Djaling's art is full of surprises and passionate realism

Pavan Kapoor, Contributor, Jakarta

The word "Alila" means "surprise" and that is just what artist Ronald Djaling wants to give his collectors and admirers. Only when the spanking new hotel Alila on Jl. Pecenongan was chosen as the venue for the unveiling of his personal "Alila" it seemed as if destiny congenially mixed a perfect palette of paints itself.

Entitled Beauty amidst the Storm, the exhibition opened on Feb. 28.

Ronald Djaling falls into a category of intriguing artists. The art school dropout commenced an unfailingly arduous journey of self-learning to re-create the authentic beauty of realistic images with a passion that he felt stirring deep within. His highly perceptive senses and love for realism speaks out loud and orator-like from his leaning canvases.

Ronald unveils about 30 new works of art. They can be classified into mainly two categories - portraits of ordinary people going about their ordinary lives and breathtaking birds- eye landscapes.

Outstanding portraits that deserve special mention are Elderly Dancer (99 x 115cm), Farmer (70 x 90cm) and The Girls with a Chicken (70 x 90cm).

Elderly dancer tells the love story of an elderly woman with Balinese dance - a pastime she seems to have perfected in her twilight. Time might have ravaged and pilfered her but she has not yet lost her grace of mind and motion - the highlighted muscles of the slender elegant neck say they still have a lot more in them as she holds her head at just the right angle.

The wrinkled hands may be knotty but the typical dance pose with middle finger held rigid show great strength and poise still exists. The pleats, folds of her crimson kebaya and details of light and shade create a depth to the simple yet fascinating canvas.

Farmer shows the man of the earth standing and looking over his teeming harvest with pride and elation. Once again Ronald creates magic of accentuating depth into the painting by working on the light and shadows. The sun-tanned crisp skin, criss- crossed by well defined wrinkles, as well as the expression in the eyes is amazingly alive. They almost talk to the onlooker and seem to jump out telling the story of his hard toil in the sun- kissed fields.

Some of Ronald's most beautiful landscapes are Bromo and Danau Ditepi Bukit ( The lake at the hillside, 90 x 135cm). Bromo makes the onlooker feel he is sitting atop a soaring eagle. There is a tree in the foreground lending balance to the majestic Mount Bromo in the background. Although clearly visible, Ronald's attempt at portraying the early morning mist bidding a shy farewell in the wake of the bold splash of the golden sun is definitely insightful and inspirational.

Ronald also has a few works that are closeups of mother nature's bountiful promises. Fish shows two fish swimming in tandem but what makes one stop and ponder on is the sensual and graceful manner in which their fins and tails float in symmetrical harmony of the waters weightlessness.

Another exciting painting is Hamparan Teratai. It seems as if the painter has led us into a secret garden of wild lotus plants. The realistic looking leaves and their myriad of wet greens, the life-like reflection of the profusion of plants in the water show an understanding of nature and an excellence of re-creation of the highest caliber.

The feeling persists long after one would walk away from Ronald's artwork that had been printed on a postcard as it would have looked just like a photograph.

The exhibition also shows some new and interesting works by the famous Nyoman Gunarsa. Nyoman's fascination is the genteel and graceful forms of the Balinese with their characteristic elongated features.

Beauty Amidst the Storm also houses water color paintings by Yulie I. Setyohadi who is also one of the event organizers. Yulie admits to being locked in a time capsule of painting her series of In between. Her paintings In between Fantasy Exterior II and In Between Tulip and Vase boast contemporary frames specially made in the heart of Java. The painting shows the interior of a room overlooking a colorful sunny exterior.

The arts exhibition is at the Alila Jakarta on Jl. Pecenongan Kav7 - 17, Central Jakarta. It will run through April 1.