Art-exhibition-Karya untuk Kawan

Art-exhibition-Karya untuk Kawan

JP/19/KARYA

Karya untuk Kawan, an exhibition of many flavors

Carla Bianpoen
Contributor/Jakarta

At a time of bleakness and a never-ending need for donations, an
art exhibition at the National Gallery comes as a cool breeze
that soothes the senses.

The exhibition, held by the National Commission on Violence
against Women (Komnas Perempuan) to benefit some 50 Women Crisis
Centers in the country, features the works of renowned sculptors
like Dolorosa Sinaga, Iriantine Karnaya, Teguh Ostenrik, Yani
Mariani.

There are also works by graphic artist/painter Tris Neddy
Santo and FX Harsono, whose graphic art and installations are
born out personal experience and linked to social and political
discontent.

Other artists include Ivan Sagito, the celebrated surrealist
painter; Marintan Sirait with her fascinating drawings; painter
Magdalena Pardede who experiments with photography; well-known
photographer Firman Ichsan who is also a painter of urban
lifestyles; and ceramicist Lydia Poetri.

Artist Andar Manik, Titis Jabarudin with her soft pastel
drawings on paper that show the hardships of Iraqi women, and
Wara Anindiyah, whose eerie paintings of Chinese faces have now
taken a softer look, are also represented.

Young and upcoming artists are also included like Renjani
Damais, whose sculptures are a testimony of her depth of feeling,
Ade Artie, whose works are increasingly sought after at art
auctions in the country; and Awan Simatupang and Taufan AP, whose
works bring together social concerns and innovative thought.

An interesting feature is also the presence of works by Farida
Srihadi, who has been absent from the local art scene for a very
long time, Ratmini Soedjatmoko, who initiated exhibitions of
wives with artistic inclinations, in Group Sembilan, and Nani
Sakri, a onetime icon in the fashion world-turned artist.

The works by expatriate artists -- mostly sculptors, like
Jeannette Bijlmer, Birgit Ulrike Hau, Margriet Bos, Rhona
Polonsky, Lexy Anderson and Nienke Attema -- add a special flavor
to the exhibition.

The most eye-catching works made with professional skill and a
good sense of the imaginative, include those by Ice Mogi Tol, a
seasoned graphic art and painter, who manages to bring a woman's
focus without sticking to the suffering, by bringing out the
features of a goddess that are within every woman.

In My Power, an acrylic painting with gold prada layers,
measuring 195 centimeters by 95 cm the artist hints at her
Indonesian roots; the liberation of her fellow women is indicated
by the finely painted batik sarong spread wide instead of the
usual way of wearing it as a tight skirt.

The body and face painted in gold prada, accentuated by a sort
of aura, seem to rise out of such a consideration. The same theme
is found in her painting My head flies, in which a woman
transcends her devastation.

There is also Sasha Tranggono, whose watercolor flowers are
one of a kind. While her work,Remember me this way, 80 cm by 113
cm, watercolor on paper, is a delicate piece of atmospheric still
life, her watercolor hibiscus on canvas (the first of its kind),
measuring 120 cm by 100 cm and titled Spirit of the Moment is
uniquely expressive and reverberates with depth and passion.

A fine piece of work is also presented by Aditya Tobing.
Suara2 Cello di Mercusuar yang Mati, watercolor and ballpoint (72
cm by 52 cm), featuring realistically drawn cellos against a
surreal landscape under a somber sky.

Very close to our concern is Tsunami, a painting by RW
Moeljadi. Measuring 125 cm by 175cm, the painting recalls the
giant waves that hit Aceh and North Sumatra.

The painting features the wave and its devastating impact, as
it swept away men, women and children, its impact continuing as a
huge load carried by a man, who holds a handkerchief in the
colors of the national flag, as if to indicate that his burden is
the country's. In addition, Moeljadi's engravings in mezzotint
are unique.

Not every participant can be referred to or described, but the
above is meant as an illustration that there is ample choice and
good quality that would make anyone's charity gift worthwhile in
the collector's understanding.

With cases of violence against women rising from 3,160 in 2001
to 14,020 today, the money spent on purchasing a work at this
exhibition, would be well spent indeed.

Karya untuk Kawan
A charity exhibition of visual arts
through March 22
National Gallery Jakarta