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.