Color-coated canvases express artist's emotional palette<\/p>\n
Chisato Hara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A brilliant spectrum of color greets visitors to Soka Gallery in
\nKemang, South Jakarta, where actor, playwright and graphic artist
\nTaufan S. Chandranegara is exhibiting a collection of more than
\n100 oil and acrylic paintings created over the last three years.<\/p>\n
His second solo exhibit of abstract paintings is an
\nexistentialist experiment in expressing deeply personal emotions
\nin broad, powerful brushstrokes of undiluted reds, yellows,
\nblues, greens, black and white -- and their permutations.<\/p>\n
Themed \"Tera\", as in terra firma, Taufan wishes to lure
\nviewers into exploring the purity of emotions and their inherent
\nconnection to nature, which he defines as an individual's natural
\nstate of being, without the distractions of the outside world.<\/p>\n
A veteran actor of 25 years with the renowned theater company,
\nTeater Koma, a former graphic artist with Tempo magazine, and a
\nman who now has his own drama group, Durr Teater, Taufan is a
\nself-taught artist.<\/p>\n
\"I believe that we all have a spirit, talents and skills, that
\nreside within, and everyone -- you, me -- can become whatever we
\nchoose. It is a matter of faith, of choosing to believe in
\nourselves,\" he said at the opening on Aug. 22. \"And inspiration
\nlies all around us, even in the objects we encounter in daily
\nlife -- a bajaj, a cloud, the daylight.\"<\/p>\n
Taufan's brush with art began at an early age, sketching and
\ndrawing on his own as little more than a toddler. Later, his
\nparents entered him in the now Kelompok Garajas youth center in
\nSouth Jakarta, where he was exposed to fine and performing arts
\nactivities.<\/p>\n
\"I was a dramatist, a graphic designer and also dabbled in
\nphotography on my own. After all this, I decided to return to my
\norigins -- painting,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Some of his works also hearken back to an earlier stage in his
\nlife, such as Prison of Bamboo.<\/p>\n
\"We all have powerful memories that have left a distinct
\nimpression on us. This painting is a childhood memory of lying on
\nthe ground in a kampong, staring up at the sky through a forest
\nof bamboo,\" Taufan explained.<\/p>\n
The canvas, most of which is covered in black swirls, appears
\nintimidating at first, but upon closer contemplation, it offers a
\nglimmer of this extracted sky, pulsating forth in light blue and
\nyellow through the tangle of symbolic bamboo.<\/p>\n
Others are purely emotional expressions, such as Falter, on
\nwhich the artist worked eight hours nonstop, created in a single,
\nextended period of anguish.<\/p>\n
\"I'm proudest of this one, which took the longest time to
\ncreate (in a single sitting),\" he said. \"When I made this
\npainting, I was feeling stuck in my life, hesitant about a
\ndecision I had to make, so I poured it out on the canvas.\"<\/p>\n
The finishing touches -- slashes with the palette knife that
\ngouge violently into the thick paint -- illustrate the fervor in
\nwhich Falter was created.<\/p>\n
Still others are emotional representations of a specific
\nsubject matter, as in Woman in Red. As the title implies, the
\npainting is an overlay of black on vermilion, but the artist has
\na personal interpretation of the hue.<\/p>\n
\"Red is often used to express passion or anger, but for me, it
\nis a metaphor for celebration and happiness.\"<\/p>\n
The subject of the painting is his wife, dancer Rita Dewi
\nSaleh, whom he affectionately calls \"my dancer\".<\/p>\n
\"Woman in Red isn't about lust or desire in particular, but
\nfulfillment and happiness,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Taufan's works, spread throughout the two stories of Soka
\nGallery, may appear puzzling to some viewers, as the emotional
\ncontent of each piece is highly personal and subjective. The
\ncatalog provides a descriptive analysis of the paintings that
\noffers a way for viewers to enjoy the exhibit -- that is, to
\nfollow the artist's example and draw their own emotional
\ninterpretations and responses from the paintings.<\/p>\n
Eddy Sugiri, a private art collector who officiated the
\nexhibition opening, commented that \"Taufan's work is intriguing
\nbecause he is trying to express pure emotion through his
\npaintings\".<\/p>\n
\"At first glance, viewers might miss the dialog within his
\nwork, the articulation of his concept. I missed that at first,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
However, he added, Taufan's works -- with their different
\nstrokes, interplays of color and range of emotions -- invite
\nviewers to find a language to understand them. At the same time,
\nseveral pieces recalled to mind the techniques of other artists,
\nwhich made Eddy question whether Taufan was able to fulfill his
\nartistic goal -- \"Are they purely emotional or a 'copy'?\"<\/p>\n
\"Some of his abstract paintings are not esthetic in the
\ncommercial sense, that is, they require a lot of effort to
\nunderstand, or simply to enjoy. ... But Taufan is fully immersed
\nin his paintings ... he is an artist exercising his sensibilities
\nthrough color and the grade of his strokes.<\/p>\n
\"He is finding himself through his art,\" said Eddy.<\/p>\n
Indeed, the work in \"Tera\", when viewed collectively, seems
\nlike a dream journal written in the medium of paint.<\/p>\n
\"I'd like to see him move on to the next stage, being more
\nselective, more expressive in his concepts and compositions,\"
\nsaid Eddy.<\/p>\n
While Taufan's work is still \"young\" in terms of artistic
\nexperience and composition, creative development can readily be
\nseen in works painted only three months apart. The most recent
\npieces, for example, are a departure from his earlier canvases
\nthat are literally coated in layers of paint, and contain
\nuntouched areas where the raw canvas shows through -- perhaps a
\nnew means to express purity.<\/p>\n
His experimentation is also evident in the abstract shapes
\nthat compose a singular piece, varying from circuitous
\nbrushstrokes to soft cubic forms, and from linear swathes of
\npaint applied with the palette knife to amorphous movement that
\nnonetheless conveys an emotion -- whether Taufan's or the
\nviewer's -- through color and light.<\/p>\n
\"Tera\", a solo exhibition by Taufan S. Chandranegara, runs from
\nAug. 22 through Sept. 5 at Soka Gallery, Jl. Kemang Selatan Raya
\nNo. 31, Kemang, South Jakarta. Tel (021) 7823019, Fax (021)
\n7823020.<\/p>",
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