Edi A.: from finger paintings in Temanggung to a gallery in Kuala Lumpur
Edi Alwardani signs his canvases Edi A. He is an Indonesian-born painter who has lived and worked in Kuala Lumpur since 1999. He paints in oil, mostly with the palette knife, and often at a scale that fills a wall.
He grew up in Temanggung, Central Java, and started painting at five. His family did not support it, so he improvised. He painted with his fingers because brushes were too big for his hands, and mixed his own colours from banana leaf, teak and turmeric. He still mixes colour by eye today. With no money for canvas he painted on bedsheets and pillow covers, and covered whole walls of the house in chalk. That may be where his taste for very large paintings began.
The Indonesian expressionist Affandi was his early hero. Edi studied his work in print, then met him in person, and names him as his main influence to this day.
At twelve he walked into a gallery on Jalan Malioboro in Yogyakarta. It bought several of his paintings, and a finger-painted koi of his won the gallery's long-running competition. He spent the money on materials and decided to give his life to painting.
He moved to Jakarta, found the tourist art scene at Ancol too commercial, and turned his own house into a gallery in 1995. In 1997 he opened a second one in Plaza Indonesia. Trips between Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Bali fed the landscapes, the koi and a growing pull toward abstraction. Exhibitions in Singapore and Malaysia followed, and in 1999 he settled in Kuala Lumpur with his family.
Today his work is on show at Gallery 98 Fine Art in Damansara City Mall. The koi are still there, now alongside rice-harvest scenes, rivers, roosters, horses and big abstract canvases.
[Space for a short quote from Edi in his own words, and the story behind the name Gallery 98. To add after talking with Edi.]
Milestones
A life in paint
- 1976Born in December in Temanggung, Central Java, Indonesia.
- Age 5First paintings. Too small for brushes, he paints with his fingers and mixes colour from banana leaf, teak and turmeric.
- ChildhoodPaints in oil on bedsheets and pillow covers when canvas is out of reach, and in chalk across the walls at home. Studies the work of Indonesian master Affandi, first in books and later in person.
- Age 12A gallery on Jalan Malioboro, Yogyakarta, buys several paintings. His finger-painted koi wins the gallery's long-running competition.
- 1995Turns his own house in Jakarta into a small gallery.
- 1997Opens a second gallery in Plaza Indonesia, Jakarta. Time in Bali shapes his landscapes, koi and the pull toward abstraction.
- Late 1990sExhibitions in Singapore, then Malaysia.
- 1999Moves to Kuala Lumpur to start a family.
- 2025Crisis series, Jakarta, including the painting Pressure.
- 2026Gallery 98 Fine Art opens at Damansara City Mall, Kuala Lumpur.
- What inspires you?
- “I want to crave and create a history through art.”
- Your creative process?
- “I paint whatever that is in my heart.”
- Three words for your work?
- “Contemporary Fine Art.”
- Most important tool?
- “Pallet knife & brush.”
- Best advice you were given?
- “Keep on painting and ignoring negative views.”
- Where do you find inspiration?
- “Family, nature, on the road.”
Visit the gallery
See the paintings in person at Damansara City Mall
The canvases are big and the paint is thick. They read differently in the room than on a phone. Gallery 98 shows Edi's koi, landscapes and abstracts on the ground floor.
Lot G-02, Damansara City MallNo 6, Jalan Damanlela
Bukit Damansara, 50490
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
[Opening hours: to confirm with Edi]
New work most weeks
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