Born in January 29, 1956, Dede Eri Supria declared himself as a painter in 1974 when he was 18 years old. His aunt introduced him to Pak Ooq (Dukut Hendratnoto), from whom Dede also learned painting. From 1975 till 1977, he went to Sekolah Seni Rupa IndonesiaYogyakarta. Although he did not finish his study, he continued to make friends with fellow painters at Sekolah Tinggi Seni Rupa “Asri”Yogyakarta. In 1981, he traveled and visited the museums and galleries in Europe which undoubtedly has broadened his mind and deepened his inspiration.
Dede is known as a super realist or hyper realist painter. His paintings generally depict complex social issues through surrealistic symbols. He often pictures how urban lifestyle has oppressed themisfortunate citizens in big cities, especially Jakarta.
His works are wide spread and well sought by museums and collectors, in Indonesia and abroad (US, Europe, etc.). These are some awards which are honored to Dede for his talent: The General Award for the Arts from The Society for American-Indonesian Friendship (1978), Best Painting Award by Jakarta Art Council (1981’s Bienalle), AdamMalik Award (1986), Affandi Award (1993), and First Prize of The Philip Morris Indonesian Arts Award (1997). For his achievement, he was also invited by the US government (in 1981) and by the China government (in 1996) to visit those countries.
