Exhibition presents essence of abstract art<\/p>\n
By Chandra Johan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The presence of abstract painting in Indonesia
\nwas once considered a \"great sin\". When nationalism was aroused
\nin the 1950s and realism in art was suggested, a number of
\nartists from Bandung, such as Achmad Sadali, Mochtar Apin and But
\nMochtar, suddenly deviated from social realism and collectivity.
\nThese artists, pioneering the abstract painting mode, were not
\nconsidered to be nationalists and received sharp criticism from a
\nnumber of artists and critics, such as Trisno Sumardjo, Basuki
\nResobowo and Misbach Tamrin.<\/p>\n
\"Bandung was dedicated to the Western laboratory,\" wrote
\nTrisno Sumardjo in Siasat in 1954. \"We are grasped tightly by
\nconstructive arrangements of lines, colors and space,\" said
\nBasuki Resobowo in 1957 in the same media. Ten years after that,
\nMisbach Tamrin was despised with his criticism. \"Abstract art
\nruns away to an obscurantism of forms, where the volume or theme
\ndissolves and is minced by color composition and fragments. So
\nwhat was left was a perforated framework without giving a clear
\nimagination about the realities in life,\" he wrote in an article
\ntitled About the idea of Realism, published in Gelora on April
\n12, 1963.<\/p>\n
Not only was abstract painting accused of bringing in
\n\"cultural sin\", but it was also considered useless to people's
\nstruggle. If art should be dedicated to people, said supporters
\nof social realism, it should have themes understandable to the
\ngrassroots people. And people would only understand the forms in
\npaintings when they are already known in real life, or when it is
\nalready pictured in their thoughts, Misbach Tamrin said.<\/p>\n
Abstract painting became a \"sin\" when it was opposed to
\npeople's nationalism and social realism. Critics said the
\npresence of this style could be considered as part of a chain
\nwhich started with the round table conference, that is, the
\nbeginning of compromise with capitalism and imperialism followed
\nby cultural compromise.<\/p>\n
So abstractionism was considered to be part of an
\nimperialistic cultural aggression form. Finally, this problem
\nended up with the problem of the East-West, which was
\ncontinuously debated until the end of the 1970s and did not find
\na clear and thorough conclusion.<\/p>\n
Yet the sharp and hard criticism did not discourage Achmad
\nSadali, Oesman Effendi, Fajar Sidik, But Mochtar, Mochtar Apin
\nand other artists to develop this art genre.<\/p>\n
The growth of abstract painting could be said to be personal
\nand always appears in every momentum and area. This seems to be
\nthe reason why the Java Gallery in South Jakarta presents a great
\nnumber of Indonesian abstract painting exhibitions. Titled The
\nroad of Abstract Painting Art in Indonesia, this gallery looks
\nambitious in depicting the development of abstract paintings by
\nshowing the works of 26 artists, from Achmad Sadali, Fadjar
\nSidik, Nashar, Salim (Paris), Sunarya, Umi Dahlan and Edi
\nSunaryo, to those of younger painters like Freddy Sofian, Heyi
\nMa'mun, Tulus Warsito, Teguh Ostentrik, Syahrizal Pahlevi, Irawan
\nKarseno, Pridani Akbar, Yulianto Liestiono, Nyoman Erawan,
\nNurzulis Koto, I Wayan Sika, I Made Sumadiyasa, IGP Sugandi, Heru
\nArdiansyah, Herly Gaya, Hansen, Hanafi, Gugun Gunawan and Febri
\nAntoni. This effort should be valued appropriately, although it
\ndoes not properly represent abstract painters in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
We can see several tendencies; for instance, the tendency to
\npresent the \"essence\" of nature (abstract means \"nucleus\" and \"to
\ngeneralize\") and the order of form, from Achmad Sadali, Umi
\nDahlan, Heyi Ma'mun, Hansen, Sunaryo, Freddy Sofyan, IGP Sugandi
\nand Febri Antoni, where each of their paintings demand a \"seeing
\nculture\" to precisely and closely trace the visual relations with
\nthe experience of seeing nature. It seems that texture keeps an
\nimportant role in most of this genre, and the \"prophet\" here is
\nAchmad Sadali. All the space on Sadali's painting is a rich
\nvisualization which keeps us observing calmly and precisely or
\nquietly musing.<\/p>\n
Another tendency is the unison between geometric and organic
\nor biomorphic forms, such as from Fadjar Sidik and Salim, a
\ncombination between order and disorder forms, from Tulus Warsito,
\nTeguh Ostentrik, Nyoman Erawan, Heru Ardiansyah, Hanafi and
\nYulianto, and the tendency of expressive forms, from Irawan
\nKarseno, I Made Sumadiyasa and Syahrizal Pahlevi.<\/p>\n
These tendencies do not mean to show special characteristics
\nin each work, because each work of a painter, who owns an almost
\nsimilar tendency, in fact, owns unique individual
\ncharacteristics.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, they in fact do not show any changes or
\nsignificant development, such as in Heyi Ma'mun's or Umi Dahlan's
\nworks. However, Heyi's, as well as Umi's, has specific
\ncharacteristics which cannot be compared with Sadali's works.
\nEach artists' work owns a generic style, generally similar to
\nothers, and a specific style specifically different from others.
\nEach general characteristic from this abstract fine arts show is
\na phenomenon about art ideology by its creator.<\/p>\n
The tendency toward an order form, that is, visual comfort
\nwith gestalt principles, or formalism, which grew and developed
\nfrom the 1960s or 1970s, shows a belief in the formal laws of two
\ndimensional space and its elements. Generally, they avoid \"story\"
\nand are more interested in the exploration of aesthetic elements
\nlike texture, line and fused colors, which are repeated, made
\nvariable, or opposed to each other. It is hard to deny that this
\ntendency was in the beginning developed by artists who were
\neducated at art academies. However, in the younger generation,
\nIrawan Karseno, Syahrizal Pahlevi, Hanafi, I Made Sumadiyasa,
\nHerly Gaya, Teguh Ostentrik and Yulianto see the exploration of
\naesthetic elements does not look to be more important than
\npersonal expressions as they believe in an emotional impulse.
\nWorks of Irawan, Syahrizal and Sumadiyasa, for example, show
\nchaotic characteristics which appear from tense emotions.<\/p>\n
The exhibition, which opened on Oct. 8, runs until Oct. 24.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/exhibition-presents-essence-of-abstract-art-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }