Antonius Kho – Artists Statement & Story

My brother past away 17 years ago from lung cancer. He was a writer. He wrote poems, short stories, novels, etc., and he was always optimistic and loyal in his life. Even though he was affected by cancer, he was never afraid of dead; life is just a drop to drink, and he is walking again in a new place. He was always faithful to his belief, and always optimistic about his life. He was my closest brother, age difference with me 20 years; I was much influenced by the views of his life.

“Visual Loyalty” is about realizing our loyalty with our profession.
Even though there are obstacles as we follow our journey, we are still loyal.
This is just like how pets are always loyal to their masters,” Antonius Kho, 2009

The concept is about loyalty to profession. Why did Antonius Kho choose dogs as the icon to represent “loyalty”?

Dogs do not only come in its natural behavior and brings the nature’s characteristic, but it has also entered cultural territory. In human civilization, a dog’s natural behavior was constructed as a creature that can understand ways of living together with human beings. As in human civilization, a dog has long been functioned as a guard animal in life. Therefore it is easily to distinguish between guard and investigation dog, for instance.

Dog also has some geographic connection. For example we know physically Kintamani (Bali) dog does not only have some certain specification, but as of the culture it is constructed by agricultural tradition. Ways of breeding them is to pattern food and knowing types of food they consume, up to the way they communicate with human. In brief, human constructed the way dog lives based on human needs, with dogs.

In the latest artworks of Antonius Kho, dogs are everywhere on his canvas. There is a process of study about dogs, for Antonius Kho. He happens to be animal lover and own several dogs in his house. Mingling with dog’s behavior for years is a path of his study. He does not only pay closer attention to a dog’s behavior, but also how they become part of their life. He has made the dogs loyal, to him. And when a dog gets older with his weaken step and less shine to their furs, Antonius Kho is still loyal to the animal he loves. Not only are the dogs loyal to the life of this artist residing in Bali, but Antonius Kho is also loyal to his pet. He still looks after the old dog that does not shine anymore.