Agus' art portrays freedom, hope

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Rays of lights and flames accompany tortured- looking images, one in the middle of a cross-shaped structure.

Yet there is a "light of hope," which is the title for 15 portraits of children spread across walls of an exhibition hall showing works by Agus Suwage, 39.

All have different expressions but they contrast with a dark image in the middle of the row; a photo film depicting a female figure reflects the dark side of the repression of the individual child by parents in the name of love.

In his solo exhibition running to April 30 at the Cemeti Gallery here, Agus, a graduate of the School of Graphic Design of the Bandung Institute of Technology, advocates the freedom of children to determine their own lives, and consciences.

Symbolizing the arrogance of authority, Agus portrays relations between father and child, husband and wife and even the power wielded by the lowest authority in the community.

He joins a generation of artists who portray protest against various forms of violence in their works but, like him, occasionally share hopes in their individual forms of expression. (R. Fadjri)