LOT 909
Murniasih, I Gusti Ayu Kadek
(1966 - 2006, Indonesian)
Love and Food
painted in 2003
acrylic on canvas
100 x 100 cm
signed and dated on lower left; titled, dated and signed on the reverse
S$ 27,000 - 37,000
US$ 21,192 - 29,041
Pick up point: Jakarta
Love and Food
I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih, widely known as Murni, delivers a poignant and provocative narrative in her 2003 painting Love and Food. With bold lines, vivid colour fields, and biomorphic forms, this acrylic-on-canvas work encapsulates the artist’s unflinching exploration of female agency, trauma, intimacy, and the body. Born out of personal history and societal critique, the piece is as much a visual statement as it is a reclamation—a bold confrontation with themes often repressed in Indonesian culture, especially when voiced by women.
At first glance, Love and Food seems deceptively playful. The flatness of the image, the cartoon-like contour lines, and the cheerful palette of blue, green, and pink suggest innocence and humour. But beneath this visual levity lies a raw, complex tension. Two figures—stylized, abstracted, yet unmistakably sensual—engage in a surreal act of erotic communion. The act of feeding merges with the act of loving, blurring the boundaries between sustenance and desire, consumption and affection. Tongues entwine in a ritual that is at once tender and confronting, charged with emotional and bodily electricity.
The green and beige figures, gendered by breasts and hips, heels and lips, defy anatomical realism and instead embrace symbolic gesturing. These are not passive subjects—they are active participants in their own narrative. Murni often reclaims the female body from objectification by rendering it on her own terms: distorted, exaggerated, even grotesque—but never invisible. In Love and Food, the figures' sensuality is unapologetic. Their elongated limbs and prominent curves dominate the canvas space with confident assertiveness. The hands—firmly grasping, caressing, holding—assert control and touch, forming a choreography of mutual presence.
Murni's biography infuses the work with deeper meaning. A survivor of childhood abuse, her art often channels the traumas of silenced women into defiantly visual forms. But Love and Food is not just a cry of pain; it is also a celebration of reclamation—of bodily autonomy, of sensual pleasure, and of nourishment in both literal and emotional senses. The title is a declaration: love and food are essential, intertwined needs, often denied to women in both private and political contexts.
Rendered in a style that merges Balinese traditions with feminist modernism, this painting aligns with Murni's broader body of work that has gained recognition beyond Indonesia—including in major international institutions like the Tate. Her visual language resists easy categorization: it is at once naïve and sophisticated, folkloric and avant-garde, intensely personal and fiercely political.
Ultimately, Love and Food is a striking embodiment of Murni's voice—a voice that dares to speak from the margins, that embraces the grotesque and the erotic as forms of truth-telling. It is an artwork that demands the viewer not just to look, but to feel, to question, and to confront the tangled hunger for affection, safety, and selfhood. Through vibrant forms and disarming honesty, Murni offers a feast that is as subversive as it is deeply human.
Condition Report
The painting is in good condition. The canvas is in plane, free of deformations and under adequate tension. Paint layers are intact and in stable condition. No retouching was detected under UV light examination. The painting is offered with frame.
Please note that this report has been compiled by Larasati staff based solely on their observation on the work. Larasati specialists are not professional conservators; thus the report should be treated only as an expression of opinion and not as a statement of fact. We suggest that you consult your own restorer for a more thorough report. We remind you again that all work is sold 'as is' and should be viewed personally by you or your professional adviser before the sale to assess its condition.
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