Taboo and Transgression
in Contemporary Indonesian Art. Curated by Amanda Rath. Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Cornell University/USA.
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Shifting Eyes, 2003
Doll eyes, resin, oil, acrylic, metallic paint, wood, and nails on canvas and plywood
"Shifting Eyes," by Entang Wiharso, is about cross-cultural and mutual misrecognition and scrutiny that can be cruel. Wiharso has covered the surface of each of the six panels with hundreds of small plastic eyes that look back at us looking at them. The androgynous figure in each panel seems 'trapped' by these plastic eyes/I’s as well as our own scrutinizing gaze. As Entang explains: "Eyes are observers, windows; eyes edit and judge; eyes are prejudice; eyes stigmatize and standardize; eyes give false truth."
(Text by Amanda Rath)
© Photos: Whitney Tassie. Courtesy: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University
in Contemporary Indonesian Art. Curated by Amanda Rath. Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Cornell University/USA.