Amri Yahya laments neglect of batik as art

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Batik, as a medium of artistic expression, is synonymous with the name Amri Yahya. A man who, with batik painters like Bagong Kusudiardjo and Kuswadji, has followed the tradition of popularizing the art of batik painting.

Batik painting is art which has held a respectable place in the Indonesian field of fine arts.

In the late 1970s through the 1980s, batik art was very much in vogue and Amri enjoyed these times immensely.

While a painting by the maestro Affandi in the 1970s was in the Rp 3 million price range, paintings by Amri carried Rp 5 million price tags.

Many of his paintings were bought as collector's items by government officials, and state guests frequently inspected the batik works in his gallery on their trips to Indonesia.

Amri has exhibited in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East as well as in Indonesia and he has galleries in Yogyakarta, San Francisco, Hawaii, Denmark and the Netherlands.

He has also had numerous invitations to go overseas as a visiting professor and to hold batik-painting workshops.

Born in Palembang, South Sumatra, the 57-year-old artist became so popular he was asked to appear in films and has starred in a paint product advertisement.

But when the popularity of batik painting reached its nadir, Amri faced bad times.

Not even his business diversification into the fashion industry helped.

His gallery is next to the Indonesian Fine Arts Academy here at Gampingan, but very few people visit it. The guest book seems quite empty.

Fewer and fewer of his works are seen in exhibitions now. His last exhibition, a retrospective, was held in Jakarta in December 1996.

But in spite of the hard times he is still struggling to raise the profile of batik painting. He is the sole painter to do so.

He began his career after graduating from the Fine Arts Academy in Yogyakarta, 1961, when he chose batik painting as his medium of expression.

"With this medium, I can not only create nonrealistic paintings, but also produce creations that are decorative and realistic," said the father of four sons.

From 1968 to 1972, Amri experimented with his batik painting, creating both traditional- and contemporary-style batik works.

Batik is usually painted with heavy colors that can look drab, but Amri gave new style to his creations with bright, beautiful colors.

His batik paintings are not based on classic repetitive designs. Each stroke of the canting (small dipper used to apply wax) forms seemingly abandoned abstract figures in his work.

"The styles and shapes in my works have no standardized pattern," said Amri.

Amri's batik paintings are more or less abstract, with bright colored thick and thin lines. The dominant colors are red and blue and the lines are strong, spontaneous and non repetitive.

The lines sometimes depict familiar shapes, but most of his works have distinct nonrepresentative shapes.

Amri tells stories about life and nature in his work which is inspired by the areas surrounding his birthplace.

His work is heavily influenced by things natural -- the river, the grass, boats and the sun. These are his inspirations.

Amri's exploration of the beauty of batik art was not restricted to painting but expanded to the wearing and designing of batik clothes.

These two functions of the art, for Amri, not only serve a personal, idealistic purpose but a practical one that fulfills the needs of the masses.

"There is no way artists can serve their idealistic purposes without cost. Batik painting is quite expensive," said Amri. And yet Amri feels that fashion designing has its limitations too.

"I am not a businessman. I am a basically a painter."

It is no wonder Amri uses a unique design on each gown or outfit he creates.

In his heyday, Amri made only 300 gowns. But his involvement in the fashion world finally pushed him to set up the Indonesian Fashion Designer Association of Yogyakarta.

Amri is an artist who is very committed to his work.

"The development of both contemporary and traditional batik designs depends on creativity. And, one cannot be creative without educating oneself and learning more about the art," he said.

His commitment to the development and growth of batik art once prompted him to suggest the State Policy Guidelines include it as a compulsory education subject.

His suggestion was not accepted and he became seriously ill with disappointment.

"I entered the hospital due to it," said the teacher at the state-run Teachers Training College in Yogyakarta.

More bad times came when batik was put under the study of textiles in education curricula, rendering it a minority study area.

The study of batik as an expression in itself cannot be compared to the study of the textile industry. For this reason many students turned their attention away from batik to textile studies. Batik became not a focus of art design but a fabric to be worn or used.

The same could be said for the art of batik painting which became to be seen as a craft rather than an art.

"It is one of the main reasons people cannot appreciate batik the way it deserves to be appreciated," Amri says. (Tedy Novan)