Arifien tells whimsical tales in art

Arifien tells whimsical tales in art

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): One of the Kurawa brothers attempts to undress
Dewi Drupadi by pulling her translucent selendang cloth, causing
the vase on a nearby table to almost tip over. In fact, the
entire table is also about to tip over. On the edge of the
painting's canvas, another figure stands frozen, hopelessly
scared, biting his fingernails, watching it all happen. This is
the painter Arifien's interpretation of an episode from the
Mahabarata epic. According to the epic, Drupadi's selendang
becomes never ending foiling the Kurawa's attempt.

Dewi Drupadi is characteristic of Arifien's whimsical
paintings, which are being exhibited at the Santi
Gallery, South Jakarta, from Aug. 1 to Aug. 14. The witty
anecdotes in his paintings are typically set within a
conservative historical district. Hence, even though he depicts
contemporary scenes, they have a certain touch of historicism.

The painter's ability to present fantasy, memory, and humor in
his artworks is most likely the reason why his paintings are
popular among collectors, both in Indonesia and abroad. Today,
Arifien enjoys the representation of a bona fide gallery and the
patronage of many prominent collectors.

The luxury he enjoys today has been a result of his hard work
and dedication as an artist. But life has not always been so easy
and enjoyable for Arifien. Born in Surabaya in 1955, Arifien
moved to Jakarta in the 1970s. He was faced with a hard life in
the city working as a mason.

"After sundown, I would retire from a hard day of work and
paint," he said. Painting provided him with a refreshing retreat,
rejuvenating his mental health and physical vigor. Therefore, his
career as a mason advanced rapidly. From working on coarse
masonry work, he soon became in charge of finer construction
which relied on his craftmanship.

Arifien's eye for aesthetics was noticed by interior
designer Budiman Sumanang who later made him responsible for
arranging interior elements. Arifien became involved in an
erudite circle of architects, interior designers, historians, and
cultural literati.

It was Adji Damais, a historian and present director of the
Jakarta History Museum at Taman Fatahilah, who introduced the
young painter to books which included photographs of old Jakarta.
These reminded him of the buildings around the Jembatan Merah
area of his home town, Surabaya. The scenes sparked his interest
in old colonial architecture. He started to study these buildings
meticulously and before long they appeared as part of the scenes
he painted. "My paintings have strong relations to the built
environment, especially to old buildings, because they form the
historic fabric of a city," he said.

Arifien was fascinated with the works of European artists like
Matisse, Chagall, and Bosch, which he learned from books, and
equally admired the paintings of Sudjojono, the pioneer of
Indonesian art and founder of Persagi, the first Indonesian art
institution. He associated Sudjojono's images of the Indonesian
struggle for independence with his own struggle in establishing
himself as a painter. Some of Arifien's early paintings seem to
borrow from Sudjojono's elements, themes, and compositions.

Arifien's close friends call him Neif, the last syllable of
his name spelt backwards. In Surabaya, reversing names like this
has become common slang. The word also sounds like the Dutch word
neef which means cousin.

It was only in the mid-1980s that Arifien took up painting
professionally. After a futile attempt in entering an interior
design business partnership with some of his friends, he decided
to paint full-time. To maximize his performance, he formed an
affiliation with a small but progressive interior decoration and
crafts house in Jakarta. Under the management of Obin or
Josephine Komara, the proprietor of Bin House, Arifien was no
longer required to think about his living expenses, painting
implements, and exhibition preparations. He was able to fully
concentrate on painting.

New style

But his association introduced other demands. While in
the past Arifien was able to spend an almost unlimited amount of
time working on a single painting, in this new phase of his
career he was asked to produce a certain number of paintings each
month, due to an increase in demand. This completely altered the
way he worked, and resulted in a new style. His brush strokes,
presented in a palette of pastels, appeared lighter and swifter
than before.

Later, Arifien established a partnership with the Santi
Gallery which concentrated on paintings. This was under the
leadership of art collector Joseph Solaiman. Arifien adopted
compositions which he studied from books about modern masters
such as Matisse and Chagall. His more recent paintings often
depict "table by the window" still life reminiscent of Matisse.

Although his current paintings continue to present romantic
historical built environments, the structures he portrays today
no longer refer to particular existing architecture. Arifien no
longer has the luxury of meticulously delineating the details of
the buildings in his paintings. By the same token, the figures he
paints today also appear less realistic. Using elongated figures,
the painter presents anonymous characters in scenes of social
interactions and relationships in theatrical settings of his own
creation. Now he seems to rely more on his memory and fantasy.
Nonetheless, Arifien's characteristic wit and charm is retained
even in his most recent paintings.

Although Arifien's paintings are very popular among
collectors, he remains left out from Indonesian art history.
Indeed, Arifien never had any formal training in art and was
never a member of any art association. Apart from the help of a
few friends, he was basically a "loner" throughout his entire
artistic development. He started to paint under the guidance of
his friends and mentors. As he was self-taught, Arifien hardly
had any acquaintances with art institutions in Jakarta. He only
knew a handful of artists who based themselves at Taman Ismail
Marzuki and Balai Budaya. Conversely, only a limited number of
artists and art critics knew about him and his paintings.

Only those who frequented the exhibitions at Galeri Santi were
familiar with his works. Art gallery representation has even led
some art critics to presumptuously dismiss his talents as being
merely commercial and unworthy of note.

But he couldn't care less about what his critics say about
him. Completely dedicated to the world of art, he stacks his
library with art books and makes time to visit exhibitions. All
he cares about is his paintings. In the tranquility of his home,
Arifien continues to paint his fantasies, set in places which
stem from his memories of the natural rural and built urban
environments which have so rapidly changed due to the country's
overwhelming development. Ironically, Arifien conserves these
environments in his gallery paintings, so that they can be
enjoyed by collectors, many of whom have influenced Indonesia's
economic change in one way or another.