Yeo Workshop is pleased to return to Frieze New York this spring, presenting works by Southeast Asian artists Citra Sasmita, Maryanto and Noor Mahnun (Anum) in a joint booth with G Gallery, Seoul. Centered on themes of memory, identity, and the residues of colonialism, the presentation brings together diverse media and contexts to visualise personal experiences and collective histories, rendering the conditions of the Asian diaspora as a shared environment. 

Citra Sasmita reimagines Balinese mythologies and iconography to challenge patriarchal structures and colonial legacies in her Kamasan paintings. This technique of Kamasan painting, which dates from the fifteenth century and depicts Hindu epics and Indonesian mythologies, was historically practiced exclusively by men and often portray women as sexualised or evil figures. Sasmita reclaims this tradition and depicts her fiery protagonists as powerful women. Her expanded practice spans painting, textile, sculpture, and installation, often incorporating materials such as cowhide, hair, and ceremonial cloth to build a universe of empowered, divine cosmology. For Frieze New York, she has developed three new Kamasan paintings mounted on textiles that reference the historical role of Balinese fabric as a means of communication during colonial trade wars. By pairing ritual fabrics with ceremonial stone beadwork believed to radiate the Earth’s energy, Sasmita bridges cultural memory with a modern, empowered cosmology.

Maryanto’s charcoal paintings, executed using a laborious technique called scratching, reveal the harsh realities of environmental degradation and exploitation in Jakarta, Indonesia. His works investigate the impact of industrialisation, pollution, and resource exploitation on the natural world, revealing the harsh realities in his home country Indonesia. Through allegorical scenes of deforestation and mining zones, Maryanto presents landscapes as contested terrains, charged with both human struggle and resilience. Drawing from local fables and narratives by indigenous people living in these areas that were gathered from his extensive treks, these works are a reminder of the balance needed between the existence of humans and Nature. His practice reflects an urgent ecological and political consciousness around the encroachment of the environment, bridging local histories with global questions of exploitation, survival, and renewal.

Extending the narrative towards the autobiographical, Anum’s still life and domestic scenes are informed by her personal life and surroundings, fusing elements of realism, allegory and the whimsical. She develops a suite of three new façade paintings for Frieze New York, exploring the intricate architectural and social layers of George Town in Penang, Malaysia. These works are a continuation of the artist’s previous Penang Tiles (2024) watercolour studies, giving attention to the kaki lima (five-foot walkway)––a pedestrian path mandated by colonial authorities in the 1820s for shophouses in Singapore and Malaysia. Anum reimagines these urban vignettes of Malayan Classicism through a personal and contemporary lens, replacing a commercial beauty advertisement with a contemplative portrait of her niece or reducing detailed signage to ambiguous “u are here” markers, to explore the transient grandeur of Southeast Asia’s shifting cultural histories. Her practice foregrounds the everyday as a site of both intimacy and reflection, layering visual references that investigate how imperial languages of power were transformed into a local vernacular of resistance and identity.

These three distinct practices converge to offer nuanced perspectives on Southeast Asia’s histories and contemporary realities, where personal narratives intersect with broader cultural and political forces. Together, they invite audiences to reflect on the layered complexities of identity, environment, and heritage in our rapidly changing world.

Venue
Galleries Section | Booth C4, Frieze New York, The Shed, 545 West 30th Street, New York City, NY 10001, United States

Artists
Citra Sasmita, Maryanto, Noor Mahnun (Anum)

Exhibition Dates
May 13 –17, 2026

Gallery Hours
VIP Preview:
Wednesday, May 13 (Invitation only): 11am-7pm
Thursday, May 14 (Members and invitation only preview): 11am-1pm

General admission :
Thursday, May 14: 1pm-7pm
Friday, May 15: 11am-7pm
Saturday, May 16: 11am-7pm
Sunday, May 17: 11am-5pm

Website
http://www.yeoworkshop.com/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/yeoworkshop

Contact
info@yeoworkshop.com

ABOUT YEO WORKSHOP 

Yeo Workshop is a gallery committed to contemporary art in Singapore. Based in the Gillman Barracks district, it champions a diverse roster of artists whose practices reflect deep engagement with our contemporary socio-cultural landscape, to stimulate dialogue and critical discourse, including several Southeast Asian artists who are producing cutting-edge works. Covering a multi-disciplinary approach and collaborative spirit, the gallery defines itself by its progressive engagements that strive to shape the trajectory of contemporary art in Southeast Asia and beyond.

(Text and images courtesy of Yeo Workshop)