Bengkulu charity event kicked off by art show

Bengkulu charity event kicked off by art show

By Pavan Kapoor

JAKARTA (JP): Painting is so deeply embedded into the
aesthetic culture of the Indonesian people that it would be hard
to imagine any event celebrating the country's culture without
this art form.

Hotel Mulia Senayan is the host venue for the Bengkulu Charity
Week Premier from Aug. 22 to Aug. 24. The three-day event
features performances by orchestras, fashion shows and a formal
dinner, the proceeds of which will be donated to the victims of
the Bengkulu earthquake. The event was kicked off with the
opening of the art exhibition, which runs until Sept. 3, by Vice
President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

For Indonesian painters, painting is more of an individual
emotional journey that quenches a desire to express their innate
personalities and feelings, rather than the mere practice of
recreating life forms on canvas. The four artists chosen to
display their personal visions at the exhibition are Elly Zeno,
Jay Briones De Gala, Taufan and I Made Sukadana.

Elly Zeno displays his passion for the peacock, which is an
intriguing subject for Indonesian art lovers because of the
rarity of the bird.

Elly succumbed to his passion for painting in 1984 when he
stumbled upon some old oil paints in a forgotten corner of the
house. He began painting with a zeal which soon spilled over into
his social life, and soon he was keeping up with social
connections and happenings in art galleries. He started meeting
painters such as Adam Lay and was given much encouragement from
mentor Tan She Fen, under whose guidance his decorative
naturalistic style took form.

Elly loves peacocks and paints them with a passion from the
heart. Merak Merah (Red Peacock) shows a "proud peacock" preening
on a rock in the serene stillness of a garden while a peahen
nibbles in the background. In Tiga Merak dan Bunga Kecubung
(Three Peacocks and Drooping Flowers), he paints three peacocks
in a social tryst. Their tails flow behind them like the long
veil of a Christian bride on her wedding day -- only these tails
have all the colors of the rainbow and comes alive before the
fascinated observer.

Jay Briones De Gala was born in the Philippines and won the
trophy for Practical Arts from the Lady Mediatrix Institute in
1979. But art was to remain just a hobby for many more years
until he finished studying accounting in Manila. He came to
Indonesia nine years ago and worked for PT Masterindo
Perdanajaya. He began painting professionally only in August 1999
with such senior painters as Mustika and Moko.

Jay's style is unique, with paint piled on in generous lumps
and streaks with a palette knife. Although the simplistic themes
of his canvases lull the observer, a closer look at the eye-
catching technique allows one to see where Jay's field of
expertise lies. His use of distinct and contrasting colors to
paint a simple object such as a fish, a fox or a human profile is
unique and intriguing.

His painting Fighting Spirit, featuring a close up of a bull
with red eyes, was presented to Megawati as a symbol of
appreciation. "I would not have wanted my paintings to be in any
other style but this because this is a culmination of my emotions
and my creative forces," he said.

His profiles include Buddha and Einstein, the scientist with
wild hair in monotones of black and white. The use of black and
white is interesting in Referendum, where the crowd of people is
painted in haphazard twists of black and white symbolizing the
confusion of the times. There is a splash of red spelling out the
word "Referendum" with the red and white of the Indonesian flag
standing out in sharp contrast.

I Made Sukadana creates magic with his gigantic and dramatic
oil paintings. After studying art at Yogyakarta's Institute of
the Arts, Sukadana proceeded to paint full time. His efforts were
rewarded when he won the Lempad Prize from Sanggar Dewata
Indonesia. His art works were nominated for awards in 1998 and
2000.

Sukadana's works are like a symphony of snakes, dragons and
mythological figures involved in a slow-motion dance or the
foreplay before battle. Ciwanandaswara is typical of Sukadana's
impressive oils, with black, reds and ocher yellows the
predominating colors.

Some paintings seem to have two figures with flailing arms and
legs and sinewy bodies, whereas others have three or four limbs.
The flurry of motion and the long graceful twists of limbs and
clothes seem to move in a slow motion that seems almost real.

Perkelahian Rahwana Jatayu (The Fight between Rahwana and
Jatayu) is a massive oil measuring 250 x 150 centimeters and
effectively conveys the mystery of Sukadana's style.

Taufan is perhaps the only true realist among the four artists
at the exhibition, and by the clever use of white canvas throws
theoretical light on the focal point of his works. Taufan claims
to have become an artist purely by accident, but now is so
emotionally attached to his paintings that he once destroyed some
of his works when he could not achieve the desired accent.

Painting animals and nature in the composed and quiet solitude
of their surroundings is his true love and forms the nucleus of
his inspiration. However, the beauty of his work lies in his
ability to change the colors and the mood without changing the
outline of his subject.

Besides tigers and leopards, Taufan excels at painting eagles.
An untitled work shows an eagle flying low over the bell-shaped
stupas of Borobodur temple. It is beautiful and eye-catching not
only for the degree of realism in the subject but the angle of
the eagle and the imagination of the creator.

Often Taufan leaves the sky uncomplicated, providing an
excellent contrast with the dark bark of a tree housing a
beautiful leopard with a watchful pair of eyes.

Each painter display more than 10 works of art at the
exhibition, offering viewers a wide doorway through which to look
into the minds of the creators and study their distinctively
individual styles.