PIATE 2026 Indonesia VIP Artist Nanang Widjaya | Asian Landscapes in Watercolour

What does it feel like to travel through different cities and landscapes through the eyes of a single artist?

Nanang Widjaya, PIATE 2026’s Indonesia VIP Guest Artist, has documented animals and flowers, markets and temples, and landscapes across Asia through watercolour.

His luminous washes of colour and generous use of negative space invite us to see familiar subjects as if they were entirely new. For Widjaya, watercolour is both a way of portraying landscape and a language for holding the light, atmosphere, and sensations of everyday life.

This article introduces Nanang Widjaya’s practice, his works at PIATE 2026, and how new YEATU members can receive a complimentary invitation ticket.

PIATE 2026 Art Fair: Visitor Information

Dates: October 1–4, 2026

Venue: Goyang Flower Exhibition Center

Nanang Widjaya booth: V-3

October 1, VIP Preview: 2:00–7:00 PM

October 2–3: 11:00 AM–7:00 PM

October 4: 11:00 AM–6:00 PM

Last admission: one hour before closing

How to Receive a Complimentary PIATE 2026 Invitation Ticket

New YEATU members are eligible for a complimentary invitation ticket to PIATE 2026.

1. Visit the event page below.

2. Sign up as a new YEATU member.

3. Follow the instructions on the event page to claim your complimentary invitation ticket.

Join YEATU and Receive Your Complimentary PIATE 2026 Invitation Ticket

About the Artist

Artist: Nanang Widjaya

Born: 1970, Jakarta, Indonesia

Based in: Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Primary medium: Watercolour on canvas

Key interests: Landscapes, markets, temples, flowers, and animals

PIATE 2026 booth: V-3

Exhibition dates: October 1–4

A Life in Watercolour, Rooted in Yogyakarta

Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1970, Nanang Widjaya has been based in Yogyakarta for much of his career.

He graduated from SMSR Yogyakarta in 1990 and was recognised early on for his skill through awards in poster and architectural drawing competitions during the 1980s.

Since his first solo exhibition in Ubud, Bali, in 1997, he has participated consistently in exhibitions across several countries. More recently, he founded NW Art Space in Yogyakarta, expanding a platform not only for his own practice but also for artists’ creation and exchange.

Rather than treating distant landscapes as unfamiliar tourist images, his work begins by observing the life, light, and time that inhabit a place.

Everyday Life Seen Through Luminous Colour and Negative Space

Nanang Widjaya’s watercolours do not stop at finely depicting the form of a subject.

Watercolour’s transparent tones, its bleeding edges, and the open space left on the surface give each scene a distinct temperature. The closer you look, the more you notice how layered colour, the texture of brushwork, and the empty space around the subject create the rhythm of the composition.

In his work, familiar subjects such as birds, flowers, and rabbits also come into view as landscapes in their own right. It is a way of encouraging us to linger over small living things and ordinary objects.

When you encounter his work at PIATE 2026, consider the following questions:

What colours does the artist use to shape the mood of the subject?

What feelings do the bleeding edges of the paint and the negative space add to the image?

How do disparate subjects—markets and temples, animals and flowers—connect through rhythm?

How does the artist capture a place’s light and atmosphere rather than simply its physical appearance?

A Practice Expanded Through Markets, Temples, Animals, and Flowers

At PIATE 2026, visitors can encounter the breadth of Nanang Widjaya’s subjects.

<Two Birds>, <Blue Bird>, <Flower>, and <Rabbit> reveal the artist’s way of seeing animals, plants, and other familiar subjects. The movement of a bird, the colour of a flower, and the presence of a rabbit meet watercolour’s transparent tones and open space to form scenes that are quiet yet vivid.

<Pecinan Market> captures the energy of a market and the texture of everyday life. It renders the atmosphere of a place where people and objects, colour and movement, converge through watercolour’s clear, luminous palette.

<Prambanan Temple> and <Sambisari Temple> invite viewers to encounter the memory and time held within these sites. Consider how the artist translates the structure and atmosphere of historic architecture, along with the light and air around it, onto the surface.

<Youyu County Shanxi China> shows how the artist’s gaze extends beyond Indonesia to landscapes across Asia.

Selected Works at PIATE 2026

 

〈Two Birds〉, 〈Blue Bird〉, 〈Flower〉

〈Rabbit〉, 〈Pecinan Market〉, 〈Prambanan Temple〉

〈Sambisari Temple〉, 〈Youyu County Shanxi China〉

Nanang Widjaya offers a fresh viewing experience by bringing watercolour’s transparent colour and negative space to familiar subjects.

Discover Nanang Widjaya’s Work at PIATE 2026

Nanang Widjaya’s work will be on view at Booth V-3 of the PIATE 2026 Art Fair.

If you are curious about how watercolour captures light, air, and the atmosphere of a place, take a moment with his work. As you move among landscapes, animals, flowers, markets, and temples, you may discover the artist’s sensitive way of seeing each scene.

Receive a Complimentary PIATE 2026 Invitation Ticket

To experience PIATE 2026 in person, join YEATU as a new member. New members receive a complimentary invitation ticket to PIATE 2026.

Claim Your Complimentary PIATE 2026 Invitation Ticket

YEATU Articles will continue to introduce participating artists and their works from PIATE 2026.