Hanura respond to present conditions in his works
By Aendra H. Medita
BANDUNG (JP): Princess Diana and Che Guevara, two public figures whose great influence in the world have made them persist in our memory. And then there is Hanura Hosea, an artist from Yogyakarta. Put them together in one frame: I Want to be Adored.
These two forceful figures have become dreams adored by their respective admirers. On the one hand, you have Princess Diana, adored by people from the lowest rung of the social ladder to the highest. On the other hand is a figure uniquely adored by the world's young people, Che Guevara, a doctor turned politician and a friend and foe of Fidel Castro.
Hanura has offered an artistic vision when he gives a large frame to these two icons in the context of his narrative dream.
We can see this in his exhibition, Kamar dan Jalan (Bedroom and Street), at Galeri Padi, Jl. Ir. Djuanda (Dago), Bandung, from April 4 through May 3.
The 32-year-old Hanura is a self-made artist and a geography graduate from Gadjah Mada University, who earned the 1997 Philip Morris Award.
Hanura is offering us a space of possibility different from those offered by other Indonesian artists.
He features an unusual tendency in the visual aspect of anatomy, shapes of a countenance which are never clear, as they only give a vision of bitterness, gripping horror and an anxious feeling for something. One may say he also gives expression to a case of terrifying oppression.
The exhibition is a display of contemporary fine arts; a response to the present conditions. According to noted Indonesian fine arts observer Jim Supangkat, the power of Hanura's work is the power of the present context. "He has presented his intellectuality in good proportion in his work," said Jim at the opening of the exhibition.
It is always likely that Hanura's pieces are the manifestation of responses to our present information industries or communications patterns. One example is his Kencing Laki-Laki (Male Urine). There is a feeling of acute irony in this work because here, he presents a woman lifting her gown high and relieving herself in a toilet intended for men.
The freedom of style that he wishes to present is not merely this because he also shows that this work, which comprises three pictures, implies the acuteness of a dynamic formula to enable one to get a grasp of a new discourse in a cosmopolitan life now being idolized.
"I create my work in line with the way the present circumstances are evolving," said Hanura. "Changes are taking place speedily. They are full of power, which I must respond to in my work." Power is not just information but also a way of looking at things.
Hanura powerfully builds shapes and gives his focus on each object to make it the most important part. A torso, or another anatomical element, is presented almost totally in a pattern which he has acquired from experiences he has collected as a contemporary artist. When creating, he clings steadfastly to responses to the present conditions.
Materially or technically, Hanura is no longer an ordinary artist because he has tried to tap the other power that fine arts can offer, particularly painting. In this exhibition, he displays seven pieces, all frameless.
One is intentionally left standing against the wall. Another power in his work lies in the lusterless monochrome appearance to feature the gloomy tendency of the present conditions. To Hanura, what he presents is the manifestation of the foundation of his works. It is a process that continues to be in contact with the fast-changing circumstances. It may be right.