Become One, 2023
Oil on wood panel
12.6 x 21.6 inches ; 3.7 x 15.7 inches
DAVY LINGGAR
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
In Become One, Davy Linggar explores the dance and performance of marriage. The reference was taken from a photographic archive of the artist’s closest friends getting married. Using oil on wood, Davy thus disrupts the boundaries between photography and painting. His unique blend of photography and painting as a wedding photographer and artist reveals his sensitivity and intent to capture the essence of reality, rituals and social celebrations. The very act of dance is a unifying experience between performing duets, marked by individuality, style and compromise.
The still captured shows the moment when the twirl is completed and the dancing couple is entwined in each other’s arms again. There is almost everything yet nothing happening in that moment of separation/closeness. The bond of marriage goes beyond one’s personality, the artist wishes to communicate how the act of ‘becoming one’ necessitates love, respect and spiritual closeness in order to align the couple’s values, aspirations and hope for the future. Just as with dance, there is choreography to be followed between a married couple.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Davy Linggar is a Jakarta-based artist who works primarily with photography and painting. As a multidisciplinary artist, Davy blurs the boundaries between mediums to convey contemporary Indonesian culture through diverse contexts and methodologies. His practice resists being reduced to simplification and rather seeks to capture the complex ebb and flow of cultural trends. Through the combination of fragments of ideals, norms and emotions, Davy aims to create a rich tapestry of dynamic cultural shifts, to help the viewer get a deeper sense of different lived experiences. Emphasising image constituents, Davy often explores an image’s interactions with memory, form and perceptions. In his distinctive aesthetic vernacular, he engages with architecture, pop culture, fashion and nature.
The artist’s works have been exhibited globally, acquiring prestige and reputation. Some of his solo and group shows have been at Art Basel Hong Kong, Paris Internationale and Singapore Art Museum. In 2014, Davy was awarded the Indonesian Photography Award from the Government of the Republic of Indonesia.