Arts according to I Made Wiradana

Arts according to I Made Wiradana

Tri Vivi Suryani, Contributor, Denpasar, Bali

A few months ago, young painter I Made Wiradana caused a stir
in the Balinese art circle with his "art declaration".

In one of his points in the declaration, Wiradana questioned
the virtue of impressionism, an art movement fostered by French
artists in the late 19th century, which uses colors to show the
effects of light on things to suggest atmosphere rather than
showing exact details.

His argument was that in reality, impressionism has been
losing followers. Very few artists like the school of
art.

Wiradana argued that if an artist worked outdoors and painted
the landscape, it would be virtually impossible to record all the
details of the atmosphere and the color of the panorama on his
canvas.

"We have to be honest. In just a few minutes, the sunrise will
move albeit slightly in some degree. This will certainly have a
significant impact on the position of the sun and its rays.

"Therefore, the shadows of all the objects being painted will
change as well," said Wira.

Ideally, if artists want to be consistent, they have to also
make changes in accordance with the shifts in the color and
condition of their subjects.

"But it is difficult to create a painting within only one hour
or so, therefore impressionism is irrelevant," Wira said.

In his art declaration, Wiradana also challenged some standard
practices in arts. And for that he received attention from
reputable art critics, such as Helena Spanjaard from the
Netherlands.

Graduated from the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) Yogyakarta
in l995, Wiradana decided at an early age to pursue a career as a
full-time professional painter.

In his early years, his works were greatly influenced by the
famous painter H. Widayat. Born in Denpasar, Wiradana began
painting decorative works, particularly landscape.

Bored with decorative style, Wiradana shifted to another
style: the deformation of objects, which he focused on primitive
art.

Starting last year, Wiradana tried to satisfy his art
explorations with post-modern art. Many of his works have been
displayed in local museums and galleries.

A lot of art critics see Wiradana's works as "unusual and
unconventional".

Wiradana said a canvas was not a mere flat space as artists
usually see it. He often sees his canvas as a circular space in
which all objects painted on it are related to each other.

In one of his works titled Kupersembahkan Setangkai Bunga, (I
give you a flower), Wiradana painted a picture of a woman sitting
on a chair and a man standing behind her with a flower.

The woman is portrayed with half of her legs chopped off,
while the rest of her legs appear on the top of the canvas.

He used a similar approach to paint a dog lying on its legs.
Wiradana presented a half picture of the dog, with the remaining
body of the dog placed somewhere else on the same canvas.

In Coca-Colaku, (My Coca-Cola), Wiradana portrays a woman
holding a bottle of coke. Wiradana cut her bottom in half in the
front, while the other part was painted on the left side of the
canvas.

By portraying deformed bodies, Wiradana wanted to convey his
argument that a canvas can be used to portray a great variety of
objects, regardless of their entity.

A finalist at the local Philip Morris Art Awards and winner of
the best sketches of ISI Yogyakarta, Wiradana is regarded as one
of the most promising young artists.

His subjects range from local heroes, such as Raden Ajeng
Kartini, a women's rights advocate, to famous comic book figures
and Western superheroes, such as Batman, Spiderman, Superman and
some monsters.

His main aim is only to show that art is borderless and
universal. To Wiradana, there is no longer the dichotomy of West
and East, old and modern, men and women.