The exhibition features 10 new paintings along with a collection of works on paper that explores the issue of identity and its impact on the personal landscape. By employing various symbols and iconographies borrowed from the artist’s cultural background and juxtaposing them with those inspired by popular and alternative culture, Speak Cryptic presents a series of portraits that depicts his impression of his identity as one that could be deemed as multi faceted and multi layered. With contemporary advertising bombarding us with images to subscribe to a lifestyle that we do not really need, how much control do we have over our own identities? Being a Singaporean Malay of Baweanese descent, these series aims to open up the question, “How much of us is really us?” Aesthetically, it also introduces a new approach by the artist to painting. Starting out controlled and calculated (in the artists’ usual style), then progressing to an abandon of control and free expression, the series explores the unraveling of identity. A complex and provocative narrative, Sorry not Sorry, presents along with the 10 canvases a large scale mural on the roof of Officina delle Zattere, visible from the sky, overlooking the majestic Venetian skyline. The question of identity takes on a wider reference, city, state, nation and planet.

About the Artist: Farizwan Fajari, professionally known as Speak Cryptic, is a visual artist working and living in Singapore. Part of the Singapore Biennale in 2013, his works primarily deal with the issues pertaining to the human condition. Utilising personal iconographies and a cast of characters that he has developed over the years, he applies them to various narratives inspired by his observations on current affairs and his immediate environment. 10 portraits will be exhibited accompanied by a large scale mural on the roof of the Venetian palace, visible from the sky. A drone will be hired to capture aerial images of the final work.