Dear Readers: This is a short post on a performance ARTERI EDs went to during the opening of Two Shoes for Dancing at Valentine Willie Fine Art, KL on Friday 7th August). It was an evening of of magical realism, story telling, total installation,  suspension of disbelief and contemporary fairy tales. Through a combination of paintings, drawings  and puppetry: an important folk culture medium that is seen less and less in the 21st century, we experienced an intimate, fanciful, and surreal happening. We wanted to share some images and include the gallery statement for you below. The performance was about Oui a curious, ordinary, extraordinary, smoking blue character who lives in a village, has a girlfriend, a lover and who likes to share dancing shoes with his guests, because he has no feet to wear them.

TWO SHOES FOR DANCING features a series of 22 works of various mediums by Iwan Effendi. This Yogyakarta based artist’s works are conceptually derived from his imagination, which are very much influenced by his community and surroundings in which he works with. This co-founder of the PAPERMOON Puppet Theatre will be bringing his fantasy characters to life at the VWFA Project Room this August, through a variety of paintings and a mute puppet show.

Iwan Effendi and his wife, Maria Tri Sulistyani are the first couple in Yogyakarta to start a puppet theatre like PAPERMOON. This couple’s puppet company is acclaimed for their quirky yet adorable puppets. Their puppet performances have garnered much attention and they have collaborated with favourite local music band, Mocca in their music video clip and they have performed at the Hooyang Performing Arts Centre in South Korea.

Utilising wood and paper as the surface for his paintings, Iwan paints an interpretation of the life he lives and shares with us the subjects that influence him to create such highly imaginative characters. The artist’s main inspiration comes from the community that he works with in his hometown. From his small private studio, he bridges the community into the art circle with his playful illustration and puppet theatre.

Two Shoes for Dancing is on until 28 August at Valentine Willie Fine Art, KL.

Just before the performance in VWFA project room, with artist Iwan Effendi standing to the far right
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Maria Tri Sulistyani during the start of the performance telling the audience about the peculiar, enchanting Oui
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Maria and Oui
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Oui
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She Knows Something was Wrong, 2009, Acrylic on Wood, 53.5 x 22.5 cm
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No Surprise at All, 2009, Acrylic on Wood, 19 x 22.7cm
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My Black Angel, 2009, Acrylic on Wood, 19 x 22.4cm
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Riding the Tragedy, 2009, Acrylic on Wood, 18.8 x 22.4 cm
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Installation View
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Installation View
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Installation Detail
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Installation view
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(EM)