Dyan Anggraini on speaking from behind the mask

Dyan Anggraini on speaking from behind the mask

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Throughout history, masks have served humankind not only as
artistic instruments and educational tools but also to hide
expressions of power, fear, hate, malice, fragility, love or
compassion.

While some artists have been inspired to search for the truth
behind the mask, it seems that Dyan Anggraeni, in her solo
exhibition now running at the CSIS building, wishes to critique
human behavior in today's society.

Unlike most artists, Dyan is a civil servant -- now heading
Taman Budaya in Yogya. Her observations on the bureaucracy
therefore comes from within the circle where she works.

In a series called Priyayi she features bare male upper torsos
with a tie as the only piece of clothing, thereby laying bare the
real characters behind the masks that give them an important
appearance.

Her critique on the political discourse in the country may be
masked, but is quite poignant. Menunggu para badut (Waiting for
the Clowns), depicting masks laid on empty chairs, speaks to
anyone who has followed political machinations.

And what can be said about Kursi Manis Cikeas (The appealing
chairs of Cikeas), featuring masked male figures in poses that
would otherwise be associated with the female? Or Sang Kurator
(The Curator), a painting featuring a strong man against a
blurred background of Javanese symbols and some text?

Her political comments continue in paintings like Masih Ada
Pemain (There are still players), where a masked strongman is
featured with hands tied to what looks like toy soldiers, and in
Babak Baru (A New Chapter), which features a line-up of masked
men whose mouths are tied by a cloth, and empty chairs hanging
behind them. In Sang Nakhoda (The Captain), a long-nosed toy
clown sits, confused, amid a heap of ships made of paper.

Ships, or praus, for Dyan are a metaphor for the instable, the
vulnerable. In this sense, her paintings in the series titled
Perahu Kertas (Paper Boats) signify her various concerns with
uncertainty. Perahu Kertas II, for instance, depicts a woman
with a child expectantly sitting by the beach with a few toy
boats made of paper, and may denote her concern with the lot of
refugees.

Another painting in the series depicts two lone figures of
children against a whitewashed empty canvas, evoking a sense of
compassion. Paper ships also appear in her painting titled
Bersatu (United), featuring a woman with a basket full of paper
ships marked by flags in the national colors, and one paper ship
falling astray.

The woman is in a posture inviting the ship to return. Aceh is
also featured in the painting titled Somania, the story of a
child who survived the tsunami, and, searching for her parents,
found only her doll at her devastated house.

The fallacy of prominence is depicted in two paintings
featuring a masked man, one with bulging eyes, a bare upper torso
and a malicious grin, standing in front of a painting on the wall
depicting a man covering his face with a piece of paper; the
other featuring a masked man, neatly sitting with questioning
eyes.

Within the context of such politically charged paintings that
feature men with frightening masks, the masked women in Suara
Nurani, dressed in green and holding their hands behind their
ears, seem to hail women as the bearers of conscience.

But women in Dyan's paintings are still haunted by the power
of men. This is evident in the painting The Woman in which a
woman with her child against a background of elements from Arjuna
is celebrated, in cross-gender, by a mask being placed next to a
woman in fine clothing.

In Gendhing Asmaradana he says, "Nothing has really changed in
the teachings for girls or women; basically their chastity must
be protected", and he warns, "Beware you maidens who dream of
women's independence; don't ever forget moral ethics".

Dyan Anggraeni Hutomo, born in Kediri, East Java in 1957,
comes from a family of Tamansiswa educators. A graduate from the
Indonesian Fine Arts Academy in Yogyakarta, she now heads the
Yogyakarta Taman Budaya, a government institution tasked to help
develop the arts and culture in their region.

Nevertheless, she remains active in pursuing her artistic
goals, participating in joint and solo exhibitions in Surabaya
and Yogyakarta. She was a finalist in contests for the Philip
Morris and Indofood Awards.

This is her first solo exhibition in Jakarta.

In/visible/Mask

Solo exhibition by Dyan Anggraini

CSIS building, Jl. Tanah Abang III/23-27

until May 28

Tel. 8378 3818/19, Kupu-kupu Art Projects Management.