Exhibition points up artistic concerns of 1970s

By Chandra Johan

JAKARTA (JP) Add the Jakarta Art Council to the list of cultural institutions getting back into the swing of the 1970s.

It is featuring works of nine prominent painters from that decade in an exhibition at the Cipta II Gallery of Taman Ismail Marzuki, Central Jakarta, through Sunday.

Sulebar Soekarman, one of the painters, said the group was selected to point up differences between them and their predecessors.

The other painters are Astari Rasjid, Dan Hisman Kartakusumah, Hardi, Mustika, Sudaryono S, Sukamto, Sulebar Soekarman, Sri Warso Wahono and Syahnagra Ismail.

"We belong to quite a mediocre generation of painters, compared to painters of the previous generation like Abbas Alibasjah, Otto Djaja and Marakarma," Sulebar said.

Each of the artists is exhibiting about five of their works, examples of oil paint, acrylic, graphic arts or drawing.

Astari Rasjid, the only female painter in the group, is noteworthy because she does follow other artists of her gender in a focus on the melancholic or through heightening aesthetic sensations by exploiting pictorial aspects. Astari's works instead explore the subtle problem of traditional values, as shown in her Resurrected Core and Prolonged Exposure.

"Beauty for me is not solely to be visually enjoyed, but it is hopefully able to touch the feelings of people about surrounding nature," she said.

A painter may depict beautiful dancers or lush panoramas, but this does not mean that they have no interest in social issues. Hardi is one example in his Penari dan Bodor (Dancer and Bodor) and ASEAN Children Calling.

Penari dan Bodor is a venture into parody, with a Lippo logo adorning the dancer's clothes and a Cipta insignia on the clown's garb. This trenchant commentary on big business is still milder than ASEAN Children Calling. Hardi used a collage technique to show a poor child holding up a pair of scales amid used goods, an obvious metaphor for the issue of justice in this country.

We can also find the collage technique in Sulebar's work and Sukamto's collage-graphic. Through torn pieces of paper and shards of a mirror, Sulebar tries to combine concrete forms and imaginary reality in his series of three works Oleh-oleh dari Belanda I (Souvenir from the Netherlands I), Oleh-oleh dari Belanda II and Oleh-oleh dari Belanda III.

Sukamto has a simple yet excellently finished woodcut graphic technique combined with torn pieces of paper, something that is rarely done by contemporary artists.

Almost black and white through sparse use of color, Sukamto's works Ojek Sepeda and Bulan reveal strong academic integrity.

Sri Warso Wahono's works are marked by a dab technique and thick texture. This painter explored two different subjects with an almost identical technique. His works Tiduran di Sofa (Sleeping at Sofa), Monumen Ikan (Fish Monument) and Ikan Perkasa (Giant Fish) evince Sri Warso's skill in processing archaic or delicate colors.

In his Ikan Perkasa and Monumen Ikan our view is tethered on the meditation of fossils and artifacts. Due to the superimposed texture and paint, the image of being ancient in Sri's paintings is increasingly felt.

Artists consistent with their established style are Mustika and Syahnagra. Mustika renders figures and scenery in a decorative style. His main concern through soft lines and pastel colors is stories from the village, as in Banjir Kanal (Flood Canal) and Tiga Wanita Desa (Three Country Women).

Syahnagra impresses with four paintings and two drawings, including Perahu dan Bulan (Boat and Moon) and Borobudur dan Bulan (Borobudur and Moon). Fine details are not important to him; pride of place goes to impressions created through brushwork and movements.

Dan Hisman's collage paintings include Tradisi Dalam Kemasan (Tradition in Packaging). A masked woman appears almost non- human, seemingly made from metal. Human existence in most of his works resembles the rigidity of a statue.

No less attractive are Sudaryono's abstract works. In his Abstract I, Abstract II and Abstract III, titles seem less important, keeping in mind that his works guide us to imagine a particular creature. Most of Sudaryono's works show that he is an orderly and neat painter, with intuitive strength.