#2), Taipei Performing Arts Centre, Taipei
2017 Rimbun Dahan, Selangor, Malaysia
2015 Tokyo Wonder Site, Tokyo, Japan
2013 Light & Space Contemporary, Quezon City, The Philippines
2011 Nau Coclea (collaboration with SinCat), Camallera, Camallera, Spain
2011 Wallace Environmental Learning Laboratory, Singapore
EDUCATION
2018-2020 Master of Arts (Contemporary Art Practice: Performance), Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom
2008-2012 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Interactive Media), School of Art, Design and Media, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
PRESS
2020 FAKfulness Art Magazine 3rd issue, Piotr Kuszyński, The Masculine Mystique, EN
2019 HIV Ambivalence and Game-Playing Influence, conversation with Benji de la Piedra, WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT AIDS COULD FILL A MUSEUM, ed. Theodore Kerr, On Curating, EN
2018 Art Radar, Chelsea Coon, 3 Emerging Indonesian Performance Artists To Watch, EN
2015 Detik, Tia Agnes Astuti, Tren Batu Akik Menginspirasi Seniman Kelvin Atmadibrata, ID
2015 Akikpedia, Tafsir Estetika Batu Mulia Ala Kelvin Atmadibrata, ID
2015 Manila Times, International artists ‘exposed’ in ‘Fringe’ exhibit, EN
2014 CNN Indonesia, Yohannie Linggasari, Pria, Seni, dan Seksualitas, ID
2014 CNN Indonesia, Yohannie Linggasari, Pameran Takekurabe Hadirkan Isu Gender dan Kekuasaan, ID
2014 Republika, Dewi Mardiani, Tepis Kekakuan Seni, ID
2014 Detik, Tia Agnes Astuti, Terinspirasi Budaya Jepang, Kelvin Atmadibrata Gelar Pameran 'Takekurabe', ID
2010 Rooted in the Ephimeral Speak, Lee Wen, Grow Some Funk Of Our Own…, EN
2009 I-S SG, Zaki Jufri, Red Letter Day: Kelvin Atmadibrata’s Dipped In Red, EN
2008 The Urban Wire, Nisha, Paper Christmas, EN