"Dragon Keeper" Acrylic on canvas, 1999 68" x 48"

Bramantyo Prijosusilo's two most memorable works in Pancaroba Indonesia are from a series of large colorful canvases he painted for a public exhibition, entitled "Masturbasi Reformasi," which toured the streets of Yogyakarta via horse cart in February of this year. As the exhibition title suggests the works are both highly political and explicitly sexual, and the two most memorable works each depict Suharto in situations that would have previously landed the artist in prison. In "Pandhito Wuda" Suharto is portrayed in the nude as a wayang character with other dismembered wayang characters as well as a satellite floating above him and snarling dogs moving in from below to lick his reptile like fingers and toes. Bram's use of vivid color and a naive style add levity that pushes the outrageous content so far over the edge that the paintings are at once poignant commentary and also hilarious jabs at the previously untouchable president.