Januri is a young artist from East Java who has made a big impact in his short career so far. The son of a farmer in a coastal village in Tuban, East Java, Januri says that he had always wanted to be an artist; when he was a small boy, he spent hours drawing pictures in the sand in front of his house or at the beach where the fishermen unloaded their catches. At the age of 15 he left home to go to the Arts Preparatory Senior High School (SMSR) in Yogyakarta and in 1996 Januri enrolled at the Institute of Fine Arts (SENI). 

Januri’s work represents a rare thing, a living artist who is receiving due recognition whilst still developing and growing. In the past few years he has gone from strength to strength, presenting his work to a variety of international audiences and receiving acclaim. It is the coherence of each piece in terms of composition, colour and narrative strength that makes Januri’s work so sought after; that and the consistently high quality of his work have made Januri a desirable collector’s artist.

His work comprises mainly acrylic paintings depicting people with square contours and pointed noses, cubistic, stylized, in earth tones or all in blue. Often Januri’s figures are positioned in strange situations, in a kind of hovering state, floating in the air - like the farmer in Tidak Ada Yang Dikerjakan (There is nothing to do) who hangs upside down above an all-concrete city, his shovel idle in his hands as there is no soil to dig anymore.

At the invitation of FauZie As’Ad, an Indonesian sculptor, Januri visited Liechtenstein, and found a new fount of inspiration in the radically different landscape and artistic practice, culminating in an exhibition in Berlin. This has led to Januri expanding his ideas on painting, and developing a broader range of references.

In 2001, he won the Nokia Art Award Indonesia, while he was an Indofood Art Award finalist for the last two years and a Phillip Morris Art Award finalist in 1998, 2000 and 2003.