Expo heralds birth of Indonesian 'realist tendency'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It is time to declare the birth of Indonesia's
\ngenre of realist paintings. A painting exhibition entitled
\n\"Indonesian Realist Image\", to be held from Sept. 1 to Sept. 10
\nat Wisma Seni Rupa Depdikbud, Central Jakarta, will declare its
\nbirth.<\/p>\n
A total of 182 paintings, by 22 painters, will be featured,
\nsharing a common mark: They show a strong touch of realist image,
\ncurator of the exhibition, Jim Supangkat, said.<\/p>\n
Some of Indonesia's well known painters, such as Dede Eri
\nSupria, Ivan Sagita, Lucia Hartini and Asri Nugroho are among the
\nexhibition's participants, organized jointly by the Bimantara
\nFoundation and Grand Hyatt Hotel.<\/p>\n
\"However, the similarity they share is not one particular
\nstyle, or school. Also, it's not born under a movement, which is
\nusually established by a group of painters who share a belief in
\na single principle,\" Supangkat said in a press conference held
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
\"For this reason, I call it a tendency, a realist image
\ntendency. It is different from realist paintings done by
\nIndonesian realist painters like Trubus, or Basuki Abdullah, or
\nby painters the world over,\" Supangkat explained.<\/p>\n
The realist image painting features a very sharp painting
\ntechnique. Painting subjects are not fixed and can be replaced by
\nother sources, such as photographs.<\/p>\n
\"It is only a tendency because if we make a more detailed
\nobservation of the 182 paintings, we will find -- beyond their
\nsimilarity -- different concepts, different insights and
\ndifferent ways of thinking,\" Supangkat said.<\/p>\n
The similarity they share is actually a product of social
\nconditions in Indonesia. Until about 1965, Indonesia was a closed
\ncountry, dominated by a socialist power. During this period,
\nIndonesia's world of information was cut off from the
\ninternational world. Films, magazines and books, as well as other
\nprinted matters from western countries were banned because they
\nwere considered as supplying Indonesia with a capitalist's
\nliberal spirit. Films, magazines and books distributed in
\nIndonesia emphasized more on the contents on ideology and heavily
\nburdened with propaganda. Physical appearances were neglected.
\nSuch conditions led also to the pauperization of visual
\nexperiences, he explained.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, after 1965, as a result of political changes,
\nIndonesia started to open its door to the international world. In
\nthe early 1970s, multinational companies began to invest in
\nIndonesia, information flew fast, press and printing technology
\ndeveloped and the culture of advertising grew, Supangkat said.<\/p>\n
The sudden changes took many people by surprise, including a
\nnumber of young painters in Yogyakarta. The world had become more
\ncolorful and their visual experiences were getting richer in no
\ntime at all, he said.<\/p>\n
For the young Yogyakarta painters, the presence of magazines,
\nadvertisements, pictures and posters moved them to use these
\nmaterials as a medium of expression, using them to make collages
\nby copying them into realist paintings, said Supangkat.<\/p>\n
Since 1970, collage painting and later painting of realist
\nimage tendency has developed in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Dede Eri Supria, for example, is known for his large sized
\nrealist image paintings, which are done by copying photographs,
\npictures and advertisement onto canvas.<\/p>\n
Dede, who confirmed Supangkat's statement, said that when he
\nstarted creating realist image paintings, in 1974 or 1975, there
\nwas a new awareness among young painters that a subject was no
\nlonger necessary because they could copy a picture or a
\nphotograph.<\/p>\n
However, the new trend was not well-accepted by senior
\npainters of that time, Dede said. Dede once painted on a table,
\nand at the same time put real materials, like pencils and a note
\nbook on the table, so that from a distance of one meter, people
\ncannot tell which materials are painted and which ones are real.<\/p>\n
More senior painters from that period preferred styles such as
\nabstract, decorative and expressionist.<\/p>\n
According to Supangkat, some critics try to make a connection
\nbetween that particular trend, which grew first in Yogyakarta,
\ntogether with surrealism, which had originated from a movement in
\nEurope from about 1930 to 1940. Others classify the trend in
\nYogyakarta as hyper-realism or super-realism, which developed in
\nthe United States from about 1960 to 1970.<\/p>\n
\"I cannot deny that, at a glance, they resemble surrealism and
\nsuper-realism, especially on the level of techniques they use,\"
\nSupangkat said, \"But, through conversations with the painters, I
\nhave found that they don't agree if people categorize their
\npaintings as surrealist or super-realist because of their
\nunfamiliarity with the concepts of surrealism and super, or
\nhyper-realism.\"<\/p>\n
Besides the social conditions, the painters' educational
\nbackgrounds are another factor which helped push the birth of
\nrealist image tendency, Supangkat said.<\/p>\n
\"From the 22 painters participating in the exhibition, only
\ntwo or three are not graduates of Yogyakarta's Indonesian Arts
\nAcademy,\" he noted.<\/p>\n
He said that at the academy, which holds a great belief in
\nIndonesian paintings, students are taught to paint in a certain
\nstyle, which is clearly influenced by one of the concepts of
\nSudjojono, one of Indonesia's noted painters.<\/p>\n
It was Sudjojono who started expressing society on his canvas
\nin an emotional way. Later, through the realist image tendency,
\nthis theme is again strongly reflected, Supangkat said.<\/p>\n
\"To evaluate Indonesia's realist paintings we cannot use
\ninternational, or other principles on realism because those which
\nexist here are of a particular discourse, which was pioneered by
\nSudjojono and is very much influenced by social conditions here,\"
\nSupangkat argued. (als)<\/p>",
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