Elusive Tarmizi stages solo exhibition

Elusive Tarmizi stages solo exhibition

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Amidst the hustle and bustle of often-incomprehensible works
of art, the exhibition at the One Gallery offers some respite and
a breath of fresh air.

The display shows works of Itji Tarmizi, an artist of great
potential in the 1950s, and a member of the Sanggar Pelukis
Rakyat who disappeared without leaving a single trace after the
1965 political upheavals in the country. Pelukis Rakyat consisted
of a group of artists aspiring to bring the voice of the common
people, creating what they called "art for the masses". It was
affiliated with Lekra (the People's Cultural Association) that
became the arm of the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party.
Fleeing to his home village near Bukittinggi, Sumatra, Tarmizi
unlike his peers, managed to escape jail.

Anxiety and fear kept him from artistic expression until the
early 1990s, but a refined sensitivity, multiple skills and
creative strength tangible in his varied works testify to the
enduring basics sustaining his oeuvre.

Generally reflecting realistic representation, Tarmizi's works
also seems to be inspired by the Old Masters and impressionist
techniques. Examples may be seen in Gadis Nelayan (Fishing Girl),
a 130 x 90 cm large canvas featuring a beautiful, white-skin
woman with European facial features and a skirt in read, blue and
gray colors, or in Senja (Twilight), a 180 x 1100 large canvas
featuring a woman in a white dress with a transparent pink stole
standing against a diffused, multi-colored sky.

Particularly interesting is his 300 x 90 cm canvas entitled
Akhir Abad (The End of the Century). The color and brushwork of
the woman and her daughter flow into the surrounding color, while
the fabric of the man's shirt blends the hue of the other half of
the canvas. Striking in the work is the difference in facial
features of people in the left part of the canvas which are the
usual human features, while the faces in the right part of the
canvas positioned as the front of the crowd, are painted in the
likeness of prehistoric creatures looking into an empty space. Is
this symbolic of the human condition at the turn of the century,
a setback to an earlier stage of civilization?

Tarmizi's oil paintings also include issues of the present
time. Kosmonot (Cosmonaut), 120 x 100 cm, features Yuri Gagarin
in his Sputnik capsule, while Meteor is like an abstract
painting.

Abstract are also his works of compositions using colored
patches, which he has cut, sewn and embroidered himself. I learnt
this from my grandmother who was an expert in embroidery, crochet
and weaving, he explains.

One may also be struck by his sketches made in charcoal,
pencil or ink, which document the variety of layers in society
and their activities. There is a scene showing the men playing
cards, and another scene featuring three women vendors. Sketches
also feature people around a discussion table, as well as
construction workers. But the most expressive and atmospheric is
undoubtedly Sketch No. X titled Pergi ke Pasar (Go to the Market)
which shows the vendors on their way to the market place while
dawn is making way for the penetrating rays of the sun. Equally
fascinating is his ink-on-paper self portrait anno 1990 titled
Sketsa Masa Tuaku (Sketch of My Old Age) in which the deep-cut
wrinkles set the accent on the strength of a man of many
sufferings.

The son of Tantuah Baginda Ratu, a military officer of Chinese
descent and his Minangkabau wife, Itji Tarmizi was born in 1939
in Tepi Selo, Lintau, West Sumatra. He has been deaf since he was
eight years old, and lost his speech not much later. In 1953 he
ventured to Yogyakarta, together with his brother. He enrolled at
ASRI, the Indonesian Art School, but dropped out and joined the
Pelukis Rakyat which was then led by Hendra Gunawan.

His paintings have been purchased, among others by the then
former President Soekarno, and James Stewart of the Asia
Foundation in Bangkok. His paintings are represented in the book
on the Adam Malik Collection.

As this goes to print, Itji Tarmizi's health condition is
worsening, and this solo exhibition titled Suatu Kehadiran may
well be the first and the last during his lifetime.

Suatu Kehadiran by Itji Tarmizi;
Gallery One, Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta;
Phone 532 1267;
Nov. 23 - Dec. 7, 2001.