Entang Wiharso's angry and demonic faces

Entang Wiharso's angry and demonic faces

By Ipong Purnama Sidhi

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian contemporary fine arts has been
marked by two significant factors -- the shifting of thematic
issues and globalization.

Most contemporary artists tend to exploit themes on social
political issues, multi-culture, gender and oppressive situations
in their works.

The trend, to some extent, has been triggered by the annual
arts competition organized jointly by the Indonesian Fine Arts
Foundation (YSRI) and American Tobacco Giant Phillip Morris since
l994.

Winners of this art competition have usually focused on the
current Indonesian social and political situation. There was
concern that this trend would lead to a uniformity of theme.

The second important factor is the wide opportunity for young
artists to interact with their foreign counterparts and to
participate in various international art events and activities.

Many of their works have been warmly accepted by international
art curators and the market as well. One of these young artists
is Entang Wiharso, who was born in August 1967 at Tegal, Central
Java.

The diminutive Entang is well known for his gigantic and
monumental art works. He is one of the Indonesian artists who
have a strong foothold in the international art stage. Currently,
he has an art studio in Rhode Island in the United States.

"It was indeed very difficult to penetrate American art
circles," recalled Entang, during the opening of his solo
exhibition at Galeri Nasional Indonesia, the National Gallery, a
few days ago.

Entang told of a discouraging experience when he first
exhibited his works at a gallery in Providence, Rhode Island.

Only a very few visitors praised his works, while the others
blamed and mocked him for their absurdity. A member of a local
school board openly protested against the artist's works, saying
they were too vulgar and offensive.

Entang's works, depicting sorrow, anger, suppression, horror,
sadism, were considered to have tarnished the school's purity and
'clean' image. After a clear explanation of the paintings'
message and Entang's creativity, the protester was able to accept
it and even became one of Entang's fans.

Now Entang has returned home and is holding a solo exhibition
entitled Nusa Amuk (The land's run amok). The exhibition will
continue at Yogyakarta's Purna Budaya and Bentara Budaya
Galleries from 30 June to 7 July, 2001. His last exhibition will
be held at Circle Point Art Space in September, 2001.

This time, Entang will release a 208-page book titled Nusa
Amuk that includes his best works, selected by curators Jim
Supangkat and Suwarno Wisetrotomo.

When entering Galeri Nasional, visitors are welcomed by 12
statues of men with blank faces. These installation works
entitled Membebek (Yes Men), 2001, made of resin, wood, cables,
wax, oil and other art media, portray opportunistic people who
are now holding important and powerful positions in the
Indonesian political map.

This Membebek work is an additional work to his other
installation called 'Kulahirkan untuk tidak menjadi membebek' (I
give birth to you for not becoming a yes man), which displays 12
naked female figures encircling a frying pan on a big stove. In
the frying pan, Entang has put batik wax to fry some garments.
The frying scene of 'surjan' (a kind of long Javanese sleeved
coat) by Entang and his four fellows became an attractive
performing art work to open his exhibition.

In Kulahirkan, Entang creates 12 women with weird and dreadful
faces with red big eyes having a menacing look symbolizing
defect, lameness and imbalance. Each woman holds a duck egg
wrapped in light fiber resin and lit with a 5 watt lamp like that
in an incubator.

In the stomach of each woman is a frozen placenta which is
believed by Javanese tradition to be the baby's twin
brother/sister. After childbirth the placenta is buried
respectfully like burying a dead person. This work depicts an
expectation that the baby born should not become a yes man.

The dimensions of Entang's paintings are immense, especially
that titled Landscaping My Brain, 2000, which is composed of 7
panels measuring 200 cm x 1050 cm. This work requires big ideas
and enormous energy. In this work Entang didn't make a "short
story" but a long "novel of many volumes".

Entang's painting themes are divided into 3 periods i.e The
New God Series from 1998 to 2000 focusing on consumerism,
commercialism, power, wealth, beauty and popularity.

His second series, known as Melting Souls comprises works from
1999 to 2001. The works explore and examine the atrophy of the
human spirit. With his works he tries to challenge perceptions on
spiritual nature, confrontation, violence and personal
accountability.

The third series is called Community Storage, created between
2000 and 2001, as a warehouse concept that provides personal
places for meeting and the creation of norms.

In Nusa Amuk, Entang wanted to introduce the audience to the
real social and political changes and complicated problems we are
facing.

Entang has persistently maintained his energy and
working spirit by continually focusing on the spiritual values he
has chosen.