Hardi recaptures the spirit of Soedjojono

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

For many, the name alone of Hardi may evoke a sense of discontent. For them, he is the troublemaker, the one who likes to go against the stream. For others, however, he is an artist who has taken a keen interest in life as it revolves or evolves for the less fortunate.

His 17th solo exhibition currently running until April 30 at Galeri Milenium, titled Kaum Urbanit, Cap Go Meh 2003, presents just a fraction of his all-encompassing interests and concerns.

A lot of reddish-orange hues fill his canvases, coloring the scenes of Chinese-Indonesians celebrating the freedom to profess their ancestral beliefs. Contesting the general view that the Chinese must be rich, he says he saw their living conditions in Chinatown. Many live in hardship, he says, admiring their perseverance not to give up, and to survive.

"But it is his black-and-white, sketch-like works that steal the show. Using Japanese ink, his brush seems to emanate an energy that generates the dynamic of his heartbeat. As he sympathizes with the lot of unemployed laborers and victims of the Bali bombings, he also notes women in their multiple roles, experiences and appearances. It seems he paints them as they are, realistic without beautification. But then, isn't beauty in the eye of the beholder? Apparently, for Hardi, it is the bare facts of life that matter most.

There is a painting, the ideal nude, with large breasts, strong arms, an image that may be perceived as contrary to the conventional mode. But then, there is also another image featuring a woman with soft facial features holding a big fish, which, he says, is to depict the role that women play at the fish market. Perhaps these are metaphors for all that women mean to the life of mankind.

"I see women as the stronghold of humanity," he says. "They are the pioneers and keepers of life."

So why all the violence against women, and the gender discrepancy in society?

"It's a matter of education," he says, noting that popular sinetron (Indonesian TV soap operas), powerful TV stations and women activists mostly focus on the elite. Becoming heated, he adds: "Why don't they get to the women in the grass roots, those who have to struggle daily against all odds to keep their families alive?"

Born in Blitar, East Java, in 1951 as Raden Soehardi Adimaryono, Hardi has never referred to his aristocratic ancestry. Neither has he ever made a point of his physical handicaps at hand and foot suffered by birth.

Starting as a youngster dreaming to be a Michelangelo one day, he spent some time in Bali before entering the art schools of AKSERA, Surabaya, and ASRI, Yogyakarta, and produced works in the abstract mode. But soon Hardi became an artist whose vision and comments "earned" him a place against the establishment. Thrown out of art school, he left for the Dutch Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht.

Following in the footsteps of Soedjojono, who urged his colleagues to paint the actual conditions and situation of Indonesian society to counter the ^YMooi Indie^Y style, Hardi also joined the New Art Movement, together with Jim Supangkat, Siti Adiyati, FX Harsono, Nyoman Nuarta, AD Pirous and many others, who pushed for art to disengage from the then prevailing conventions and sought to bring out their own identities.

As each then went their separate way, Hardi, whose 1975 silkscreen work representing himself as ^President Soehardi 2001 sent shock waves through the establishment, remained the "enfant terrible." His challenges to the mainstream, with social and politically laden canvases, as well as critical writing and talk shows, meant he suffered many restrictions to his already limited artistic freedom.

"He has never sought to place himself in an easy position,"reveals Tossin Himawan, an admirer who has followed the painter's development for over 25 years. Tossin Himawan, who opened the current exhibition, is particularly impressed by the artist's sensitivity and innovation and the way he manages to integrate social issues in affordable paintings that are rich in texture, movement and color.

Highlighting any theme that strikes a chord, his works follow his concerns and emotions as these take charge of his entire being. That there are intermezzos of quiet and reflection, and even of apparent closeness to some of the establishment he criticizes, must be seen in the light of the changing dynamics of life itself.

Meanwhile, it seems, Hardi, whom Seiichi Okawa profiled on Japanese TV in 1999, remains true to the spirit that keeps him promulgating truth and justice as he sees it. It surfaces in Sang Pejantan^, one of the most striking works in this exhibition, featuring a cock in a cocksure position -- alluding to strength, some coquettishness and the confidence to be victor.

Kaum Urbanit, Cap Go Meh 2003, Works by HARDI. April 2 to April 30, 2003. Galeri Milenium, Kompleks Pertokoan D'Best, Blok B23, Jl. RS Fatmawati 15, South Jakarta, Phone 7507828, 7703624