Lontar Gallery revives tradition of artists dialog with exhibition

Lontar Gallery revives tradition of artists dialog with exhibition

By Chandra Johan

JAKARTA (JP): To the modern artist, dialogs are part and
parcel of the creation process. In Indonesia, this tradition
started in the 1950s during the S. Sudjono era and usually took
place at the artist's workshop.

The lost tradition has been revived by Satya Graha, Jerry T.
and Firman Lie in their joint exhibition titled "Catching
Surprise" at Lontar Gallery, Utan Kayu, that opened on April 23
and will run until May 14.

The three artists work in their respective studios, meeting to
exchange ideas outside their workshops, usually at the Lontar
coffee shop or at a food stall at Ismail Marzuki Cultural Park,
Central Jakarta.

Long before they held the joint exhibition, they had regular
encounters they call their Monday & Thursday Meetings, in which
they discussed their work with each other. Asikin Hasan, the
curator of Lontar Gallery, also attends the meetings.

"Lontar Gallery has organized such dialogs before," says
Asikin. "Results of these discussions were published in the Utan
Kayu Newsletter. What Jerry, Firman and Satya Graha are doing is
a continuity of what has been done by Lontar before."

Results of the three artists' dialogs are documented in a
small book titled Menangkap Ketakterdugaan (Catching Surprise),
which refers to the unexpected conclusions about art practices
reached during the discussions.

Satya Graha, Jerry and Firman seem to agree that works of art
cannot be separated from the artists' backgrounds. What people
see in the exhibitions is the result of a train of thought. But
the creative process and concerns of the artist, such as his/her
habits are not presented.

Knowing something of the artist's background is important to
help the public understand artwork.

In this exhibition the three artists present a range of works
using different media.

Satya Graha selects pencil as his medium, with a realistic
approach to his subject matter. Jerry uses mixed media to
interpret the image of Buddha, while Firman employs acrylic to
present -- not represent -- the idea of Buddhism.

Satya Graha completed his degree in sculpture at the Bandung
Institute of Technology's School of Fine Arts. The artist, who
also took part in Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru (the New Art Movement)
in 1977, pursued his studies in Germany in the 1980s. Upon his
return, Satya Graha did not make sculpture but turned to the
humble pencil.

In Satya Graha's hands the pencil is no longer a second-class
medium. However, his background as a sculptor strongly influences
his drawing method and the way he views the arts.

There were periods when he shifted between styles. Between
1981 and 1981, he focused on the human figure. He drew human
figures that were without backgrounds and identity. His works in
this period portrayed human beings as estranged figures, silent,
dark, cut loose from their social environment.

He was especially attracted by the bone structure and
delineating muscle forms, that he says have temporary
characteristics. He was also attracted by sculpture. In this
period, his themes often centered on the issue of death.

From 1981 onward, Satya Graha has diversified, although the
human figure still occupies his attention, and the trail of death
can still be seen in, for example, Kristus.

But Tari Kelana has nothing to do with death. On the contrary,
the image talks about life -- unlike images he created in
Kristus, Ikarus II or Studi Beckkett. This paradox, according to
Satya Graha, always exists in daily life.

He says he depicts death because there is life.

"I present black in order that the white appears, all those
parts are a way of thinking that I use", he said.

Jerry. T, a mixed media devotee, loves the Buddha image in his
works. The painter who graduated from IKJ in 1989 tries to unite
the symbol and spirit of Buddhism.

The spirit -- seen in his spontaneous line drawing with
brushstrokes -- and symbols -- like the form of Mandala and the
figure of Buddha -- bump into each other, on geometric yellow,
brown, gray and black color partitions.

On one surface he glued a piece of paper, on another surface
he drew a detailed object, and where needed, blocked in the
surface with another color. This is his approach in Mandala,
Mandala Budha and Budha Menangis.

Like Jerry, Firman Lie also tries to dig out aspects of
Buddhism in his works. Based on the spirit of Buddhism, Firman
tries to represent something, be it objects we recognize or icons
we don't recognize. In this exhibition Firman presents works from
two periods of his career.

In works from one period, he presents a pile of colors with
orderly and harmonic forms: Tanpa Judul (Without Title),
Kegembiraan (Joy). But in Evolusi Bentuk (Evolution of Form) and
Aksara (Character), he presents icons drawn from his
understanding of Buddhism.

By presenting his thoughts and experiences and displaying his
attention to process, Firman's works are abstract. At the highest
level, a true Buddhist might not be interested in what he sees,
but about what moves, the unseen, and that is what Firman seeks
to achieve with his latest work Keseimbangan ((Balance).

"This exhibition tries to free itself from big themes with a
return to smaller, more elementary matters," Asikin Hasan says.