Haris Purmono’s hyperrealistic portraits illustrate resilience. The Indonesian artist began his practice in the 1970s under Suharto’s military government and the battle-scarred faces of his civilian subjects symbolize the country’s difficult past. Purmono’s sitters are everyday individuals whose faces the artist embellishes with bandages and dragon tattoos. Despite their different ethnicities and social classes, these symbols unite the subjects of his work and hint at their shared cultural history.
Instead of capturing a single moment in time, 
VILE’s illusionary murals often use the artist’s own moniker as windows into fictional places, whether a continuation of the inhabited space or another dimension. Elsewhere, the artist presents figures that live along the contours of a room or outdoor locale. In recent years, he's participated in projects in Germany, Portugal, London, and beyond.
French pair