Indonesian artist Heri Dono’s first solo Hong Kong show takes aim at Trump, political Islam with angry satire
Exhibition at Tang Contemporary Art in Central takes few prisoners as Dono looks on recent world events in his trademark artistic style, inspired by Javanese shadow puppets
Half of the works in Heri Dono’s first Hong Kong solo exhibition feature the current US president as a grotesque monster while others make fun of fundamentalist Islam. In mood, the political Indonesian artist’s angry satire fits right in with a week in Hong Kong that has been filled with protests and the merciless lampooning of politicians.
Recent world events have provided plenty of fodder for Dono, who lived through Indonesia’s oppressive Suharto regime and has spent nearly 40 years depicting tensions between opposing ideologies in his trademark style inspired by Javanese shadow puppets.
He depicts Donald Trump with a long tongue of flame, a symbol of his fiery rhetoric that is causing so much concern around the world. In one painting, the US president is seen battling a dragon, as Dono anticipates growing animosity between America and China. In another, Super Trump Land, the president is seen in a Superman outfit with the “S” symbol replaced by Woody the Woodpecker – the image of a buffoon, but armed to the hilt and shooting at everyone willy-nilly.
“Donald Trump seems to think that his life is a Hollywood film set. It’s very troubling,” the mild-mannered 57-year-old says in Hong Kong.
Dono is just as tough on the religious extremists at home. Joko Tarub Bath in the Lake, Attacked By Terrorists, Protected by 7 Bidadari is the self-explanatory title of a work that depicts a folkloric hero under attack by modern-day militants. In a gender flip, the hero is rescued by a group of female celestial beings who were the bathers in the original tale.
