To Pirous, “An artist should be sensitive to his past cultural dynamism… to stand more firmly in his own land to contribute to the development of world culture.” His contemplations on identity and his nationalist sentiment led Pirous to explore the boundaries of an “Indonesian” aesthetic by infusing elements like the Jawi script and the tilam pandak from his native Aceh into his work, to express a local variation of the Islamic faith and to “awaken Indonesian Muslims to their common cultural heritage.”
Joining Sanggar Seniman (The Artist’s Studio) in 1958, Pirous organized its first open-air exhibition in 1960 along with his contemporaries Srihadi Sudarsono and But Mochtar. After finishing his studies at the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) he was appointed as a permanent teaching staff in 1964. Receiving the Rockefeller fellowship in 1969, Pirous travelled to the U.S.A, where his exposure to the Islamic arts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art prompted a stylistic metamorphosis and embrace of Islamic aesthetics.
Joining Sanggar Seniman (The Artist’s Studio) in 1958, Pirous organized its first open-air exhibition in 1960 along with his contemporaries Srihadi Sudarsono and But Mochtar. After finishing his studies at the Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) he was appointed as a permanent teaching staff in 1964. Receiving the Rockefeller fellowship in 1969, Pirous travelled to the U.S.A, where his exposure to the Islamic arts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art prompted a stylistic metamorphosis and embrace of Islamic aesthetics.