Jayanto Damanik Tan

Jayanto is a visual artist who was born and raised in a small village in North Sumatra, Indonesia to a Chinese-Malay-Sumatran Christian mother and Chinese-Guangdong Taoism father. As a Chinese-Indonesian Peranakan immigrant living in Sydney, who fled poverty and political repression in search of a better life, his practice blends Eastern and Western mythologies with the reality of current events. He draws on the identity politics of diaspora to express personal experiences of ‘otherness’. His practice shares autobiographical experiences of loss, displacement, hope and offering a sentiment of mixed spirituality and sharing demonstrates a diverse culture bringing the timeless wisdom of meditation to a contemporary world.

His art practice investigates the way collected found objects, ceramic, food and personal performance activate and reveal hidden aspect of cultural identity to create emotional intensity and generate the potential for multiculturalism. Through interactive performance installation hybrid cultures have the potential to create new identities from which it is possible to appreciate the increasingly mixed cultural identity throughout the world.

Jayanto holds a Bachelor of Fine Art and Master of Fine Art at National Art School. He has been a finalist in several art prizes including the Blacktown Art Prize, North Sydney Art Prize, Fisher’s Ghost Art Award and Rookwood Cemetery Sculpture Walk. He has solo shows at Firstdraft, Woolloomooloo and Australia-China Institute for the Arts, Western Sydney University Parramatta. Inner West Council funded him for EDGE Activations, Newtown ArtSeat, GreenWay public art as well Northern Beaches Council. The Mittelschule am Aschberg Weisingen, Germany and Monash University Melbourne funded him for paper lantern workshops. Most recent, Jayanto’s works has been selected for Western Sydney University Sculpture Award, 2020 and a Solo Show at Verge Gallery University of Sydney, 2021. His works have been included in group exhibitions across Australia, Europe, China and Indonesia. He was selected for residencies at the Tantery Pottery Bali, Indonesia and Red Gate Gallery Beijing, China.

Congratulations to Art Atrium artists of getting the 2023 Fisher’s Ghost Art Award

Art Atrium Artist Exhibition Opening – Jayanto Tan – Finalist

Art Atrium Exhibition Opening – Jayanto Tan and Jacqueline Balassa

Art Atrium Artist in Conversation – Jayanto Tan and Jacqueline Balassa

Art Atrium Exhibition Opening – Year of the Tiger Chinese New Year Exhibition

Art Atrium Artists Exhibition – Dapeng Liu, Jayanto Tan and Laurens Tan – Parallel Wanderings

Congratulations to Art Atrium artist for getting the Georges River Art Prize

Art Atrium Artists in Conversation – Final Event of the Year 2020

Congratulations to Art Atrium artists Fan Dongwang and Jayanto Tan for being Finalists in the Blake Prize

Art Atrium artist Jayanto Tan’s exhibition, ‘Ritual My Beautiful Curse (Cap Go Meh)’, at Verge Gallery

Summer Sojourn, Art Atrium’s 10th Anniversary End of Year Group Exhibition launched by Jimmy Barnes AO