In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 1977
- Birthplace
- Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- Country
- Indonesia
- Nationality
- Not independently established
- Known for
- Images across media
- Training
- Painting
Why this life matters
His practice connects public drawing, reproducible graphics and skilled collective making without reducing them to one medium.
Timeline
Key moments
Solo exhibition
Bercerobong at Cemeti.
Print residency
STPI.
Return to the workshop
STPI residency.
An artist of the reform period
Born in Yogyakarta on 4 July 1977, Nugroho attended an arts high school and studied painting at the Indonesian Art Institute. He graduated in 2006.
His practice emerged around Reformasi, when Indonesian public expression was changing. Curator Adeline Ooi describes an artist working from daily experience across murals, comics, painting, embroidery, animation and shadow theatre, both alone and with others.
Opening a wider practice
He initially helped in a family food stall and did not regard art as a secure career. His 2002 Cemeti exhibition Bercerobong became an opening to residencies and other projects. Murals, dolls and painted work already occupied the same exhibition rather than appearing as successive, abandoned phases.
Sources for this section: [3]
A workshop and several publics
Daging Tumbuh brought contributors together through photocopied publications. Nugroho also developed platforms for emerging artists and childrenโs art education. His account of working in public stresses conversation with passers-by and other makers as a source of ideas.
International residencies and exhibitions carried the work to different settings, including Singapore, Paris, Helsinki and New Orleans. Wayang Bocor extended the practice into performance. The studio biography presents these projects as part of a continuing range of media.
Skilled work behind a graphic image
In 2026 he described painting images on canvas before embroiderers worked over them with manually guided sewing machines. The makersโ skills, and the small areas accessible through a hoop, shaped the process.
His later STPI conversation links print and paper to this broader practice. It also recognises interpretation by audiences as something the artist cannot fully control. Collaboration therefore concerns both making the work and encountering it.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Eko Nugroho
- Does embroidery mean automatic copying?
- Not in the manual process he describes.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Lat
What happens when a graphic idea meets a different audience?
- Garin Nugroho
Compare the decisions needed to bring several media together.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. Studio Eko NugrohoEko Nugroho: Biography and CV
- 2. Adeline Ooi, National Portrait Gallery AustraliaThe Balancing Act: Eko Nugroho
- 3. Adeline Chia, ArtReview Asia,29September2026The Interview: Eko Nugroho
- 4. Elizabeth Ang, STPI,9October2026; translated byLizaMarkusWe have to keep the ecosystem alive
This is a translated, edited conversation; announced future exhibitions are not treated as completed events.
