작품 상세

Arifien was born in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia in 1955 as the eldest son of 11 siblings. Since early age he was attracted to art and aimed to become an artist someday. His talent in art was inherited from his grandmother who loved making handicrafts. After finishing high school in Surabaya, Arifien could not afford to continue his study in art faculty. But as a self-taught artist, he regularly took part and won many art competitions. Arifien moved to Jakarta in the 1970s. After more than 6 years of hardship from one odd job to another, he finally joined an advertising company, a perfect venue for his passion in art. It was in 1980 that Arifien finally decided to become a full time artist. Inspired by the works of artists such as Sudjojono, Matisse, Chagall and Bosch, Arifien has participated in numerous exhibitions in Indonesia, Singapore, Italy, and USA.  His solo exhibitions were held in Jakarta in 1989, 1990, 1997 and in Singapore in 1999. His great effort, discipline, integrity and passion had made him find his very own special style of painting. Arifien’s painting is rich of characters and style. Significantly, his experience in interior design sensitized him to his interior angle in his paintings, how he arranged the properties of space in his paintings, and how he carved space with objects. In 2008, he was given an opportunity to again present his second solo show in Singapore, titled Fine Romance held at National Museum of Singapore.