Publications

Born in 1927, Garut, West Java, Popo Iskandar began painting in 1944 as a poster painter for the Information Service of Indonesian Students Armed Force (TRIP). He studied at Bandung Institute of Technology, Department of Fine Arts, and graduated in 1958. He was a lecturer at the State Teachers Trainings College in Bandung. Popo Iskandar was not only an artist, but also a well-respected intellectual, art critic and art observer. He was made a life member of the Jakarta Academy for his zealous commitment and contributions to the arts.

Popo is well-known for his paintings in impressionistic, linear-cubist, expressionist and abstract styles. His bold, graphic works usually feature stylized animal forms with bright colors. Popo was famous for his 'cat' and 'rooster' series that he had been developing which mystified many art collectors to date. By painting these 2 animal-themes, Popo Iskandar had sought to achieve the generic from the specific. The strokes of paint that shapes his cats and roosters sought to conceptualize the idea that all objects can be reduced to universal elements and forms. But it was more than these series which caught the fancy and admiration of many.