Ken Pattern: Seeking the truth in landscape around him<\/p>\n
Briony Kidd, Contributor\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Popularly known for his black and white lithographs,
\nCanadian artist Ken Pattern is giving freer rein to his creative
\nspirit.<\/p>\n
Ken Pattern is best known for his black and white stone
\nlithographs of Jakarta streetscapes. These images -- often
\ndealing with the juxtaposition of rich and poor, old and new --
\nhave graced everything from calendars to bookmarks.<\/p>\n
They have been credited with focusing attention on the plight
\nof a city at risk from aggressive urban redevelopment.<\/p>\n
Pattern has taken the opportunity to reinforce the popularity
\nof his familiar work but is more concerned to reveal new facets
\nof his creative personality: most notably, a deeper plunge into
\nthe territory of surrealism.<\/p>\n
His style is controlled and almost mathematically precise. He
\nhas the ability to spot hidden meanings in the world around him,
\nseeking design in what is assumed to be random. And he cites MC
\nEscher as one of his primary influences.<\/p>\n
But what about that name?<\/p>\n
\"It is my real name, it's not made up,\" explains the artist
\nwho, since 1988, has spent much of his life in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Still, it is tempting to imagine a sort of self-fulfilling
\nprophecy.<\/p>\n
Mystical undercurrents aside, the moniker has led to
\noccasional confusion. \"I had an exhibition a while ago and an
\nIndonesian man came up to me and said, 'I don't know why you
\ntitle all your pieces Pattern'.\"<\/p>\n
He laughs, \"I had to explain that it was my name\".<\/p>\n
Pattern's current show at the Four Seasons Hotel in South
\nJakarta presents new work, along with pieces from as far back as
\nthe early 1980s. In total, 105 prints and paintings are included.<\/p>\n
Pattern's Jakarta images -- often dealing with the
\njuxtaposition of rich and poor, old and new -- have graced
\neverything from calendars to bookmarks.<\/p>\n
They have been credited with focusing attention on the plight
\nof a city at risk from aggressive urban redevelopment.<\/p>\n
The opening of this exhibition on Dec. 2 served to reaffirm
\nPattern's stature in the local art scene. Opened by Canadian
\nAmbassador Randolph Mank, the event was attended by a who's who
\nof the Canadian community, as well as notables such as UNESCO
\ndirector Steven Hill.<\/p>\n
The atmosphere was relaxed, despite camera flashes, striking
\nof gongs and copious hand-shaking. Little wonder -- this show is
\nKen Pattern's 17th in Indonesia, excepting his fund-raising
\nefforts for the Canadian Women's Association.<\/p>\n
Pattern has taken the opportunity to reinforce the popularity
\nof his familiar work but is more concerned to reveal new facets
\nof his creative personality: most notably, a deeper plunge into
\nthe territory of surrealism.<\/p>\n
Pattern is essentially a landscape artist -- albeit often one
\nwith a rather lateral approach.<\/p>\n
A series of colored lithographs depicts landscapes from an
\naerial perspective: hills lined like topographical maps, or
\npatterned by the symbols of human incursion (golf courses,
\nhouses) or the more harmonious efforts of the natural world -- in
\nDawn in the West (1981) deep blue rivers seems to crack the
\nsurface of the earth as if tearing it open.<\/p>\n
The painting Gunung Pangrango Estates (1999) represents the
\nbeginnings of Pattern's current fascination with stronger forms
\nof symbolism. Again, an elevated viewpoint is used but now the
\nsense of danger is much more fully realized. A mountain looms
\ndramatically on the horizon, while cracks begin at its base.<\/p>\n
The cracks spread outwards, organic shapes giving way to the
\nstraight lines of a labyrinth that pushes its way into the
\nforeground -- and the transformation into colorless artificiality
\nis completed.<\/p>\n
The image hints at the rice paddies of Java but the more
\ndominant implication is that the labyrinth is constructed from
\ntall buildings, box-like with tiny windows, making up city
\nblocks.<\/p>\n
So the wildness of the mountain is pushed further and further
\ninto a corner. Soon it will be gone forever, replaced.<\/p>\n
\"Environmental issues have been recurring in my work,\" says
\nPattern, \"Dealing with alienation and how we affect the
\nlandscape.\"<\/p>\n
But lighter subjects are tackled with equal gusto -- and a
\nsense of humor ranging from whimsy to the straight forward
\npunchline.<\/p>\n
A pair of lithographs show ramshackle shanties nestled amongst
\nmodern buildings. In one, the shanty is stacked on top of others
\n-- Penthouse (1997). The other shows a structure just as pathetic
\nbut cozily nestled on the ground -- Ground Floor (1999).<\/p>\n
More recently, a series of lithographs was Pattern's reaction
\nto the discovery of cows in the city. \"I found it rather ironic
\nthat in the midst of all this steel and glass there was a
\nfunctioning dairy farm in Kuningan. You can see Wisma Mulia from
\nthere.\" Thus the print entitled Mulia (2004). Moo-lia.<\/p>\n
Another, Kuningan Kow (2004), shows a cow wandering
\ncomplacently down a city street, while Cow (2004), shows the
\nanimal confronting the viewer with a sassy look in its eye.<\/p>\n
Pattern has an eye for the absurd. \"I have a lot of fun with
\nmy titles and rely on verbal and visual puns.\"<\/p>\n
This is an artist not afraid of ideas. \"I'm not saying that
\nart has to have an opinion -- there is a good art and bad art.
\nBut it comes very naturally to me. I feel I do want to make a
\nstatement -- so there is a storyline.\" In fact, Pattern sees his
\npictures as very similar to short stories. \"I almost think I am a
\nsort of visual writer.\"<\/p>\n
Ken Pattern's black and white prints depicting the kampongs of
\nJakarta are about documenting social heritage, something the
\nartist says he will always come back to.<\/p>\n
But for now the labyrinth (used in a more abstract context in
\nPattern's current work) is still the key image. \"I found that the
\nlabyrinth was a perfect symbol for Indonesia. This is a country
\nthat does appreciate symbols and myths.\"<\/p>\n
But why a maze?<\/p>\n
Meanings are many and probably vary from viewer to viewer:
\nanything from the stranglehold of capitalism to Indonesia's
\nstruggle out of the past. For Pattern, it's about \"trying to find
\nthe truth. It is about how the more you think you understand
\nIndonesia, the less you suddenly do. Getting lost and trying to
\nfind a way through\".<\/p>\n
So what's next for Ken Pattern?<\/p>\n
He will continue to make art in various styles and mediums.
\nHe will continue with stone lithography, somewhat conscious of a
\nresponsibility to safeguard the traditions of this increasingly
\nrare form of printmaking.<\/p>\n
But whether this will be in Indonesia or elsewhere, he is less
\ncertain. \"I have been coming and going for 16 years and it may be
\ntime to move on. But for the time being.\"<\/p>\n
i-box:<\/p>\n
* Ken Pattern's exhibition at the Four Seasons runs until Jan.
\n16, 2005.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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