Jendela artists open window to let in fresh air

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Amid the hustle and bustle of the realistic, surrealistic and the reign of the complicated in the art world today, five artists under the umbrella "Jendela" are showing that art need not be complicated to make an impact.

Simple and seemingly unpretentious, yet insistent like a cool breeze that penetrates a suffocating room, the exhibition of work by Handiwirman Saputra, Jumaldi Alfi, Rudi Mantofani, Yunizar and Yusra Martunus at Nadi Gallery here may signal a return to the basics of contemplation and concentration in art practice.

Jendela came into being in 1993, at a time when the above artists and Moh. Irfan -- who is absent from the current exhibition -- were students at the Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) in Yogyakarta.

Jumaldi Alfi and Yunizar studied painting, Rudi and Yusra sculpture, Handiwirman was into woodcraft while Irfan was involved in metal craft. Coming from the same region, West Sumatra, may have contributed to their grouping, which began as a felt need for mutual, often technical, support in becoming the artists they aspired to be.

Though never based on written statements or manifestos, their art distinctly differed from the social and political climate then coloring art in Yogyakarta.

While some may have denounced their art for its diversion of the dominating trend at the time, each has gradually succeeded in getting gallery holders and curators interested in their work. Although their joint exhibition is not meant as a statement, it is remarkable enough to draw the attention of a notable number of interested parties.

Handiwirman -- born in 1975 -- an artisan turned painter, whose inquisitive mind and explorative spirit led to his solo exhibition at the same gallery last year, continues his exploration on the impact of light on the surface.

But while he succeeded then to eliminate shadow as an effect of light, which he continued in two of the current works, he continues his explorations -- now doing precisely the opposite, with shadows filling the space as a foil to a tiny bunch of cotton in Seri Bidang dan Bayangan Kapuk III (Series of Shapes and Shadows from Cotton, acrylic on canvas, 140 centimeters by 200 cm).

Just as he used to "play" and open up objects as an artisan/craftsman, Handiwirman now plays with the cotton ball on canvas and light and shadow. That thoughts might penetrate his receptive mind in the process is a natural consequence.

The diptych Membayang (Imagining) could suggest a small white cloud within a huge apprehensive cloud filling almost all of the canvas, while the four panels (each 100 cm by 200 cm) of the series Benda dan Bayangan (Objects and Shadows) are just pure lyrical enjoyment. The series Kertas Lipat (Folded Paper) may be less imaginative, taking the appearance of an illustration to a book of paper-folding.

Jumaldi Alfi (1975), whose early works may be reminiscent of Jean-Michel Basquiat, has increasingly developed into a style of his own. While some remainders of text and symbols continue to be present in his canvases, the overall notion is that of meditation and contemplation.

He once revealed that he had been inspired by Khalil Gibran's spiritual energy. In this exhibition a big stone positioned against changing colors of six canvases, some with vague text, scratches or a cactus, indicates the same mood. The works are in mixed media; acrylic, charcoal, pencil on canvas of 155 cm by 145 cm.

The paintings by Rudi Mantofani (b. 1973) may suggest environmental preservation or the limitation of the human effort. But asking the artist about his intent only met with sincere surprise.

Yet, there is Hijau (Green), a green canvas, 145 cm by 145 cm, through which fine texture may remind one of wide sloping grass fields or a green forest mass, while small vertical lines along a horizontal line in the middle of the canvas may be the tree line at high altitudes.

Pagar Bumi (Natural Boundary, 145 cm by 145 cm), which places tiny trees against a light-blue background in two-thirds of the canvas, holds the same notion.

Ujung Pulau I and II (Extremity of the Islands, 145 cm by 145 cm) and Celah Lembah (145 cm by 145 cm) are like sculptured rocks on canvas evoking a sense of the remote and the lonesome. Known for his artistic precision in his esthetic three-dimensional works, Rudi applies the same meticulous finesse in his paintings.

Like his peers, Yunizar's (1971) art is marked by simplicity, but his exudes sophistication in the way he fills his canvases with fine lines to indicate mass, as in Lorong Kuning (Yellow Trail, 145 cm by 180 cm) and Besi (Iron, 145 cm by 180 cm) or fine texture to indicate the grains of earth like in Setelah Hujan (diptych 170 cm by 180cm), while the scratches through the mass of earth grains represent the wind in Angin dan Tanah (Wind and Land, 150 cm by 200 cm). A vision of the fertile grounds came after winds and rain showers had refreshed the earth.

Yusra Martunus (1973) who has been exploring the conventions of sculpture using unconventional materials like zinc, aluminum and the like, has now tried his hand at painting. Like his preference for softness in his practice of bending hard materials, Yusra's paintings here show the soft folds of pastel- colored material that reminds of curtains waiting to be neatly hung.

With his works titled Belum Ada Lukisan (Not a Painting Yet, 120 cm by 120 cm) implying the experimental stage he is in, his canvases evoke a sensitivity in the viewer that has inspired the artist.

Biasa/The Ordinary
An exhibition of paintings by
Handiwirman, Jumaldi Alfi, Rudi Mantofani, Yunizar,
Yusra Martunus
through Aug. 1 at Nadi Gallery
Jl. Kembang Indah III Blok G3
No. 4-5 Puri Indah, Jakarta 11610

tel. 5818129,
e-mail: info@nadigallery.com