A Basque in Bali opens fine arts program

A Basque in Bali opens fine arts program

By Jason Tedjasukmana

JAKARTA (JP): The centuries-old relationship between artist
and patron has generally been a fruitful one. The Medici family's
commissioning of Donatello and Michaelangelo in 15th century
Florence, for example, resulted in a number of Europe's most
important works of art. While Europeans have long realized the
importance of cultural patronage, the practice has again come
under attack in the United States, where a Republican-controlled
congress is determined to do away with virtually all government
spending on the arts.

In light of such philistine axe-wielding, any initiative of
the public sector in the cultural arena is all the more welcome.
This is especially necessary to Jakarta, where relatively few
exhibitions are mounted with private funds.

The Embassy of Spain has stepped into the fine arts fold this
week with its exhibition of paintings by Jesus Mari Lazkano, a
native of the Basque country in northern Spain. Lazkano is the
first of ten artists invited to participate in the embassy's Ten
of the Best series, a cultural exchange program designed to
introduce Spain's most prominent contemporary artists to
Indonesian audiences. Spanish artists are given an opportunity to
discover Indonesia, and the embassy hopes a program for
Indonesians will one day come to fruition. Over the course of two
years, each artist will spend two months either in Bali, Batam,
Jakarta or Yogyakarta, compliments of Grupo Sol Melia, Spain's
largest hotel group.

Private participation allows the embassy to price the
paintings at a fraction of what the artists currently fetch on
the international market. In the words of Ambassador Antonio
Sanchez Jara, the challenge now is for collectors "to detect
their genius" and buy accordingly. For, he adds, "a new
generation of Picassos, Miros, Tapies, Gris and Dalis is emerging
in Spain and some of its greatest members were selected for this
cycle".

Worlds together

Lazkano has created over two dozen paintings for the
exhibition -- an impressive number considering the average size
of each work, 50 cm x 75 cm, and the relatively short duration of
his stay in Nusa Dua, Bali.

Whether his activity was fueled by the beauty of the Balinese
landscape or a desire to fill the embassy's fairly large gallery
space, however, is less clear. Lazkano has devoted his undeniable
talent to series of rather homogeneous portrayals of Balinese
rice terraces and cliff-sides.

The 35-year-old artist breaks down the island's abundant
vegetation into what he calls "architectural landscapes". All
narrative elements are removed and humanity's presence is obvious
only in the rice terraces that have been meticulously carved out
of the hills by farmers and rendered with scientific precision by
Lazkano.

An unadulterated silence lingers heavily in each landscape and
one is left wondering about the improbable position of the
painter and the light source in each painting. Moments are not
captured in time, but interpreted more through photographs that
allow Lazkano to impose his own order of space. Imaginary trees
emerge in the foreground of several works, disturbing the serene
balance of the Balinese countryside and thrusting the eye deep
into a manipulated, yet believable, scenario. Lines dissect and
create a rhythm that reverberates through the shallow pools of
young rice fields and the towering palms that grace his lemon
skies.

Because of the uniform color and subject matter of the works,
the paintings make less of an impact when hung side by side.
However, their collective arrangement in the gallery provides a
vital and unique opportunity to evaluate this artist's "Bali
period" and the impetus behind his latest creations.

In his catalog, Lazkano explains: "Bali's tremendous natural
endowments simply crush everything in its midst and my growing
interest has been prevailed upon by the expansive capacity of the
landscape. The tension between 'architecturalized landscape' and
nature almighty is noticed in the rice terraces (an authentic
creation of landscape architecture) and its own self-propelling
geography (volcanic activity and constantly growing surface
vegetation)."

Lazkano's individual landscapes are neither romantic or
intimate. Coming from one of Spain's most lush and mountainous
provinces, his reaction to the majestic Balinese terrain was far
from that of an awestruck tourist. Each painting is an isolated
investigation. The series as a whole is an intense effort to get
closer to his surroundings, to which he dedicates the same
scrutiny applied to the neo-classical structures and industrial
buildings of his earlier works.

Be it another exercise or a turning point in his promising
career, Lazkano likens the experience to a good book. "You never
know when you'll come back to it, but you do know that you'll
read it again." He adds: "All exhibitions cover a more or less
prolonged period of personal history, namely that of the artist.
Some coincide with landmarks in their development, others define
periods noted in previous shows while others completely break
from the past."

Regardless of how the chapter unfolds for the artist, the
embassy can clearly call their program a success. This first
installation in the series has already provided an important step
in Ibero-Indonesian understanding and an even more important
contribution to the arts.

The works of Jesus Mari Lazkano will remain on display at the
Embassy of Spain on Jl. Agus Salim No. 61, Central Jakarta, until
Sept. 29.