Evi Pangestu

Indonesian painter imbues abstract forms with meaning
By Ian Tee

Evi Pangestu, ‘Squaring Square’, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 159 cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

Born in 1992 in Indonesia, Evi Pangestu explores the idea of rebellion and control through the medium of painting. She challenges the conventions of painting by manipulating its fundamental building blocks: canvas, paint and support. The resulting works are minimal in form but maximal in their visual impact.

Evi Pangestu, ‘Fluorescent Red Square on Red’, 2017, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of the artist.

Evi Pangestu, ‘Layer of Magenta’, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 125 x 125cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

This trajectory in Evi’s practice was refined during her studies at the Royal College of Art in London from 2017 to 2019. That was the time when she zeroed in on the square form and adopted neon yellow as a signature colour in her paintings. Indeed, Evi’s earlier investigations featured other colours and graphic painted elements as seen in ‘Fluorescent Red Square on Red’ (2017) and ‘Layer of Magenta’ (2018). The artist described the decision to limit her palette as “a necessary move that helped her focus on her concepts''.

Evi’s Royal College of Art Studio. Image courtesy of the artist.

Evi Pangestu, ‘Forced Interaction’, 2021, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 150cm. Image courtesy of the artist.

Thus, Evi’s thesis project ‘Squaring Square’ concentrated on the white canvas ground, the irregularly-shaped stretchers and a centralised painted yellow square. They are paintings with bulging protrusions that look as though they are trying to break free from their confines. Yet, the works are also anchored by the recurring motif of a large painted yellow square which serves to reinforce their “square-ness”. In this body of work, clearly defined conceptual parameters and specificity of form are intrinsically connected.

“In this body of work, clearly defined conceptual parameters and specificity of form are intrinsically connected.”

The ideas of rebellion and control are communicated through the tension evoked into ‘Squaring Square’ and its affiliated series ‘Structure Control’. To achieve such an effect, one significant technical challenge Evi needed to overcome was the construction of these paintings. Custom timber wood stretcher frames were built to accommodate the weight of additional armatures and protrusions. Her paintings are not images but clunky objects that have a defiant material presence.

A failed experiment for ‘Finding Compromise’, 2020. Image courtesy of the artist.

Evi Pangestu, ‘Little Compromises’, 2022, gesso on canvas, 100 x 160cm. Photograph by Andang Iskandar, image courtesy of D Gallerie.

In her latest body of work ‘Finding Compromises’, Evi hones in on the grid as a structure for formal play. Starting with a rectangular canvas inlaid with smaller rectangular grids, she finds opportunities to insert squares within the composition or what she calls “compromises”. Utilising white gesso on canvas ground, the artist’s intervention is decidedly minimal. However, upon closer inspection, there is a textural richness as these gesso-ed lines and squares create a subtle ridge on the painting’s surface. Pictorially, these “compromises” bring a sense of dynamism to the static framework, whilst creating moments of pregnant pause. They engage with the grid’s seriality, finding harmony even as they straddle between standing out and fitting in. Evi’s approach attempts to imbue meaning into the formal language of abstraction. 

Click here to read our dialogue with Evi Pangestu.