I Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniasih – also known by Indonesian referencing conventions as Murniasih or Murni – is today amongst the most widely sought, celebrated, exhibited and written-about artists in Indonesia. Born into a farming family in Bali, Murni spent her childhood on the island of Sulawesi: from an early age, she was imbued with a sense of mobility, which also implies uprooting and broader horizons. After many difficult experiences, her art career began in her early 20s. She studied traditional Balinese painting with elders in the Ubud region, in particular with Dewa Putu Mokoh (1934–2010). In addition, the constant exposure to art and ideas from abroad through the international climate in Ubud and, above all, via her Italian artist-partner Mondo (Edmondo Zanolini, b. 1951), expanded her artistic vocabulary and freed her to explore her own unique visual language. Painting was her main medium, though she also sculpted dolls out of cloth, and, in the final years before she died of cancer, created a series of metal and wood sculptures and installations.

One of the experiences that led to her free lifestyle was the fact that she could not have children. The ensuing breakup of her marriage to a local man set her free from the duties expected of a Balinese woman and from the view of female sexuality primarily as a vehicle of reproduction. Murni’s radical exploration of the female body and its pleasures, both in solo pursuit and in a sexual dance with another, soon became a dominant theme in her work. But her work goes well beyond this: sexually graphic works, with their surprising combinations of genitalia, implements and strange creatures, stand side by side with surreal conversations, between fantastical and humorous beings who exist outside of gravity. Murni often spoke about how she slept in her studio and painted her dream-like visions and fantasies. With her extreme, often naïve, sometimes cartoon-like figures depicted against empty space, painted in vivid, flat colours, her art at first titillates the senses before inviting the viewer to wide-ranging reflections. Murni is intensely present in her art in ways not limited to, but also rooted in, her culture of origin. Before she died, Murni spoke of her need to make art as an existential need.

Amongst the dynamic group of women artists in Indonesia and, more broadly, in Asia, Murni has come to the fore internationally in the last few years. From her first solo exhibition in 1995, her work has also been shown internationally, with solo exhibitions in Bangkok (2022), Bologna (1999), Padova (1998), Hong Kong and Melbourne (1998), and group shows in national galleries in Singapore, Australia and the United States. In 2016, the multi-event project titled Merayakan Murni [Celebrating Murni] was held in Bali and beyond. It included research, published articles and collaborative exhibitions, where artists were invited to create art inspired by Murni’s life and work. In 2021, a large retrospective exhibition held at the Gajah Gallery in Singapore was accompanied by a comprehensive catalogue. In 2023, Murni became the first Balinese artist to be collected by London’s prestigious Tate Modern Gallery.