Grande dame of sculpture for 40 years<\/p>\n
Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Looking back is no small effort, let alone when it concerns four
\ndecades of your life.<\/p>\n
But Rita Widagdo has done it. A solo exhibition of 110 works
\nmade during her 40 years as the grande dame of Indonesian
\nsculpture presents the wider public with an striking impression
\nof her oeuvre.<\/p>\n
Impressive through their stark beauty, elevating the human
\nmind through an inner "light", her work on display at the
\nNational Gallery is a celebration of the spirit of life.<\/p>\n
One stands in awe before her work, which testifies to her
\nperfect command of theory, her thorough knowledge of every
\nmaterial she uses and the incredible precision with which she
\nexecutes her work. But it is the spirit imbued in her work that
\nelevates the human mind to a level where words become irrelevant.<\/p>\n
Choosing an artistic path is always a lonely task, says Rita.
\nIt also gives one plenty of time for reflection, for meditation
\nand for thinking about things that matter in life. Yet, as
\nevident from the depth of her oeuvre, she doesn't get lost in
\nsuch indulgence.<\/p>\n
Rather, it stimulates her to be attentive to her environment.
\nFinding parallels between plant growth and human life, any
\nmovement, form or line unfolding before her eyes will find its
\nuse in works that represent the self-evident in life.<\/p>\n
The sight of a banana shoot, the budding of a flower, but also
\nthe rubble in a workshop and even the onion that she cuts open in
\nthe kitchen, provides ideas for forms and structures in her art.<\/p>\n
Rita's art is her way of trying to achieve perfection: "In
\nlife, one tries so many times, and yet we often fail to reach
\nthat much aimed-for point of perfection. But in my art at least I
\ncan come close to complete faultlessness'.<\/p>\n
Rita Widagdo, who was born as Rita Wizemann in 1938 in
\nRottweil, Germany, and is a graduate from the Staatliche Akademie
\nder Bildenden Kuenste, Stuttgart, married Widagdo, professor of
\ninterior design.<\/p>\n
Since 1965 she has lived in Indonesia, which she has come to
\nregard as her home country. The early years in her new country
\nwere a period of careful observation, of learning and of
\nadjusting to a way of life that was in many ways different from
\nwhere she came from.<\/p>\n
Today, it seems the various `streams' have unified in her very
\nbeing, as evident in her art in which even the hardest metal is
\ntransformed into shapes that produce a sensation of softness,
\nwith delicate and lyrical touches.<\/p>\n
Similarly, her representations of women, which suggest firm
\nand solid strength, are always marked by femininity, as in the
\n210 centimeter-tall Lady, made of Sulawesi granite and marble,
\nthe 283 cm Jeanne d'Arc, made of Padalarang marble, and the 177
\ncm Young Woman, made of brass and patina.<\/p>\n
Her entire oeuvre is marked by the unison of softness and
\nstarkness, as seen, among others in the sculpture Crossing Line
\n(1996).<\/p>\n
It is made from brass wire and brass sheet. The sunken hollow
\nfrom which the borders emerge is like an embossment, and the fold
\nthat runs across the space is like an uncertain slant, and gives
\nthe illusion of softness against the hardness of the material.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the carved, undulating Vs in her 152 cm tall
\nsculpture Rhythm of Growth, made of East Java marble gives the
\nillusion of marble as a soft material, but it took three months
\nand nine saws to get it ready.<\/p>\n
In addition, her eight-meter-tall public art sculpture titled
\nDinamika dalam Gerak (Dynamics in Movement) that was erected in
\nSlipi, West Jakarta in 1974, consists of curved aluminum along
\nwhich water flowed. But the sculpture had to make way for a road
\nwidening scheme.<\/p>\n
Lines are prominent in almost all of her works. But they are
\nnever straight. Likening the flow of life, which is marked by ups
\nand downs, and by points of new directions, Rita's lines are
\nmarked by flaws, sometimes appearing like slants, wrinkles, or
\nthe movement of waves.<\/p>\n
This can be seen in the sculpture Energy, or her reliefs for
\nAneka Tambang, Freeport, the monumental stainless steel sculpture
\nfor the Asean Aceh Fertilizer company at Lhokseumawe, the brass
\nCakra at the Supreme Court, the aluminum and stainless steel
\nsculpture at Atmajaya University, Jakarta, her ceramics sculpture
\nat the Ministry of Education and Culture, and many more.<\/p>\n
While most of Rita Widagdo's works have been contemplations on
\nor sublimations of life, two recent sculptures denote an even
\nmore profound deepening of the meditative.<\/p>\n
The Cakra, a symbol she used in 1990 for the Supreme Court, is
\nback in her recent sculpture of the same name. Made of resin,
\nelectroplated copper and patina, and consisting of many parts
\nthat seem to go against one another, Cakra 2004 (85 cm) holds
\nthem all together in a oneness denoting totality and suggesting
\nlife's energy. Meanwhile, her 40-cm sculpture made of anodized
\naluminum-Dural, titled The Inner Soul makes one think of the roof
\nat the entrance to a church.<\/p>\n
Rita Widagdo who began sculpting when she was barely 16 years
\nold, is considered among the greats in sculpture. She is also
\nconsidered a pioneer who introduced, together with Gregorius
\nSidharta, abstract art amid the trend toward realism at the
\nBandung Institute of Technology, where she is continuously trying
\nto infect her students with her ascetic discipline, while sharing
\nher vision on the powerful beauty of the abstract in the arts.<\/p>\n
Although this is only her second solo exhibition in Indonesia
\nsince 1970, she was a competition winner for the Slipi monument
\nin 1972, for the Kuningan Youth Center in 1973 and for the
\nmonumental sculpture in Ancol in 2001.<\/p>\n
In total, she has produced at least 50 monumental sculptures,
\nand numerous reliefs in addition to countless works for joint
\nexhibitions. It is more than any other artist here could possibly
\naccomplish.<\/p>\n
Rita Widagdo<\/p>\n
Marking the 1965-2005 Journey<\/p>\n
Galeri Nasional Jakarta<\/p>\n
Exhibition runs through April 25<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/grande-dame-of-sculpture-for-40-years-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }