Hanura respond to present conditions in his works

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.