Entang Wiharso portrays collision with American culture in this work
Entang Wiharso portrays collision with American culture in this work
Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta
Anyone marrying into another culture will have to deal with a
wide variety of issues, but it takes an artist like Entang
Wiharso to make others feel the depth of tension it brings into
the lives of those involved.
Married to an Italian-born American wife, Entang, who lives
and works in Yogyakarta, but often stays in Rhode Island, USA,
has had his share.
In a unique and fascinating solo exhibition consisting of six
giant installations and twelve large paintings entitled Inter-
Eruption currently at Bentara Budaya gallery here, the artist
expresses issues, emerging from personal experience and finds
parallels on a wider plane of social, cultural, political and
international relations.
As an Indonesian Muslim who has lived in the United States, he
often felt like a supposed suspect, especially after 9/11, with
luggage excessively checked when traveling, and hours of
interrogation when coming back from abroad.
As is widely known, terror attacks in Indonesia have usually
been followed by travel warnings. In his personal life, his
intercultural marriage evoked tension that was rooted in
different traditions and backgrounds. In the context of society,
a difference in physical appearance provoked reactions that could
send one into a profound sense of alienation.
The atmosphere surrounding the huge installations reeks of
intimidation, and the dim lights in others convey the notion of
peril and risk. But unlike his solo exhibition Nusa Amuk (2001-
2002), where a sense of horror at the corrosion of the human
spirit prevailed, the current exhibition uses oversized shapes to
indicate the magnitude of the problems faced. Imminent dangers of
too much love, of chauvinistic beliefs, and the hard-to-dispel
stereotypes, are presented with a more subtle, albeit acute,
manner.
The installation entitled Dotting consisting of upper bodies
in yellow gold prada scattered over a large space denote the
stereotypical habit of pointing, which may start with one person
and can be carried on to an immeasurable extreme. Forest of Eyes,
an installation of eyes -- acrylic on fiber glass -- over an
equally large space, can be seen as metaphors for being
continuously stared at and judged.
These two installations are set in the upper part of the
gallery, where dim light and pillars covered in black evoke a
sense of how it feels when one is pointed at, stared at and
judged.
A saw, which is a useful cutting tool, becomes a metaphor to
indicate a reverse meaning of "love" as seen in the installation
I Love You Too Much. Where large saws are seen dangling above
nudes (made of plastic dolls), that lie scattered, either whole
or cut in pieces.
The teddy bear, an endearing toy of our childhood, is used to
comment on America's posture as the would-be savior, the pillars
of the world. All About Teddy Bear is an installation of six 2.5-
meter high sculptures with teddy bear heads, that stand like
columns on a carpet about 10 meters long. The teddy bear derives
from Teddy Roosevelt, who was president of the U.S. when he saved
a baby bear.
The travel warning controversy is tackled in the installation
entitled Fruit for Exotic Country. Consisting of nineteen larger-
than-life-size male nudes who hold in each hand the half of a
coconut husk filled with news paper cuttings, suggesting
fragmented news about events in Indonesia, the installation makes
a mockery of the travel warnings.
Cultural relations have been a hot issue in many newspapers,
in discussions and seminars, and real life is still struggling
toward an ideal state. So is Entang, whose children are the fruit
of two cultures.
One must always seek to know the heart of the problem, only
then is it possible to find solutions, he says. Such is evident
in his installation entitled Sifting culture: Virtual still life.
Ten figures in larger-than-life size are hung in a row, hands
folded, and heads unnaturally small. Beneath every figure is a
basket, with pictures that he says represent each one's memory.
Melted candle tallow seep from various parts of the body,
indicating that the melting of two cultures or two persons for
that matter, does not take away the person's essential identity.
What happens is that such identity can be enriched.
In Behind Space, Entang indicates that the brushing of two
cultures is bound to give birth to a new culture. In a 3-meter x
4-meter x 3-meter house painted in pink, two figures facing each
other are hung in a prone position.
The floor in the obscure space is covered with rose petals,
both from the original as well as hybrid roses. After a few days,
the petals smell of decay. But in the next stage they will have
dried, filling the space with a wonderful scent.
Six huge installations and eleven large paintings are stirring
accounts of the emotions and inner eruptions that have colored
his passage through cultural collisions. It is Entang Wiharso's
11th solo exhibition.
Inter-Eruptions, a solo exhibition of paintings and installations
by Entang Wiharso at Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Jl. Palmerah Selatan
22, Central Jakarta, from April 8 through April 17, 2005