Adeputra Masri, Kuala Lumpur
Member Since March 2015
Artist Statement About Artist
Born 1970 in Johor, before he was known as an artist (or even as Adeputra), Adeputra enjoyed a career as a popular cartoonist and illustrator. Inspired by Lat, he migrated to Kuala Lumpur after completing his secondary education and in the 1980s, drew for newspapers and magazines such as Gelihati under the name Adi Putere. In his early cartooning days, he used bold strokes inspired by Islamic calligraphy. From 1990 to 1992, aside from drawing for popular humour magazine Ujang, he was producing social commentaries and editorial cartoons for Utusan Malaysia until 1995. “I love to observe society and people, I like to think,” says Adeputra of his natural propensity that made him suited for the job from the get-go, and continues to address his artworks today.Two books were written by Adeputra during his editorial stint: Misnan dan Sarip (Misnan and Sarip) and a social commentary titled Dari Poket Seorang Kutu Lepak (From the Pocket of a Loiterer), in 1997. “My opportunities for growth were limited in comics as the magazines were too focused on humour, and when I created something symbolic, it was not well received,” says Adeputra, “So I had to find a more meaningful platform.” By the end of 1999, Adeputra had his first solo exhibition at the Legend Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
Being a self-taught artist, Adeputra believes in going against the grain, “Before this, in Malaysia only artists with formal education were able to produce mature works, while the rest depended on skill and were constrained by it, unable to produce anything innovative,” Adeputra explains, “I had no formal education, I started art to escape from tradition by creating contemporary works. Those without formal education had to work harder to survive, and now I see they can even bravely step up to the spotlight.” Interestingly, not only does he achieve his own artistic voice by seeking similarities more than differences, how Adeputra strives to go against the flow is by going back to his roots.When Adeputra first began to transfer his artwork onto canvas as paintings, like many others he thought about following a concept or style, however after several years he discovered that the best method was to stand tall by one’s heritage and lineage. “I am born a Malaysian Javanese, I grew up surrounded by Javanese culture. The Javanese are the dominant ethnicity in Southeast Asia, as in Indonesia Nusantara,” explains Adeputra, “Even in Malaysia, Malays are partly from the Javanese, and the origins of Northern Malaysian cultures such as batik are from when it was Majapahit and Sriwijaya. The Javanese influence is nothing new in modern Malaysia.”Thusly, his Javanese roots became his life philosophy, and one of its foremost arts, the Wayang Kulit or shadow puppet, became his personal ‘art exchange’ to bring out his own style. “What I take is the character,” says Adeputra, “My delivery contains a little bit of humour, and I adopt the modern concept of narrative.” What drew Adeputra to the aesthetics of shadow puppets is their symbolism and visual expressiveness, “A thousand years before Picasso abstracted human figures and faces, the wayang kulit has already beautified their characters’ expressions that way.”Adeputra uses the traditional to convey contemporary issues; showing classic values in new methods of delivery, all to denote his origins and ways, not just to others but also to himself. “There has been criticism that my work looks Indonesian, but what I am doing is not influenced by the external but rather a returning to my roots,” says Adeputra, “Malaysia consists of many ethnicities and i’m part of the largest ethnic percentage. If the Chinese and Indians can practice their culture and declare it to be Malaysian culture, why not I? I cannot be a Kelantanese, I can only be myself.”While the wayang kulit aesthetics are not immediately noticeable, it is most prominent in the totally side-facing characters with jointed limbs: “The perspective and arrangement is lik
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