Karya untuk Kawan, an exhibition of many flavors

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

At a time of bleakness and a never-ending need for donations, an art exhibition at the National Gallery comes as a cool breeze that soothes the senses.

Held by the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) to benefit some fifty Women Crisis Centers in the country, the charity exhibition brings together both compassion and high-quality art.

Putting an accent on the quality of the exhibition are the works of senior sculptors like Dolorosa Sinaga, Iriantine Karnaya, Teguh Ostenrik, Yani Mariani, who are all widely known in the art world.

There are also works by graphic artist/painter Tris Neddy Santo and FX Harsono, whose graphic art and installations are born out personal experience and linked to social and political discontent.

Works by celebrated surrealist painter Ivan Sagito, Marintan Sirait with her fascinating drawings, painter Magdalena Pardede who experiments with photography, well-known photographer Firman Ichsan who is also a painter of urban life styles, ceramicist Lydia Poetri are also on display.

Artist Andar Manik, Titis Jabarudin with her soft pastel on paper featuring the hardships of Iraqi women, and Wara Anindiyah whose eerie paintings of Chinese faces have now taken a softer look, are also featured.

The young and upcoming artists also have their say like Renjani Damais, whose sculptures testify to personal depth, Ade Artie, whose works are increasingly fetching recognition in art auctions in the country; and Awan Simatupang and Taufan AP whose works bring together social concern and innovative thought.

An interesting feature is also the presence of works by Farida Srihadi who has been absent for a very long time, Ratmini Soedjatmoko, who initiated exhibitions of wives with artistic inclinations in Group Sembilan, and Nani Sakri, a onetime icon in the fashion world-turned artist.

The works by expatriate artists, mostly sculptors, like Jeannette Bijlmer, Birgit Ulrike Hau, Margriet Bos, Rhona Polonsky, Lexy Anderson, and Nienke Attema add special flavor to the exhibition.

The most eye-catching works made with professional skill and a good sense of the imaginative, include those by Ice Mogi Tol, a seasoned graphic art and oil painting artist, who manages to bring a woman's focus without sticking to the suffering, by bringing out the features of a goddess that is within every woman.

In My Power, a painting in acrylic with gold prada layers, measuring 195 cm x 95 cm, the artist hints at her Indonesian roots; the liberation of her fellow women is indicated by the finely painted batik sarong being spread wide instead of the usual way of wearing it as a tight skirt.

The body and face painted in gold prada, accentuated by a sort of aura, seem to rise out of such consideration. The same theme is found in her painting My head flies, in which a woman transcends her devastation.

There is also Sasha Tranggono, whose watercolor flowers are one of a kind. While her work, Remember me this way, 80 cm x 113 cm, watercolor on paper, is a delicate piece of atmospheric still life, her watercolor hibiscus on canvas (the first of its kind), measuring 120 cm x 100 cm and titled Spirit of the Moment is uniquely expressive and reverberates with depth and passion.

A fine piece of work is also presented by Aditya Tobing. Suara2 Cello di Mercusuar yang Mati, watercolor and ball point (72 cm x 52 cm), featuring realistically drawn cellos against a surreal landscape under a somber sky.

Very close to our concern is the Tsunami painting by RW Moeljadi. Measuring 125 cm x 175cm, the painting recalls the giant wave that hit Aceh and North Sumatra.

The painting features the wave in all its devastation, sweeping away men, women and children, and remaining as a huge load carried by man, who holds a handkerchief in the colors of Indonesia's national flag, as if to indicate that his burden is the country's. In addition, Moeljadi's engravings in mezzotint are unique.

Not every participant can be referred to or described, but the above is meant as an illustration that there is ample choice and good quality that would make anyone's charity gift worthwhile in the collector's understanding.

With cases of violence against women rising from 3,160 in 2001 to 14,020 today, the money spent in purchasing a work at this exhibition, will be well spent.

Karya untuk Kawan A charity exhibition of visual arts Through March 22, 2005 National Gallery Jakarta