Contrasting displays of nature at exhibit
By Amir Sidharta
JAKARTA (JP): The work of painters Idran Yusuf and Gunawan Hanjaya is currently being shown at the Titian Alam (Bridge of Nature) exhibition at Galeri Linggar.
As the title suggests, the theme of the paintings on display is nature. Although each artist paints in a unique style, both stay within the traditional boundaries of representing nature, which establishes a common bond between them.
Yusuf, born in 1953 in Pagaralam, South Sumatra, entered the Indonesian Fine Arts Institute of Yogyakarta in 1972. Along with painters Syaukat, Lanny Andriani, Sri Hadhy and Trip D. Sasomo, he founded the Indonesia Five group.
Yusuf's oil on canvas paintings consist of two themes: idyllic landscapes or chaotic jungle scenes. The idyllic landscapes are depicted using basically a three-part composition consisting of foreground and background, with the foreground usually containing a water element. In Kedamaian (peacefulness), the water element is a lake with water lilies, while in Nuansa Pagi (morning nuance), it is a creek. The background is a land element filled with vegetation. The third part of the composition is a space beyond the background which turns into a mysterious void. Although calm in spirit, these landscapes are rendered using such dark color tones that they convey a sense of gloom.
By contrast, his jungle scenes, such as Anggrek Liar (wild orchids) and Dynamics of the Jungle, appear to have no formal composition at all. The paintings show landscapes with overgrown vegetation.
Completed with such meticulous attention to detail, these paintings are reminiscent of the work of Nisan Kristianto, and even to a certain extent Widayat. Of course, Yusuf has a lot to work on before he can even be compared to Widayat.
Painting in an entirely different style, Hanjaya presents flowers as his main subject matter. He uses acrylics to give the flowers bright and vivid colors and succeeds in obtaining strong decorative images.
Hanjaya was born in 1954 in Solo. He learned painting at the Himpunan Budaya Surakarta (Surakarta Cultural Association) under the guidance of Indonesian realist painter Dullah. As early as 1979, Hanjaya already had a solo exhibition at Jakarta's Taman Ismail Marzuki art center.
Some of his paintings are presented in metamorphic segments, so that a number of different images seem to be blended together into one scene. The flowers and the Balinese terracotta figures in Bunga dan Yang Tertawa III (Flower and the Laughing Ones III), are depicted as if they were seen through a transparent surface. While most of the painting's background is dark, which makes the flowers appear prominent, there are three segments where the background is treated with lighter colors.
However, the artist does not make his intentions obvious, leaving the painting obscure and therefore interesting.
In Gerbang Mawar (Gate of Roses), he displays an organic decorative motif reminiscent of art nouveau designs framed within a landscape of roses. The painting has two parts, defined by subtle differences in color and a clear break in delineation of forms. At the same time, however, the differentiation is so slight that the two parts seem to blend well with each other.
Unfortunately, Hanjaya does not always succeed. Although, Kamboja dalam Komposisi (Frangipani in Composition), evidences his mastery of floral forms, this painting fails to achieve the blending of two separate images, which he also clearly intended.
The artist is even less successful when he attempts to include human figures in his work, either in the form of a statue in Arca Di Kerumunan Bunga (Statue in a Crowd of Flowers), or a dancer in Wajah Seorang Penari (Face of a Dancer). While his depictions of vegetation appear fresh and vivid, his figures appear rather awkward.
Hopefully this exhibition, which will last until Feb. 20, will give the artists the courage to investigate subject matters entirely different from the nature theme they have explored until now.