Exhibition hours: 10am-5pm daily

Vois sur ton chemin (Look upon your path) tells the story of an angel who falls from the sky and lands on an idling snail, crushing it to death. Filled with guilt and remorse, he buries the poor animal and repeats the four healing phrases: S’il vous plaît pardonnez-moi. Je suis désolé. Je t’aime. Merci. (Please Forgive Me. I Am Sorry. I Love You. Thank You).

Kelvin Atmadibrata’s latest narrative is based from a story told by Ivan Tan Eng Hong during his last few months in Singapore. Ivan brought him to his past, from the back alley of Spottiswoode Park to the hills of St. Theresa, sharing how faith and virtue are the most important. Commonly spotted in white costume with angle wings and halo, Ivan is a figure composed of honesty. Providing holistic massage, his eccentricity is a form of expression, an energy worthy to be shared.

Ivan’s story brings the artist back to his early days in Singapore when he was part of the school choir. The works presented, from installation, photographs and performance have titles referring to Christophe Barratier’s 2004 film titled Les Choristes (The Chorus). It narrates a story of a failed musician forming a chorus in a French boarding school for juveniles. Kelvin sees a parallel to the figure of a failed or fallen man seeking and giving forgiveness in Ivan, himself and the French musician.

Vois sur ton chemin is hence a personal narrative that is visualized through Kelvin’s interest in performance-installation, story telling and the exploration towards translation and language. Within social context, the artist hopes to deliver the act of kindness and forgiveness, two values Ivan showed him which he is greatly thankful for.

—

Kelvin Atmadibrata (b.1988, Jakarta, Indonesia) recruits superpowers awakened by puberty and adolescent fantasy to assemble a formidable army of outlaws. Characterized by shōnen action heroes and macho ero-kawaii, his curiosity contests the masculine and erotica in Southeast Asia. His practice includes drawings, mixed media, installation and performance which recreate narratives and characters based on RPGs (Role-playing video games) theories. Partially canon and fan fictions, the characters are visualized through hyper-masculine approaches as the artist manipulates folklores, myths and historical narratives, creating versions with all-male populations of characters and demi-humans. Kelvin Atmadibrata graduated with Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) majoring in Interactive Media from School of Art, Design and Media in Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. Previously based in Singapore for a decade, he now lives and works in Jakarta, Indonesia. www.kelvinatmadibrata.com