Italian painter searches for self-expression

Mehru Jaffer, Contributor, Jakarta

Pupillo, 41, a contemporary Italian painter is a very brave man. He dares to shop for a piece of canvas with a ready made acrylic background and brings it back to his studio to decorate its center with just a stroke or two of hesitatingly drawn lines.

He mounts this canvas on a frame measuring 120cm by 100cm, slaps a title on it that reads Amo (Love) or Arpa (Harp) and like a bolt of thunder he is ready to exhibit!

The quandary for most lovers of art remains as to how they should react to contemporary art that is so instinctive and so subjective? Perhaps the first lesson lies in tutoring the self to forget all previous definitions of art. To be able to comprehend conceptual art and to begin to understand it even a little the viewer must see it each time with a virgin mind.

For all preconceived notions about what art should be only act as a hindrance to fully appreciate the creative modern mind. To be narrow-minded is to create terrible barriers between all creativity and oneself.

The right of the viewer remains to dislike whatever comes across as unpleasant but to dismiss it all is to lose out on much of the reality of the day.

Pupillo's art was discovered by Alessandro Merola, Italy's ambassador here, around the eve of the new century. Merola saw the work as part of an exhibition of several painters that was being held in Rome.

From among the many exhibits, it was Pupillo's work that stood out in the eyes of Merola. Ever since that time Merola has wanted to share Pupillo with art lovers here.

What makes Merola happiest is to keep Indonesians informed of what is happening in contemporary Italy.

According to Merola, the work of Pupillo is quite unique. He finds it very significant and different.

"This art is like a synthesis of a synthesis," he says referring to Pupillo's habit of taking a background or a symbol that is already a whole to give it an entirely new identity. Pupillo also seems to be in the midst of an exciting process and struggling to create a new language of symbols and signs.

There is something oriental in Pupillo's search for symbols instead of figures to express himself. What is charming too is the way the artist chooses a surface with a certain, very definitive texture to evoke a feeling of continuity and then disturbs the very harmony created by him with another kind of energy.

The effect is somewhat similar to a blood red, steady trickle of lava that has suddenly burst forth upon the cool freshness of a lush green landscape quite out of the blue.

To visit the elegantly renovated Italian Cultural Institute for Pupillo's exhibition is to also get a chance to discuss the pleasures and peculiarities of creative art against the background of the whir of espresso machines churning out endless cups of coffee at the newly opened Il Posto (The Place).

Till a few weeks ago the coffee shop was just another open terrace with some umbrellas. Instant coffee was consumed here in the blistering heat of the sun above and pollution from the fumes of traffic on the street below. The terrace is crowned with a glass roof now and there is a seating capacity for 30 people in air-conditioned comfort. To make the atmosphere even more attractive, Merola is using the walls of the coffee shop to display the works of young contemporary artists from Indonesia.

These days it is the gigantic but colorful works of Shawnee Puti that are can be admired here and which provide a surplus contrast to the minimalist art of Pupillo exhibited in the main hall on the ground floor. It was difficult to keep the eye away from looking at the canvas titled A and I by Shawnee.

The dimpled cheeked Monica Tian who is running Il Posto is already serving salads and small eats along with coffee but promises a more sumptuous fare on the plate in days to come.

Il Posto is a welcome break from the heat and dust of the streets of Jakarta where the Italians tempt with an endless menu of art and culture only to introduce to the locals also the advances made in modern Italy in science and technology.

Pupillo's art is on display at the Italian Cultural Institute, Jalan HOS Cokroaminoto 117, Central Jakarta until March 15. More information is available at tel: 3927531.