Eko Nugroho and his versatile art creations
Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta
Events at all levels of life have moved artists throughout time to express themselves in work reflecting the zeitgeist.
But perhaps no time in history has seen such free use of media, content and style in artistic expression as today.
Amid such hustle and bustle, Eko Nugroho has emerged as an artist whose artistic expression and democratic way of life stand as a unique phenomenon in the world of art.
An art student of the Yogya Institute of Arts, 28-year-old Eko, whose thesis is only pending its write-up, expresses himself in images that formerly appeared comical, or had the air of a comic strip. Yet there is more to it than meets the eye.
The hoods that he uses to paint over an image's face, for instance, express his intense aversion to discriminatory practices. "I deliberately did not want to show faces, as face- types would give rise to racially or ethnically based discriminatory thoughts," he once revealed.
His work, currently on show at Artnivora gallery, has evidently overcome that phase. Now the hoods have a variety of meanings, representing Eko's concern with urban space and urban realms of behavior in the capital city.
A pointed shoe sticking out of a mask, an inverted vehicle topping the hood may be a cynical note on the concerns that engage many an urbanite.
Capricious roots looking like wild paws covering a hand held up in the air (image 1) refer to the alarming level of pollution in the urban sphere, and artificial arms taking the appearance of a puppet as used by a puppeteer (image 2) refer to the increasing advance of technology and the decline in the use of manual labor.
Amid all of this, has the individual vanished from the scene? Apparently not, for "Yes I Am" writes Eko on a hooded image, now with an opening revealing part of the face.
But there is also his immense resentment against ambiguity that seems to color human behavior today, and which he expresses by depicting a figure (image 3) wearing a hood showing two pairs of eyes, two pairs of hands with an invalid arm, and one hand holding a flower against his breast marked by a text saying "trust them", and another reading "trick me".
His works, whether made on the bare walls of the gallery on canvas or on cloth, with ecoline ink, acrylic or embroidery, or as an animation video, are products of his intense sensitivity to whatever is going on around him -- everyday life, politics, social conditions, the human condition.
Sometimes, they appear comical and laughable, or even absurd as a consequence of his wild imaginings, while at other times they reveal a rebellious critique, dark humor, but also endless compassion.
Eko Nugroho's art today is distinctly different to his works of previous times, when his comments and critique could be biting. He seems to have matured after his recent residency in the Netherlands; his comments appear gentler than before -- the mask has been partly lifted, his scope of vision enlarged.
The comical style of Eko's works may not come as a surprise, since he is also actively involved in Daging Tumbuh, a form of comic that he created some five years ago, and published twice a year.
Eko does not like the term "comic". Indeed, unlike other independent comics, it is open to whoever wishes to send in a work. Participants are also free to choose a theme and use a medium (ink, pen, pencil, oil, collage) or whatever mode they wish, as long as it is submitted as a photocopy.
Interestingly, every contributor is also reminded that their work will be liable to being pirated, so there is no problem of intellectual property rights.
So far, their contributors have spanned a range of people, from becak (pedicab) drivers to journalists, from high-school students to art students, from hobbyists to professional artists, and, recently, contributors from Singapore, Malaysia, Switzerland, the UK and Australia have joined in.
As there is no commercial intent, the bundle is sold for Rp 30,000 while there will be no more than 150 copies available each time.
His initiative started when galleries or exhibition spaces were reluctant to set their space available to art of this kind, and he and his friends -- students of ISI -- were left to create their own space to show their artistic creations.
He is a versatile artist, who also combines painting with music, animation and comics, while also developing embroidery of his art work on cloth. Of the latter he says that he paints the image, and the embroiderer goes over the painting with her or his thread -- it s not an imitation.
Curator of the exhibition Rifky Effendi says Eko is mostly influenced by today's pop culture. His works open up alternative meanings of conventional understandings, "an enrichment of the world of art".
in box: Sorry I am Too Late to Celebrate solo exhibition by Eko Nugroho through Sept. 15 Artnivora gallery Jl. Kemang Utara 50A, Kemang, South Jakarta