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.