Hendra Gunawan, nicknamed A Great Modern Indonesian Painter, was one of the founders of the Indonesian Fine Art Academy (ASRI) in Yogyakarta -- now renamed the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) of Yogyakarta.

He was incarcerated in Kebon Waru for his involvement in the Institute of Popular Culture (Lekra), a cultural organization affiliated with the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). It was not until 1978 that he was set free.

In his youth, Gunawan actively joined the Student Troops and was an active member of Poetera (Center of Popular Power), an organization led by the national leadership quartet: Sukarno, Hatta, Ki Hadjar Dewantara and KH Mansur. He was also active in Persagi (the Association of Indonesian Painters), an organization of painters set up by S. Soedjojono and Agus Djaya in 1938.