Artist Bimo Chondro lives in two worlds

By Adrian Smith

JAKARTA (JP): Paradoxes perplex the psyche when it comes to Bimo Chondro. Bimo works at a bank, but he is also an artist. Bimo likes to appear in black, though his paintings are all about color.

He is, it seems, the hub of an extensive social network, though artists are often conceived of as outcasts, denied acceptance in the name of individualist expression. Bimo's trademark is guileless, though his acumen resides elsewhere.

Despite these contradictions, his paintings are immediately recognizable and reflect the eye of a man passionate to express himself and eager to materialize his happy disposition.

A relative latecomer to painting, Bimo only erected his easel after he had completed his formal education and begun working in a bank.

"I just wanted to explore a different side of me ... my creative side."

Whereas many would groan at the prospect of trying to reconcile such incongruous pursuits on a daily basis, Bimo obviously relishes his dichotomous lifestyle.

"I think in some ways it is much easier for me to do two very different things. Banking frees me from the difficulty of having to produce creative stuff and my art really helps my banking side."

His acrylic paintings are richly textured and bold in primary colors with his signature use of gold outlines. Their focus is almost always centered and inward-looking. In other words, their subject matter is the opposite of panoramic landscapes. The style is what many of his admirers term "naive".

Some of his efforts are ornate; there are none of the straight lines and rigid structures one might expect from a fiscal mind. The effect of all these motifs, in sum, vigorously animate Bimo's creations. In general, think Rousseau, think Chagall, think the short animations on MTV and you are nearly there.

Bimo's debut exhibition was in 1996. Since then he has been on an upwardly mobile squiggle. Last year, he brought out a series of paintings on flowers. "I have a great passion for flowers. I love them," he told me exuberantly. It was these flower designs that caught the attention of a local corporate ceramist who called upon Bimo's talents to decorate dinnerware.

With titles such as Flirting, Double Date, Ready To Go, Cat's Playground, Happy Family, My Verandah, I Love You and C'mon Honey, the bulk of his latest collection, House of the Spirits, could initially be mistaken for something from the land of Hello Kitty.

But no, they are not. Visually, they are simplistic depictions of playful domestic and relationship-based scenes set in a rumah joglo (Javanese traditional house), with the customary use of frilly flowers, swirly clouds and the occasional pandering pet. In his own words, "I wanted to do a series of paintings that celebrated the life force".

His subsequent salutations have taken a trip down abstraction lane. Here, the titles suggest subject matter that is more open to interpretation. With names such as Imagination 4 and Centerpoint they are significantly more sparse, sometimes with just a single shape (characteristically outlined in gold), few adornments and set on a background less fertilized in primary colors than his earlier works. "My favorite is one of my latest, it is called Kite Festival."

What are the influences behind these pseudo-psychotropic pictorials?

"Well, you know, I like to go out clubbing with my friends quite a lot," he quipped.

He finds time to paint after office hours.

"It takes me about four days to do a painting. I usually come home from the office and then go straight to the gym to work out. That usually frees my mind so that I can paint. Sometimes I am only able to start late, at about midnight."

His chameleon qualities seem to epitomize the kind of practical responses that artists must adopt in order to survive the challenging contradictions posed by the modern world.

"I just want to make people happy with my creative designs. Whether it is by eating from a colorful plate or whether it is from looking at one of my paintings, I just want them to come away feeling alive."

Bimo's resolve to fuse his distinctive panache with a responsive market has no doubt brought him a great deal of success, creatively and commercially. And he seems to have had a lot of fun along the way.

As an indicator of this, the prices of his pieces, averaging about Rp 10 million for a large work, are well beyond the fecund imagination of most. He must be laughing all the way to the bank, which is where you can find him at his desk during office hours.

Bimo's exhibition is at Koi Gallery, Jl. Mahakam I No. 2, Blok M, South Jakarta, until Aug. 17 (tel: 7222864).