Andi's paintings boast 'great sales' on opening night

Andi's paintings boast 'great sales' on opening night

By Pavan Kapoor

JAKARTA (JP): As the art business booms, the increasing number
of red tags on the easels has generously encouraged not only
gallery owners and art promoters but also rejuvenated the
inspiration of artists.

One such artist is surrealist Andi Suandy, who is exhibiting
his artworks at the 'Indosteak' restaurant in the Mulia Tower.
Entitled Interaksi Menyambung Sebuah Gagasan (Interaction of a
Reflectionist), the exhibition will run until March 22.

The event had an amazing opening when eighty percent of the
paintings were sold out.

Most of Andi's paintings are on small easels of about 35cm x
60cm with a wide canvas around to bring the focus of the onlooker
to the rectangle of color within. Interestingly some of the
paintings framed vertically were painted on three or four panels.
Sometimes Andi leaves a space between each of the panels to
symbolize a continuation or a new phase or perhaps a breakdown of
the meanings so powerfully projected in a burst of vivid color or
a seamless fusion of well blended hues.

Considering all 30 frames exhibited are the most recent works
of the artist, it is not surprising to discover an element of the
theme of the economic crisis that has permanently etched scars on
everyone's mind. Besides addressing artistic values, Andi has
also addressed the life of children and the difficulties they
innocently face in these tough times, almost as if he has tried
to find a solution within the realms to which an artist is
confined.

In paintings such as Beri Kesempatan Kepada Mereka (Give them
a chance) and Peduli I (Caring I), Andi has roped together
sympathy and compassion for the street children without being too
blatant and overly narcissistic about the issue of poverty. The
ragged newspaper cutout imprints of a group of street children
staring at the camera with blank expressions almost fuse with the
swirl of symbolic black or earthy brown. The picture of the
children haunts one and leaves the onlooker pondering the grim
realities of life at close range.

Andi admits to having grown out of symbolism in forms and
thinks more in terms of the colors and movement he generates in
the eye of the viewer from one section of the canvas to another.

In Batas Lingkaran (Boundaries of the Circle) he has projected
life for those entrapped in the crisis by a thick black circle.
The raw rotary movement of the brush with the elements inside
seems to be whirling as if sucked into a big black hole. On the
outside in direct contrast are the same elements in an ethereal
blue base color, symbolizing a languid, tranquil sea. The
elements are fish-like creatures with tentacles; some would
define them as shrimps or a type of marine crustacean.

"The people who are outside the reach of the monetary crisis
are swimming in tranquil oblivion with no idea of how those
affected feel or manage from day to day," said Andi.

Wajah I and II (Face I and II) and Topeng (Mask) are attempts
at realistic abstracts. "Perhaps it is his choice of colors that
when set against the broad whiteness of the bordering canvas are
so complementary that the overall effect is attractive even as
the painting itself," said one art dealer.

Andi has done well for the year 1999 with 80 percent of his
paintings being snapped up on the opening night itself. "Most of
the people who are buying art are collectors and art lovers from
overseas. The dollar-rupiah exchange rate has cut the price of
the paintings and they are taking advantage of that. There is no
crisis in the art world of Indonesia, maybe because of the good
reputation Indonesian art has earned in recent decades," says
Andi.