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.