Symphony of colors by Banyuwangi artist<\/p>\n
Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Banyuwangi, located on the eastern tip of Java island, is
\nfamous for its Gandrung dance. The music of this dance is just as
\ndynamic as the traditional music of its close neighbor, Bali.<\/p>\n
Indeed the distance between Banyuwangi and Denpasar (Bali's
\ncapital) is shorter than the distance between Banyuwangi and the
\nEast Java provincial capital of Surabaya. It is not surprising,
\ntherefore, that Banyuwangi has witnessed the acculturation of
\nJavanese, Madurese and Islamic elements, with a Balinese
\ninfluence. Bali, on the other hand, is also influenced by the
\nculture of Banyuwangi.<\/p>\n
Apart from its famous dancers, Banyuwangi also boasts a number
\nof well-known artists such as Suyadi Kusnan, 44, popularly known
\nas S Yadi K, or just Yadi. Between 1973 and 1980, Yadi was active
\nat the Bulungan Youth Center, Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Then he went to Banyuwangi and joined Setinggil Blambangan
\nWorkshop. Since 1985, he has actively held exhibitions together
\nwith the Kamboja Bali Workshop, in Bali, Surabaya and also
\nJakarta. Yadi has held dozens of solo and joint exhibitions at
\nhome and abroad since 1979.<\/p>\n
One of his paintings, Gandrung Banyuwangi, was part of the
\npresidential palace's art collection in 1999. Other paintings of
\nhis are in the hands of local and foreign collectors.<\/p>\n
Yadi's canvases consistently talk about the \"beautiful sides\"
\nof people's lives in Banyuwangi and Bali.<\/p>\n
\"I want to be able to understand the environment. I want to be
\nable to present the behavior of people in pictures. I want to
\npresent the reality of life in my paintings.\"<\/p>\n
His latest works are on exhibition at Galeri Cipta II at Taman
\nIsmail Marzuki (TIM). Behind the symphony of a million colors, we
\ncan witness varied activities such as a tree climbing contest (in
\nJakarta when celebrating Independence Day), gandrung dancers,
\nfishermen with their boats at sea, women selling chickens,
\nchildren holding balloons, fisherfolk carrying their haul.<\/p>\n
There are also legong dancers, Balinese women and offerings,
\nmen and their fighting cocks, religious services, Rejang and
\nBarong dances, a Balinese ritual, flowers, horses and even female
\nfigures. Besides those connected with Banyuwangi and Bali, some
\nof Yadi's paintings describe Thai women in different stages of
\nundress: from being completely dressed to being stark naked.<\/p>\n
Yadi uses the technique of pouring acrylic paints on his
\ncanvases, which are made from hard cloth usually intended for
\nshirt collars. This technique is uniquely his. He discovered it
\nin 1989 and has since developed it.<\/p>\n
As a self-made artist, he discovered the technique when he was
\nonce angry with himself and poured a drink onto his work, which
\nhe thought was a flop. The spread of liquid poured on the work
\nlooked like a sunrise shining upon his dark self, bringing light
\nto him. So he left behind his realist photographic style, which
\nhe used to favor.<\/p>\n
Look at one of his works in the catalog -- the original work
\nis not in the exhibition, though -- called Our Model (1984), in
\nwhich a naked Balinese woman is featured seated on a chair, with
\na towel covering her head.<\/p>\n
It is not wrong to say that Yadi's realist photographic
\npaintings were a major asset that allowed him to move on to his
\npresent impressive paintings.<\/p>\n
If the darkness and brightness in his realist photographic
\npaintings are the result of brushes and colors (for example oil
\npaint), in his impressive paintings, Yadi trusted the combination
\nof calculated and unintentional effects of the pouring and
\nspreading of red, blue, green, yellow, brown (from acrylic and
\nwater color) mixed with crayon to emphasize the lines.<\/p>\n
In other words, we may consider Yadi's paintings a collage of
\ncolorful pouring and spreading between darkness and light.<\/p>\n
From this solo exhibition, at least there are three phenomena
\nthat mark his creative struggle. First, the figure or object
\ndrowned in the collage of colorful pouring and spreading, which
\nresults (from a particular distance) in the figure becoming
\ndifficult to trace.<\/p>\n
This phenomenon appears in his latest works of 2002, such as
\nSelling Chickens, Prayer II, Dragon Statue and Tenganan Girl.
\nBehind this phenomenon, Yadi is trying to give equal value to a
\nfigure and the background.<\/p>\n
Second, the colorful pouring and spreading concentrates on a
\nfigure by leaving the background empty. The figure becomes more
\nprominent. This can be seen in his works Flowers in a Garden
\n(2002, measuring 500 cm by 180 cm), Smile (1997), Sutiman and the
\nHorse (1994), Smile of Lombok Children (1993) and I (1991), among
\nothers.<\/p>\n
Third, the deformed figure. Look at his nude paintings Two
\nThai Girls (2000) and Nude (2001). Freely he makes the head and
\nthe breasts smaller and then enlarges the arms, hips and thighs
\nof the models, who are actually slim and slender.<\/p>\n
With these three phenomena, Yadi continues to make progress
\nfrom his residence in Banyuwangi, some 1,000 km from Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The exhibition is being held at Galeri Cipta II, TIM, Jl.
\nCikini Raya 73, Central Jakarta, until Sept. 5, 2002.<\/p>",
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