Dekade 80 reinvigorates Indonesian art

Dekade 80 reinvigorates Indonesian art

Vivid N. Savitri, Contributor, Jakarta

When invited to the Dekade 80 painting exhibition, I knew I had
to brace myself for yet another unchartered voyage into the world
of painting. There's always something new to learn.

Well, what can I say? Of the 23 painters exhibiting, you'll
probably be able to relate at least one or two of these amazing
works. Maybe more.

Indeed, I found myself stepping into the world of classical
Cubism ala Braque when I stood before Dwijo Sukatmo's colorful
paintings, saw the surrealist realms of Ernst when pondering Ivan
Sagito's unspoken messages, and caught a glimpse of Grosz's
Homage to Oskar Panizza (1917-1918) when gazing at Dede Eri
Supria's work.

It's interesting that all of these painters contributed to
Indonesia's art history during the 1980s and 1990s, when
Indonesia had an oppressive political system but a booming
economy. One can see subtle, even shy, criticism of political
figures through religious and cultural symbols and icons.

"What is interesting about the 1980s is their surrealistic
characters that are heavily influenced by Eastern culture," says
Danarto, a renowned Indonesian painter who opened the exhibition
by reciting one of his poems.

"I found they use a lot of symbols and characters from the
Javanese Wayang Purwo (traditional puppetry) and other sources of
ancient Indonesian culture such as stories from Borobudur or
Prambanan temples. A Surrealism of the East."

A perfect example of Surrealism of the East, as Danarto put
it, is Agus Kamal's Punokawan. Painted using oil on canvas, it
depicts the story of Punokawan who, in wayang, are the guardians
of the Pandawa, the five brothers from the Mahabharata epic, who
often went to them seeking advice.

Alex Lutfhi's Raja Babil also fits perfectly into this
Surrealism of the East, especially the way he satires a stubborn
king who is deaf to criticism by wildly transforming him into a
pig-headed wayang effigy.

Another painting to use the wayang is Suatmadji's Tahta Untuk
Rakyat (The Crown for The People), in which he paints a faceless
man, supposedly a leader. In this work, the painter seems to be
yearning for new and wise leaders. Suatmadji painted it in 1998
when Indonesia was caught in political turmoil during which
people demanded a change of leadership.

Surrealism first emerged in Paris in 1924, pioneered by, among
others, Max Ernst, Andri Masson, Salvador Dali and Reni Magritte.
But the term Surrealism did not become well-known until Andri
Breton wrote The Manifeste du Surrialism, in which the word
Surrealism is defined as "pure physic automatism, by which it is
intended to express, either verbally, or in writing, the true
functioning of the thought. Thought expressed in the absence of
any control exerted by reason and outside all moral and aesthetic
consideration."

In this case, it's only sheer creativity that enables Heri
Dono to cheerfully play with heroic figures such as a four-handed
superman, a flying dog, a dragon and a four-eyed white elephant
that are skillfully blended into his Gunung Merapi painting.
Dono, through his comic touches, has managed to amuse audiences
worldwide with his child-like and profound approach to expressing
his feelings about life in general. His Anjing Gila (Mad Dog) is
another sample of how he easily switches mediums, from oil to
crayon.

Where Dono teases heroes, Dede daringly uses figures taken
from advertising, such as the Marlboro cowboy, to express how
people are easily influenced by billboard signs, or by words such
as "Grand Sale". He shows how chaotic and jammed life is these
days. The cowboy, representing a sense of freedom, somehow
manages to break free of the barbaric world of ads.

More often than not, Surrealist works are influenced by the
"Present". Back then, between the periods of 1924 and the 1930s,
as Matthew Gale put it, "Surrealism was committed to the politics
of the radical left in the face of the rising tide of Fascism and
the repressions of the Stalinist Communism." In the individual
this was represented by the conscious and unconscious mind, so
Surrealist explored the imagery of dreams, trances and
automatism, which took them (in the words of Reni Magritte's
titles) to the "Threshold of Liberty".

The liberty to transform symbols or icons that suggest another
form of life, mystical mythology, archaic dreams, spirituality
and absurdity -- which then merged into a dream-like realm -- is
clearly shown in the works of Ivan Sagito, Agus Burhan, Alex
Luthfi, Efendi, Boyke Aditya, Dwijo, Lucia Hartini, Nengah
Surata, Sarnadi Adam and Ignatius Hening Swasono.

"The existence of Surrealism of the East is not merely about
visual richness or pictorial figures, but it goes beyond the
existing conventional values of creativity," said Sri Warso
Wahono, the exhibition's curator. "These painters narrate the
essence of life artistically that differ from the way the earlier
generation express themselves. It offers mystical realm,
absurdity, horror, relativism, and other surrealistic aspects
from Eastern beliefs."

Dede, Sudarisman and Suatmadji are remarkable in portraying
the sociocultural aspects of society. And not wanting to adhere
to convention, Suatmadji and Sudarisman daringly play with other
three dimensional media to add depth to their theme. Take a look
at Suatmadji's Monumen Wayang.

The realm of dreams, absurdity and soul searching is vividly
expressed by Ivan Sagito, Lucia and Sutjipto Adi. Using perfect
impasto technique, they use surrealism to depict their community
which has been heavily influenced by Javanese values and
tradition. Such absurdity and soul searching is shown in Ivan
Sagito's dark and gloomy Perjalanan (Travel). I was dragged into
his world, captivated. I felt despair and hope at the same time.

Other unique style can be seen in Dwijo's work, where he
deforms real-life shapes, such as horses, eagles, humans or
wayang and blends them into segmented color ala Cubism. The way
Dwijo strokes his brush and plays with colors in Dinamika Kuda
dengan Roti Penari and Dinamika Naga dengan Kuda dan Roti ke 36,
reminds me, bizarrely, of Andri Masson's Massacre (1931), an
angry painting depicting rape, murder and violence, particularly
of women.

"The fact is, quoting Patrick Waldberg, 'when the works of
various surrealistic are assembled, what is striking is not their
'family resemblance', as in the case of cubists, the fauves, or
the tachistes; it is above all their difference'."

The word diversity doesn't even begin to describe these 1980s
Indonesian painters. Then again, why do we need so many labels?
It has been said (annoyingly) that there is no surrealist art.
Many critics agree. Surrealism, originally elaborated by poets,
can be defined not as a matter of esthetics but as a way of
knowing.

Which is why I was not disturbed at all at not being able to
understand the messages of some paintings in the Dekade 80
exhibition. There are times when we enjoy poetry, and there are
times when we simply don't get it. "To change life," according to
Rimbaud, "was the prime concern of Surrealism, as so with the
80s."