Exhbits show artists' sympathy for Bali tragedy
Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta
Several galleries in Jakarta are holding painting exhibitions using the Bali tragedy as their main theme. They feature Balinese artists in a show of concern over the Oct. 12 bomb blast in Kuta, Bali.
The ongoing expositions are Kembalikan Baliku (Return my Bali) at the Apsari Gallery on Jl. Arteri, Pondok Indah and Contemporary in Traditional Breathing at the Hadiprana Gallery in Kemang, South Jakarta.
Numerous art exhibitions with the same theme have also taken place in Bali. For example Agung Rai Museum of Art (ARMA) in Ubud, Bali, has just finished its grand exhibition, Growing Inspiration.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), alongside its Marketing Conference 2002 in Jakarta, from Oct. 29 through Nov. 4, also held an art exhibition with Bali as its main theme.
While flaunting traditional and modern works on Bali by Balinese painters, the ASEAN secretariat's art show also featured notable pieces by other Indonesian and foreign artists to cover the traditions of Lombok, Java and Sumatra.
This is perhaps the artists' way of expressing deep concern over the misfortune befalling Bali, when powerful explosions rocked Kuta, killing and injuring hundreds of people. The culprits are still at large and Bali is deserted as foreign tourists keep away due to travel advisories issued by their countries.
At Hadiprana gallery's Breathing, lasting from Nov. 4 to Dec. 4, the struggle between truth and falsehood, compassion and hatred, virtue and evil figures prominently in the works on show.
In Bali's artistic tradition, the Barong, a four-legged mythological creature that symbolizes truth or virtue while Rangda, a hideous-faced witch, represents evil.
Painter I Made Hantaguna, 29, a graduate of Denpasar's Indonesian Arts College, in his pursuit of creativity has in recent years explored the character of the Barong as a language of expression, after investigating its masks and old rags. He has realized that whatever one achieves has to face the test of truth. And what he has done encourages fellow artists to remind themselves and others of the need to emphasize truth.
Seven of his 30 works present the Barong with a focus on the face: two bulging eyes, a rose-apple nose, complete with teeth and fangs ready to rip Rangda (not shown) to shreds. Amid the white acrylic fur spread or sprinkled over the canvas, was a black-and-white checkered pattern done as a collage and in brushstroke form, with diverse motifs of indigenous Balinese ornaments.
The Barong face he places in the upper right corner against a red backdrop creates an impression of passion, whereas the one in the upper left corner, dominated by white with a light brown accent, generates an atmosphere of peace. In Hantaguna's Barong Putih I (White Barong I), he puts a left foot to serve as its right hoof, which adds to its dynamic character.
In addition, this painter, whose works have been collected by Hadiprana since 1996, also displays his artistic versions of fish, countenance and abstract forms through mixed media. His brushstrokes, wide and firm amid conventional designs, imply harmony between modern strides and well-preserved traditions.
Along with the paintings are the sculptures of Syahrizal Zain from Yogyakarta. Born in West Sumatra in 1960, the sculptor, graduating from West Sumatra's Kayutaman arts college and Yogyakarta's Indonesian Arts Institute, presents stout figures of the Henry Moore type, skinny statuettes of the traditional domain and mother-and-child psychological images in various moods.
His 30 bronze works give an air of intimacy and their titles call to mind the virtuous sides of human life, such as Mother's Love, Sharing of Love and Menguak Fajar III (Welcoming the Dawn).
The artists seem to wish to convey the message that love and virtue should be combined amid the crisis of confidence among Indonesians, as this crisis is more painful than the bomb terrors in Kuta and elsewhere in Indonesia. And the Barong has to immediately overpower Rangda.