Ketut Soki

I Ketut Soki is one of the most prominent figures of the Young Artist movement, which emerged in the early 1960s in Penestanan, Ubud. Born and raised in this agrarian village, Soki was among the first students of Arie Smit, a Dutch painter who founded the Young Artist group in 1960. Under Smit’s mentorship, Soki and his peers embarked on a new artistic path that transformed Penestanan from a quiet farming village into a vibrant center for visual art, especially painting, introducing a bold new energy to the evolution of modern Balinese art. This marked a significant shift from the stylistic dominance of the earlier Pita Maha artists.

While Soki’s work is grounded in Balinese visual traditions, it was revitalized by Smit’s encouragement to experiment with color. Departing from the delicate, muted tones of classical Balinese painting, Soki embraced bright opaque (plakat) colors and a decorative, naïve style. His compositions often reflect the joy and spontaneity of childhood, qualities that came to define the aesthetic of the Young Artist movement. Over time, this style has endured and evolved, becoming a distinct and lasting thread in contemporary Balinese art.

Throughout his career, Soki has exhibited widely both in Indonesia and abroad. In 1988, he participated in the Art of Bali exhibition at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, and was recognized at the Young Artists Painting Exhibition in Paris, France. His contributions have been instrumental in shaping the legacy and international appreciation of modern Balinese painting.