Sony Santosa

Two years afterwards, in 1991-1992, Sony and Betty established their first Painting Gallery in Ubud to be followed in 1993 by another larger gallery and Arts Centre which they named the Sony Painters Space. Sony and Betty were married and for a number of years shared their time between the gallery in Ubud and another in Nice, France. During the '90's Sony also taught self expression through painting to the children at the Sanur International School, Bali and to members of the Bali International Women's Association. Sony and Betty also held a series of "Bali-Nice" exhibitions on the French Riviera displaying his vision of the South of France and hers of Bali.

In 2004 very sadly Betty died after a long battle against cancer. It had been a growing dream of theirs for a number of years to establish a much more ambitious Arts Centre away from the bustle and ever growing tourism on Bali. So Sony threw all his energies into this project, left Ubud behind and has now established the Eloprogo Art House near an ancient temple at Borobudur in Central Java which he dedicated to Betty's memory.

Sony continues to paint, in part to fund the Art House at Borobudur. His paintings have been exhibited in Indonesia and France and he has also received formal recognition for the quality of his work in both countries. He has also had acknowledgement of his work in Japan and Australasia, although he is almost completely unknown in the UK.

In artistic terms, Sony paints from the heart. His work has been described as a deep voicing of inner emotions, searching out his own vision of the world. His canvasses range from portraits, often self portraits, that go well beyond physical realism and have a deep emotional intensity, to paintings of landscapes that are alive with natural energy and with imaginative touches that float you between different realities to abstracts taking us to the very heart of an experience. The vigorous sensitivity of his strokes and the atmospheric depth of his colours combine to deliver a powerful authenticity to his work, whatever the subject.

Although he started with pencils, charcoal and water colours, he progressed briefly to oils then to his favoured medium, acrylics on canvas with much use of the palette-knife.