Green dominates Fortun's lush landscapes

Green dominates Fortun's lush landscapes

By Parvathi Nayar Narayan

JAKARTA (JP): It is practically impossible not to notice the
color green at the exhibition of paintings by Ignacio Fortun at
the Spanish Embassy.

In fact, as the dominant element in the pictures exhibited,
the greenness registers even before the subject matter itself -
essentially a record of the artist's first experiences and
impressions of Bali, a place entirely new to him.

Impressions were gathered even before setting foot in Bali, as
evidenced from the painting Flight 1101, Destination Bali, an
aerial view that includes the wing of the airplane.

Fortun paints in a very realistic style, applying the oil
paint thinly and on occasion allowing the canvas to show through
the smoothly worked brush strokes. The palette -- dominated by
green, blue-green, green-gray tones -- is also strong on shades
of these colors with few examples of pure, raw hues. No doubt
Fortun has always been a painter of landscapes in the realistic
style, but his palette of preference is muted, even somber.

Ralph J. Dosch, director of Collection DOBE and a consultant
to the project, remarked on the change in the artist's palette
and on the "... elaborateness of the green" on show. Kusamba is
one of the very few among the current paintings that echoes the
bleaker and perhaps more appealing colors of the artist's
previous work.

Thematically, and in terms of that sometimes misused word
message, there seems to be a shift to, or at least the emergence
of, a different point of view. Fortun has always wanted to draw
attention to man's despoiling of nature. In the past, he has
painted the ashes left in the wake of man's interactions with
nature and contrasted the barrenness of the deserts thus created
with the calm splendor of nature's deserts.

The current paintings show a more tranquil landscape with
fewer elements of aggression. This is not a change in his world
view, but probably a response to the lushness of Bali, a
sensation the artist himself likens to being close to paradise.

Storm over Scarecrow is the most skillfully executed painting
on show. The focus is a palm frond, at once fragile and
enigmatic, standing alone in a desolate landscape of hazy foliage
in the background, the curve of the rice fields in front and the
presence of rain throughout. The artist says that he saw this
lone palm leaf on of his numerous drives through Bali. He was
deeply touched by this everyday sight, and later put it down on
canvas in his studio. Somehow he was not satisfied with it as a
painting and so, as any sensible artist would do, left it alone.
Then one day while watching the rain he realized that that was
what the painting needed - for the fragile frond to be seen
pelted by the rain.

The artist is also successful where he picks a corner or small
detail as the main element in his painting, as in Offering in the
Street or Temple in the Street. The delicate painting of shadows
created by wickerwork or the color in the ritual offerings
scattered at a street corner, particularly, make for interesting
points of interest. However, in some of the paintings -- such as
Dawn of the World, a panoramic view that takes in Balinese rice
fields -- one senses a certain lack of tension.

In Storm Over Scarecrow there is a definite inner tension
created without visible signs of violent motion or overt drama.
Perhaps because some of the other paintings tend to be
descriptive rather than interpretative, it is as though the
entire story is painted; it is almost picture postcard like,
without depths waiting to be discovered. However, even if this
realistic style does not suit everyone's artistic fancy, it is
technically very well executed.

To appreciate the exhibition more fully it should be seen in
the context of the Ten of the Best - Spanish Contemporary
Painting, Jakarta 1995 - 1997 Series. Ignacio Fortun came to
Indonesia as the fifth artist in this program. The Ten of the
Best is a somewhat unusual project that was conceived by the
Embassy of Spain, and has been fueled in a large measure by the
enthusiasm and love of art of the Spanish Ambassador, Antonio
Sanchez Jara. The embassy sponsors ten artists, carefully chosen
as representative of the best in contemporary Spanish art, and
arranges for them to visit Indonesia. They come one at a time and
paint here usually for a period of one to three months. The
results of their work are displayed at the embassy's exhibition
hall.

The exhibitions, including the current one by Fortun, are
the most apparent and visible results of the ongoing series.
While some of the less tangible results will probably only reveal
themselves over time, it cannot be denied that cross-cultural and
artistic exchanges lead to a more comprehensive understanding of
different countries and their people.

I am reminded of a (non-arty) example that stretches this
supposition but is dramatic: A character in the approved sequels
to the Star Wars trilogy, who determines the strengths and
weaknesses of his adversaries by studying the works of art these
different galactic races have created! In all seriousness though,
multicultural artistic exchanges are usually successful in re-
energizing artistic outlooks and broadening horizons.

It would also be interesting to examine the effects that the
artist senses in his own work. Fortun says that while he
immensely enjoyed his experience of Indonesia -- or more
accurately, Bali -- it is hard to say how it will influence his
painting. But he too feels that one of the highlights was the
human contact. He recalls a particularly interesting exchange
with a young man at the markets in Bali.

Though there were practical problems in communicating -- the
absence of a common language -- they still managed to exchange
ideas about each other's country, people and culture. Who says
communication can only be through words?