Examining Teja and Artayasa's existential painting<\/p>\n
By Jean Couteau<\/p>\n
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): A painter never paints alone; his
\ncreativity does not simply appear out of the blue. They are part
\nof a milieu in which interfere the heritage from their society
\nand influences from the farther world.<\/p>\n
It is in the way they react to these factors and reflect them,
\nas well as how they reflect upon them, that ultimately gives
\ntheir standing in the art world.<\/p>\n
Reciprocally, the art of painting as a collective endeavor is
\none of the fields that best mirrors the economic, sociological
\nand ethical changes any society is subjected to.<\/p>\n
It is in light of this relation with their Balinese
\nenvironment -- if only because of its apparent lack of role --
\nthat the works of Teja, 30, and Artayasa, 30, exhibited at
\nGallery Sembilan, Ubud, Bali, ought to be examined.<\/p>\n
They are, within the range of their individual talent, among
\nthe best representatives of a new art paradigm to which Gallery
\nSembilan is the principal exponent on the island. An art paradigm
\nresolutely international, mostly bereft of Balinese cultural
\nreferences, strongly individualized and with a social or even
\npolitical message.<\/p>\n
Until the present, past Balinese painting has been subjected
\nto two opposite tendencies, the result of contradictions inherent
\nto Bali's position within the globalized economy.<\/p>\n
On the one side it has become increasingly modern as society
\nurbanized and opened itself to a flow of ideas and images from
\nthe outside world, abstraction and modern figurations were in
\nthis context accepted "as given", borrowed in their outer form
\nand without their cultural underpinning. On the other side the
\n"commodization" of Bali within the international market as
\n"Tropical Paradise," "Morning of the World" and other lofty names
\nhas led its painting to preserve at all costs the signs of its
\n"Balinese-ness" and therefore to accept modernity only
\nreluctantly.<\/p>\n
As a result, Balinese painting has since the beginning of the
\n20th century evolved between two thematic extremes: exotic
\nalienation on the one hand, and strong affirmation of identity on
\nthe other, with a formal language evolving first toward realism
\nand then toward modern figuration and abstraction.<\/p>\n
Before the recent paradigmatic shift, the main trend -- with
\nexponents like Nyoman Erawan, Wayan Sika and a young group of
\nabstract expressionist artists -- was a painting abstract in form
\nand composition but using a number of semi-figurative elements
\n(checkered cloth, mountain symbols, opposition of colors) that
\nenabled a symbolic, usually Hindu reading of the work. It looked
\nabstract and modern, but was heavily Balinese, presenting the
\ncore symbols of the island culture.<\/p>\n
It is against this trend that Teja, Artiyasa and other artists
\nfrom the same generation are protesting. They are moving beyond
\nidentity problems. As Teja put it to the artist: "What does it
\nmean to be Balinese? Nothing." This move of the painting
\ndiscourse beyond Bali bespeaks a deep change at the level of the
\nmind set of the Balinese; the young artists now talk of their
\nfeeling of violence, politics, all themes that were unheard of in
\nthe works of the previous generations -- with perhaps the
\nexception of the very psychological Jirna. The discourse of
\nBalinese painting is thus becoming much more open and varied, at
\nthe same time as it is losing the outer signs of its Balinese
\noriginality.<\/p>\n
What is, in this new movement, the place of Teja and Artayasa.
\nTheir works have lost, as noted above, the signs of their
\n"Balinese-ness". They show at the same time, traces of
\ninternational, albeit indirect influences such as that of
\nAmerican graffiti art (Teja) or informal painting (Artiyasa).<\/p>\n
This bears witness to the fact that at the beginning of the
\n21st century no one can afford to ignore the research in form or
\ncontent made at the other end of the world.<\/p>\n
The problem is not so much to acknowledge the reality of
\ninfluences, but rather to gauge whether the artist has integrated
\nthese influences in a way that is both relevant to himself, as in
\nrevealing his personality, and relevant to his society of
\nreference, as it reflects the changes in values that are taking
\nplace.<\/p>\n
The appeal of Teja's painting is its negation of the very idea
\nof appeal itself. His colors are washed, sullen, his composition
\ndevoid of focus and his figurative themes painstakingly selected
\nto look casual, accidental and most importantly, meaningless. His
\nworks are made to look like dirty city walls where children and
\nyouths happen to draw immature drawings, numbers and comments.<\/p>\n
Such treatment is far from the affirmation of ethnic identity
\nthe Balinese are so fond of in their modern art, with easy-to-
\nread symbols, bright colors and an appealing composition. Teja
\ntalks instead of the lack of meaning in the death of traditional
\nsymbols and the sullenness of life. And this message transpires
\nthe very banality of the thematic signs he uses: numbers thrown
\non the canvas without apparent logic and drawings of cars, tanks
\nand consumer items, such as bottles scattered without purpose on
\nhis wall-like painting, etc. Such atmosphere is new in Bali.<\/p>\n
Other painters such as Erawan have already dealt with the
\ntheme of the death of their culture, but they have done so by
\nusing Hindu symbolism and always ended up reaffirming their
\nidentity. As for the genre, which has also appeared recently, it
\nhas never had the tone of existential "angst" so peculiar to
\nTeja. If for this reason only, it should be interesting to
\nfurther follow his evolution in the coming years.<\/p>\n
Artayasa's works are, like Teja's, an expression of refusal,
\nbut with different themes and treatment. Almost all his paintings
\nconsist of distorted, ill-defined and unexpressive figures set in
\nthe middle of the canvas and occupying most of its surface. No
\nobvious references are made to Balinese symbols and religion.
\nArtayasa's works owe more to European informal art and American
\nexpressionism than to anything really Balinese.<\/p>\n
The general atmosphere is pessimistic, in yellowish, brownish
\nand grayish tones, now and then enlivened by small splotches of
\nbright red. One has the impression that, while the artist is
\ntalking about man, he is depicting him as crushed and even negate
\nto the point of sometimes hesitating on the verge of pure
\nabstraction. Artayasa says that his pessimism is politically
\nmotivated, and he then goes on rambling about the "crisis of
\nnationhood," anarchy, separatism and similar societal problems
\nhaunting the country.<\/p>\n
His work, however, is not political in the proper sense of the
\nword; there is no political message, but a sense of helplessness
\nperhaps partially caused by politics, but probably more so by
\nstate of mind. Like Teha, Artayasa belongs to a generation which
\nis questioning the old paradigms of Balinese art because Balinese
\nsociety is undergoing deep changes.<\/p>\n
However, when pondering for a while the "spirit of form"
\nunderlying Teja and Artayasa's works, one wonders what is the
\npart played by the two artists' perception of the deep societal
\nchanges underway in Bali and that played by the ubiquitous
\npresence of the outer world within their culture. The future
\nshould tell us and further expose their real artistic personality
\nas they face the unending dialog of Bali with the outer world and
\nthe unfurling of yet deeper societal change. Art, after all, is
\nbut a mirror.<\/p>\n
* The writer is an art observer and art curator living in Bali.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/examining-teja-and-artayasas-existential-painting-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }