Eko Nugroho: STRANGE MONSTER VIEW

In Eko Nugroho’s surreal universe, monsters lurk closer than we think. Figures shapeshift between man and machine, inhabiting hybrid forms from parallel dimensions. Drawing on influences from street art, graffiti and comics, these graphic renderings of masked creatures transform Nugroho’s daily observations into a playful critique of lived realities, unveiling themes of identity, perception and belonging.

Grounded in everyday encounters from his second residency at STPI, this exhibition extends Nugroho’s wry inquiry of social norms in Singapore into a masquerade of chilli crabs and cyborgs. Here, he turns his astute eye to tourism, architecture and culture in the city-state, examining shared experiences that shape national identity and community. Mutated by televisions and smartphones, Nugroho’s characters mirror dystopian futures of a digitally saturated age—where screen addictions alter our minds and selves into unrecognisable forms.

Across new expressions in mokulito (wood lithography) and pulp painting at STPI’s Workshop, Nugroho’s textured compositions convey tangible anxieties of contemporary life, inviting us to question the charged act of seeing and being seen. Through its menagerie of mutant characters, STRANGE MONSTER VIEW offers an uncanny glimpse into the absurdity of living in a hyperconnected world: one where reality and fiction blend seamlessly together, and the idea of the self becomes increasingly untenable.

In-person viewing: 41 Robertson Quay, Singapore 238236