Kho dips his brush in the cultural melting pot
P.J. Leo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The use of various figures, symbols, colors and materials in the works of painter Antonius Kho show that he has been influenced by a variety of cultural genres. Art lovers are required to fully use their senses to appreciate his works.
His use of lines and circular shapes, along with certain colors and materials, form the basic elements of the artist's paintings.
After successfully staging his solo exhibition titled Sosok dan Perubahan (Figures and Changes) at 678 Gallery in South Jakarta, Kho moved his show to the German Center Indonesia in Bumi Serpong Damai, Tangerang, from Nov. 17 to Nov. 30, under the German title Figur und Wandlung.
The exhibition -- which was opened by the center's director, John Sautter -- has been promoted by the center to present attractive artworks that display elements of Indonesia and Europe, particularly Germany, to German citizens in Jakarta.
Born in Klaten, Central Java, in 1958, Kho's works are dominated by acrylic colors and collage. When using collage, Kho not only uses a paintbrush but also does some cutting and sticking, combining Indonesian and European artistic elements. Most of the works in this exhibition clearly show his interest in combining a variety of different materials, which requires special expertise and perseverance not commonly found among painters in general.
Kho learned about art from his first teacher, Barli, in 1977, who also introduced him to modern European art. Owing to his roots and intimate relationship, since birth, with the Javanese environment, Kho learned traditional handicrafts and batik in Yogyakarta before going to Bandung to pursue further studies in fine arts.
In 1985 he left for Germany to study painting at the Fachhochshule in Cologne. Later he became interested in the relationship between the Indonesian and European schools of painting and developed his penchant for collage and the use of acrylic colors.
Kho was engaged in one experiment after another using various materials and combined them in his works. He has used gunny cloth, fine batik ornaments and pulp, and also mixed them to form different kinds of surfaces, which are both visually attractive and sensuous to touch.
The works that are on display testify to the quality of these works, though it is also true to say that human figures or parts of the body are not clearly depicted.
His Erotik (Erotic) illustrates a woman's body without giving the impression that she is dressed, but stops short of suggesting sexual desire and instead offers the beauty of procreation. When we follow the movement of the lines or the areas of color of this figure of a naked woman, other impressions emerge to abort our previous thoughts or blur the movement of the picture's lines.
Kho does not destroy, split or cut up the figure of a body or parts of a body on his canvas. He arranges the pieces that he has discovered into a shape with a new meaning. This is a feature shared by all his paintings.
A good example in this respect is Crown V, in which a round face with two eyes and a nose are depicted in a normal position while the mouth is covered by a new face of a different size and a number of cross-cutting lines.
As a painter using collage and acrylic colors, Kho has won a number of awards from several countries. In 1989 he won first prize at the Malen auf Liegestuhlen competition, Fachhochschule Art Design Olivandenhof, Collage.
In 1990 he also won first prize at Art addiction Annual in Venice. Eight years later he won the Gold Masks - Diploma of Excellence at Palazzo Correr in Venice, Italy. In 1999/2000 he was nominated in the First International Drawing Competition, in Wroclaw, Poland, and in 2000 he was again nominated in the fifth Sapporo International Print Biennale Exhibition at Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan.