Januri and his journey called life<\/p>\n
Christina Schott, Contributor\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Januri is a young artist from East Java who appears to be
\ngoing places fast, as evidenced by the fact that an exhibition of
\nhis work is currently showing in Berlin.<\/p>\n
However, things could have all turned out very differently.
\n"If I had not been accepted into art school, I would have studied
\nagriculture," says the 27-year-old.<\/p>\n
The son of a farmer in a coastal village in Tuban, East Java,
\nJanuri says that he had always wanted to be an artist all his
\nlife. When he was a small boy, he spent hours drawing pictures in
\nthe sand in front of his house or at the beach where the
\nfishermen unloaded their catches.<\/p>\n
He heard about the Yogyakarta's Indonesian Institute of the
\nArts (ISI) in Yogyakarta when he was third grader in elementary
\nschool, and at that moment made up his mind to study there.<\/p>\n
Accordingly, he decided to leave home at the age of 15 to go
\nto the arts preparatory senior high school (SMSR) in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
In 1996, Januri, a natural talent, successfully passed the
\nenrollment tests at the institute on his first attempt, and since
\nthen he has been studying fine arts there.<\/p>\n
His pictures are mainly acrylic paintings depicting people
\nwith square contours and pointed noses, cubistic, stylized, in
\nearth tones or all in blue. Often Januri's figures are positioned
\nin strange situations, in a kind of hovering state, floating in
\nthe air -- like the farmer in Tidak Ada Yang Dikerjakan (There is
\nnothing to do), who hangs with his feet upside down above an all-
\nconcrete city, his shovel idle in his hands as there is no soil
\nto dig any more.<\/p>\n
In an exhibition at the Vanessa Art House in Jakarta at the
\nbeginning of this year, Januri presented a series of black-and-
\nwhite paintings, very similar to his drawings in which he usually
\ncreates an atmosphere that is far darker than in his color
\npaintings.<\/p>\n
His typical protagonists, with their square bodies, often lack
\nhands or feet -- sometimes even heads -- to symbolize their
\nconfusion about how to make a living. Other pictures show cool,
\nblue mountains. Januri painted these after he returned from a
\nstay in the tiny Principality of Liechtenstein in Europe last
\nyear: "At that time I was still influenced by the freshness of
\nEurope," the artist explained.<\/p>\n
Indonesian sculptor and painter FauZie As'ad, who also studied
\nat the arts school in Yogyakarta, invited Januri to come to
\nLiechtenstein, where he has lived for almost ten years with his
\nfamily, so that they could jointly prepare an exhibition at the
\nTribal Art Gallery in Berlin.<\/p>\n
"I came back to Yogyakarta to initiate an exchange program for
\nyoung artists," FauZie said, recalling how Januri had decided to
\nvisit Europe. "Januri was really interested, so we became friends
\nand I invited him over." Gallery owner Matthias Busse agreed to
\nstage the exhibition, and so Januri's works are at the moment
\nbeing exhibited in the German capital, together with works by
\nFauZie, and Katirin, another painter from Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
"Januri's art is really mature, despite his age," Busse said.<\/p>\n
The trip to Europe has meant a partial fulfillment of the
\nyoung painter's dream: "Before I finally settle down somewhere, I
\nwant to travel a lot and experience as much as possible. Only
\nafter that will I feel mature enough to start my own family."<\/p>\n
The ambitious young artist started to look for international
\ncontacts at a very early stage.<\/p>\n
Via the internet, he took part in a competition in Thailand
\nand was invited to visit there two years ago. In 2001, he won the
\nNokia Art Award Indonesia, while he was an Indofood Art Award
\nfinalist for the two last years and a Phillip Morris Art Award
\nfinalist in 1998, 2000 and 2003.<\/p>\n
In April, Januri participated, together with his group Gelaran
\nBudaya (Cultural stage), in an artists exchange program with
\nMalaysia: Four painters from Yogyakarta worked for a month with
\nartists in Kuala Lumpur. The four exchange partners from Malaysia
\nwill start their visits to Central Java at the end of this month.
\n"Exchanges between artists groups is very rare in our region,
\nusually due to financial constraints. But this experience was
\nvery useful -- I am really looking forward to having them (the
\nMalaysians) come over here," Januri explained.<\/p>\n
"FauZie As'Ad, Januri und Katirin", until Aug. 28 at Galeri
\nAbadi, Wilhelmsaue 137, 10715 Berlin<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/januri-and-his-journey-called-life-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}