Two minds come together 'In-Contro'<\/p>\n
Adrian Smith, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
When it comes to culture, Italy isn't just about Roman ruins.<\/p>\n
\"We want to encourage young people to engage with modern
\nItalian culture,\" said the Italian Ambassador to Indonesia,
\nAlessandro Merola.<\/p>\n
And that means going abstract, if the photography exhibition
\nIn-Contro is anything to go by.<\/p>\n
As the title suggests, it is the meeting of two artistically
\ninclined minds from very different cultural backgrounds.<\/p>\n
\"This is the first time that we have brought one of the most
\nup-to-date artists from Italy (Marco Amorini) together with an
\nIndonesian artist (Nico Dharmajungen) to reflect the evolution of
\nart in our increasingly global world\" said the ambassador.<\/p>\n
In Contro means \"meeting\" but in the context of the exhibition
\ntitle, with its additional connecting hyphen, it is intended as a
\npun; a juxtaposition of one against the other.<\/p>\n
At what point these minds meet is a matter of interpretation
\nand debate though.<\/p>\n
In immediate stylistic terms, while Amorini's 10 photos come
\nacross as grainy, color soaked video stills, Nico's 12 are
\ndecidedly detailed and full of clarity, though his flowers break
\nthe mold, being all afuzz and blurred.<\/p>\n
The photos are also mostly serialized, from Amorini's set of
\nbuilding details entitled Citta Immaginaria (Imaginary City) and
\nghost-like wispy Hide Entity human close-ups to Nico's blurry
\nflower series, his black-and-white nudes and couple of navel
\nclose-ups bizarrely entitled Trilogy Seafood.<\/p>\n
The only thematic overlap is of a modern office building;
\nNico's photo is black-and-white and detailed to the point of
\nunrecognizability. Amorini's skyscraper is in color, angular and
\nsoaring.<\/p>\n
Born in Rome in 1961, Marco Amorini still lives and works
\nthere. His greatest claim to fame is as an Italian representative
\nat EXPO 2000 in Hannover, Germany.<\/p>\n
According to him, his work involves a combination of video and
\nphotography, which he uses \"to explore the relationship between
\nhuman bodies and architecture, both as emotional and internal
\nconditions\".<\/p>\n
All roads lead to Rome, as the saying goes, but for Amorini
\nthey take a more abstract route: What you see is not necessarily
\nwhat you get in his work.<\/p>\n
In the Italian's scheme of things, what may at first seem like
\na building or a body, can be viewed in infinite ways by focusing
\non their details, which open the doors of perception.<\/p>\n
And with such tools you can \"disassemble\/assemble an identity
\nof the multi-faceted human being\", which he likens to the complex
\nrelations between humans and architecture.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Nico, born in 1948, despite having spent 25
\nyears studying and working in Europe, takes a less
\ndeconstructionist approach.<\/p>\n
According to the photographer, \"Amorini and I differ in that
\nwe come from different cultures. My work is touched with eastern
\ntradition, which is less direct in its approach to a subject.\"<\/p>\n
Nico's nudes could be a case in point. The soft curves of the
\nfemale body are contrasted with the angular edges of an adorning
\nmetallic object in Nude #1 and a block adjoined with stiffly
\ncrumpled tissue paper in Nude #2.<\/p>\n
\"I wanted to capture the body as a sculpture, so I made the
\nphotos as artistically as possible, not as straightforward
\nportraits.\"<\/p>\n
Two other photos, including Trilogy Body Part II center on a
\nwoman's navel, the focus point of the belly button contrasted
\nwith curving tentacle-like lines, one of which turns out to be a
\nslimy squid!<\/p>\n
As this example goes to show, these are not immediately
\naccessible works. As the ambassador pointed out, \"these are works
\nof art that are told in a different way. They arouse less of an
\nimmediate response in the viewer than classical art, yet are
\nprovocative and challenging in their own way\".<\/p>\n
The photography exhibition In-Contro is being held at the
\nInstituto di Cultura-Jakarta, Jl. HOS Cokroaminoto 117, Menteng,
\nuntil March 6, and will be on display at the Grand Hyatt hotel,
\nYogyakarta on March 8 and the Grand Hyatt hotel in Denpasar, Bali
\non March 13. Tel: 3927531<\/p>",
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