Fadjar Sidik resurrected in living color

Mehru Jaffer, Contributor, Jakarta

To look at the work of senior artist Fadjar Sidik is to be filled with sheer anticipation of the birth of a vibrant new experience in art -- for all the circles on his canvas, spiked as they are, emerge so gloriously above muddy horizons like sunshine itself.

In the series entitled Sangkala, his most recent paintings seem to signal that much awaited dawn of expression that is no longer a mere derivative of western art, or traditionally decorative.

Fadjar has at last discovered the sphere, the cylinder and the cone, the three forms on which the entire universe is said to rest. His work is no longer the mummified imitation of nature but attempts to capture all the sounds, smells and textures of his day to day life.

The absence of any clearly defined subject matter and the dominance of non-objective designs prove to be a liberating factor for the artist, and provide a visual experience to the viewer that tickles the imagination no end.

Yet there remains a long way to go. Dinamika Segitiga (Triangle Dynamic) from 1999 is still a doddering pyramid as multiple tiny triangles try to peak heavenwards under the patient gaze of the sun and the moon.

The dominant mood in the Kala-Kala series, completed last year, continues to reflect lingering insecurity as shapes, forms and colors are arranged in regimented symmetry. By the time Fadjar finishes Kala-Kala VI, a 60cm x 60cm oil on canvas and the last work in the same series, all that is obvious seems to gradually dissolve. Instead, a kind of spirit is seen shining bright and soaring with such spontaneous speed that it leaves the viewer gasping for breath.

There is much use of white and shades of gray here to create a stunning effect of light here and shade there.

Although the Sangkala series was finished earlier, in 2000, there is much more music to it than most canvases from the later Kala-Kala series where the artist seems to be still struggling to strum out the ultimate melody of his dreams.

Formasi (Formation) is the title of the third series and the one worthy of a long pause is the ninth canvas where form and formlessness come together in a way that provides much joy.

The circles, triangles and the journey to the moon perhaps commenced with Segitiga Kincir, where Fadjar takes all the shapes that have piled up in his psyche to make several wheels of many cones. Then he lines them up for a march toward the kingdom of the stars.

Menghadap Matahari (Facing the Sun) is yet another attempt to reach out, this time to the sun.

When Fadjar was old enough to start a career in the world of art the emerging trend was to move away from romantic and conventional ways of painting people and places. The freedom movement against colonial masters was gaining momentum and the paintbrush of artists was dipped deep in the colors of nationalism.

By the time Fadjar was born artists here had become increasingly conscious of their national identity. In the 1940s it was felt that art should not merely showcase technical skills but also express the aspirations of the nation. It was passionately felt that contemporary art should of course reflect the personal view of the artist but more importantly keep in mind the dreams of the nation.

Masters like Affandi, Hendra and Sudjono reflected in their art the political ideology popular at a time when the country was involved in a fight from colonial oppression to freedom and aspired to move from an agrarian society to an urban one. New economic and social relationships were being formed without wanting to bid a final goodbye to the past.

The country chose to give birth to modern painting in the lap of the nationalist movement in the hope of creating a new cultural identity. Two groups of painters flourished here, both using the triangle as a motif but for different reasons.

Painters like Sadali and Pirous used it as the traditional symbol of the mountain, a metaphor for spiritual aspirations. Fadjar preferred to portray a more realistic documentation of the gap between the few wealthy people at the apex of the triangle and the sprawling population of the poor at the base.

The intensely socially inspired art even thrived, until the military coup of 1965 when work like Fadjar's was forbidden. The circumstances shocked all like-minded painters and most of them remained intellectually pulverized for a long time to come. Part of the movement also branched out from spiritual and traditional to the very attractive but repetitive, imitative and extremely commercialized form of art.

It was painful to see the very raison d'etre of his art crumble before his eyes. But the irrepressible spirit of Fadjar soon wandered away in obvious search of new meanings and metaphors. After a period of artistic coma, Fadjar found his voice in countless little compositions that he painted in the colors rust, brown and black.

It seems like the work of a child at play in a nursery, who has painstakingly put together an imaginary world block by block. The paintings of this period sometimes seem like parts of motifs used in batik designs in Central Java and sometimes look like Chinese characters.

With the start of the new century, the work of Fadjar too is like a new beginning that is very exciting to behold. Unlike the realistic paintings of silence from years gone by, his canvas is now alive with the sights and sounds of life. And to celebrate Fadjar's brand new way of responding to the world, Joanes Sardjono of One Gallery has organized an exhibition of his paintings here.

"When I stand before the art of Fadjar I am filled with hope and happiness," says Sardjono, whose dream is to Share Hopes Through Art with fellow human beings.

The exhibition runs until Feb. 8, the day Fadjar turns 72 years of age. The One Gallery is on Jl. Panjang 46, Kebon Jeruk, Jakarta Barat. More information at 5321267 and 5321268.