Dede's paintings social commentaries
Dede's paintings social commentaries
By Amir Sidharta
JAKARTA (JP): Works of painter Dede Erie Supria have an amazing super-realistic quality that everybody -- well, perhaps it would be safer to say almost everybody -- likes them. In fact I have never heard a negative comment about the painter's works.
Those who saw the Modern Indonesian Art exhibit when it toured the United States, or who have read the book published in conjunction with the show, should recognize Dede's work entitled Lipstick for Mother. The painting depicts R.A. Kartini -- Indonesia's acknowledged propagator of women's rights -- known by Indonesia's younger generation as Ibu Kartini. Perhaps Lipstick for Ibu would be a more appropriate title or translation of the original title.
In the painting, Ibu Kartini is depicted just as most Indonesians recognize her from history text books, commemorative posters, stamps, etcetera. But here she sheds tears.
She sits under an old fashioned overhead hair drier. Across the lower portion of the picture, in front of the figure, is a large image of lipstick.
"Kartini seems to be crying because the `modernization' that has occurred so far is more geared towards superficial matters," commented a student of the Jakarta Institute of Arts when she saw the painting reproduced in the book.
The lipstick and the hair drier are clear references to means of beautification. And, there is more. The figure's left hand holds a revolver over the right side of her face. Above the lipstick, the depiction below the face is sharded. Black triangles break into the portrait in a radiating configuration that is often used to indicate an explosion.
As most of his paintings, Lipstick for Ibu evidences Dede's remarkable mastery of painting technique. Furthermore, through this work, he states a powerful social commentary. But not only that, he compels people to think about some things that are not immediately obvious. We are left to ask ourselves, what does the gun and the explosive imagery signify?
There are perhaps historical incidents that occurred not long before Dede painted this masterpiece to which he could have been referring, but at this point that is not my concern. I am more interested in Dede's artistic references.
Little girl
Last month, along with the news of plans of a visit to Indonesia by American painter James Rosenquist, came a few publications of his works. One of the books included F-111, the painter's early masterpiece measuring three meters high by 25.8 meters wide, partially reproduced in detail.
The painting centered on the sophisticated jet fighter which was developed in the 1960s for the purpose of war. In an interview, Rosenquist once said that the airplane "is the newest, latest fighter-bomber at this time, 1965. The first of its type cost many millions of dollars. People are planning their lives through work on this bomber, in Texas or Long Island. Then the original idea is expanded, another thing is invented; and the plane already seems obsolete. The prime focus of this thing has been to keep people working, an economic tool; but behind it, this is a war machine." In essence, the work was a protest against the Vietnam War and excessive defense spending.
Typical of the artist's works, this painting is composed of different images. Apart from the theme of war, the piece also includes references to consumerism, such as a cake, a tire, an umbrella and a little girl under an overhead hair drier.
A little girl under an overhead hair drier? Coincidentally, it was this very image that was reproduced in the book on Rosenquist. Depicted with super-realistic qualities of a billboard painting, it immediately brought to mind Lipstick for Ibu, painted in 1980.
Examining more closely the renowned painter -- often labeled a pop artist -- we can infer that he frequently used consumer goods and objects of Pop Culture in his early works. Brightly colored sofas, margarine, razor blades, can openers, canned fruit, bottles and cars appear in his paintings. Lipstick is an item that also appears regularly. Rows of lipstick seems to jut out from the right portion of House of Fire (1981) and from the left end of Fahrenheit 1982. In House of Fire II (1982) seven lipsticks project randomly from the middle of the painting. Perhaps earlier versions of these paintings influenced Dede's Lipstick for Ibu.
From the two means of beautification alone, it is clear that Dede is influenced by Rosenquist, and the Indonesian painter openly acknowledges this fact.
"Rosenquist is one of the painters I most admire," Dede claims. Even his use of explosive shards stems from Rosenquist's shards. Only, while he uses them to create a symbol of rapid change, Rosenquist uses the shards as a transitional device to merge one image with another.
"Dede is clever to adapt elements that he learned from Rosenquist into his own expression," commented another Jakarta Institute of Arts student. While it is true that Rosenquist's effect on Dede goes beyond influence, we cannot say that the latter copied the former. The Indonesian painter has used a super-realistic style, subject matter and other artistic devices that is typical of Rosenquist in a way that can no longer be attributed to the American painter.
The student compared Dede to an Indonesian theater director who adapts the works of an western author. However, what Dede has done is exactly the opposite. Instead of using a western story and telling it in an Indonesian way, he used a western way to tell his narrative of Indonesia.
Like Dede, artist Marcel Duchamp used "ready mades" -- familiar everyday items: an old bicycle wheel, a stool, a urinal, a bottle rack, and even a reproduction of Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa -- to create his works of art, Dede used Rosenquist's "ready mades": the hair drier, lipstick, and sharded imagery.
Going a bit further, in many respects Dede's painting is much like a parody akin to Weird Al Jankovitch's parodies of Madonna Like a Virgin (Like a Surgeon) or Michael Jackson's Beat It (Eat It) music videos. The two examples may not seem a fair comparison to the serious content of Dede's work. However, just as Dede uses the popular imagery and style that has become James Rosenquist's trademark, Weird Al uses the well-known styles and movements of the two superstars.
Dede used a vocabulary from a language that has been popularized by Rosenquist to tell his story. Perhaps he even intended the painting to be somewhat a parody of Pop Art. If pop artists incorporated consumer items into their works of art, Dede borrowed Rosenquist's artistic style -- which has become somewhat of a consumer item -- to create his paintings.
After Pop
Fifteen years have passed since Lipstick for Ibu, and both Dede and Rosenquist have both progressed in different ways. The Indonesian artist's work has been concentrated on the themes of urban confusion, often conveyed using devices such as labyrinths and repetition of objects related to city life.
In the recent past, James Rosenquist's use of shards has progressed into the use of shredded depictions of women in cut- out pictures, superimposed on super-realistic renditions of plants and vegetation.
Today, he has taken an entirely different direction. A recent photograph shows that his most recent work is entirely composed of cut-out strips of paper arranged in a chaotic three- dimensional collage. We can expect yet another revolutionary development in the art of James Rosenquist.
To better understand the artist's concepts and works, James Rosenquist is scheduled to deliver a lecture on Thursday, May 4, 1995, at 2 p.m., at the Graha Bakti Budaya, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jl. Cikini Raya 73, Central Jakarta. A discussion including painter Dede E. Supria and art critic James Supangkat will follow.
The works of James Rosenquist can be viewed at the exhibition of Some Very Important American Artists in conjunction with the American Arts Festival 1995, which will be held from May 1 to 6 at the residence of the Ambassador of the United States of America to Indonesia, Jl. Taman Suropati No. 3, Central Jakarta. A limited number of invitations are available through the concierge of the Grand Hyatt Jakarta on a first come, first served basis.