Modest Yogyakarta artist lets his works do the talking

By Ati Nurbaiti

JAKARTA (JP): Shouts and hugs accompanied the announcement of Yuswantoro Adi as the first Indonesian grand prize winner in the Philip Morris ASEAN Art Awards 1997 in Manila last week.

Back at the Jakarta office of the Indonesian Fine Arts Foundation (YSRI) -- an organizer of the event -- a staff member wrapped her scarf around Indonesian jury member Amir Siddharta as a makeshift celebratory garland. Hot meatballs, wonton and fruit were served, and photographs were taken in front of a hurriedly prepared foam board spelling out congratulations.

Yuswantoro, 31, was absent. At the airport, he and the four other Indonesian representatives had quietly gone their separate ways in search of airplane tickets to their hometowns.

"If this had been a sports event, there would be hundreds of people here," a member of the small Indonesian contingent to Manila said.

But the exuberant welcome when the group finally arrived at the YSRI office was sufficient.

Yuswantoro's Masterpieces of Indonesia, currently on display with the other finalists at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila until Sept. 30, was his first work to be shown outside the country. He has exhibited in Yogyakarta, Bali, Semarang, Surabaya and Jakarta.

The dropout from Yogyakarta's Indonesian Institute of Arts admitted he was still unnerved by the prospect of newfound fame.

Dressed in a silk batik shirt bought specially for the Manila trip, Yuswantoro was taken by surprise when he received the trophy and a check for US$10,000 from Philippine First Lady Amelita M. Ramos on Sept. 10.

Choked by emotion, he said the honor should "serve as encouragement to fellow painters and proof that painting is a respectable job".

His comment was a pointed reference to the struggle of many aspiring artists to get their just dues.

Artists may not be slaves to publicity, but the ebullient Yuswantoro said a prevalent disdainful attitude toward artists was troublesome for many reasons. "It's easy for painters to get girlfriends," he said. "But it's very difficult to get a mother- in-law."

At 25, Yuswantoro secured in-laws and an "understanding" wife. The couple now has a son Mohammad Bara Matahari, 4, who is fortunate to have his father working around the home.

"All I do is paint, watch TV and take care of my boy," the artist said.

Together with friends and neighbors, Bara appears as a figure in Masterpieces, an aerial view of boys and girls playing happily with a kite, Jakarta's National Monument, a traditional Sulawesi house, an airplane and a stupa, all wrapped in colorful banknotes.

Provocative

Judges praised the "provocative" work with its "many layers of interpretation". Although the painting dips into social criticism, Malaysian judge Redza Piyadasa said it reflected optimism through the portrayal of the future generation.

"I think the masterpieces are the children who will run our future, but I worry that all we are passing down to them is our materialism," he said.

But Yuswantoro's explanation -- children are easy to work with and make good subjects -- is simpler.

"They often play at my house and I take them to movies, or for rides at the fair. I wouldn't have an excuse to go swimming in the river. So I use them, and they use me."

Children bring humor to a painting, he says, "and humor is the best tool for communication".

He was equally pragmatic about his choice of the aerial perspective. "From a philosophical point of view, we are happier when looking downwards (on the less fortunate) than up -- that's tiring."

He acknowledged that the nine-member jury must have shown some subjectivity in selecting his work as they all appeared to discern the message of lives dominated by pursuit of money. He also suspected that the painting hit home amid the current monetary turbulence in Southeast Asia.

"We tend to go after money in everything we do," he said, adding that people could learn from the way the children are depicted toying with the money in the painting.

"I had to earn a living, my parents weren't paying for me anymore," the Semarang native said.

Painting full-time was a natural decision and the perfect outlet for his garrulous personality.

"I am so talkative... I want to say a lot about everything. But if I did abstracts, people wouldn't understand."

Even so interpretation is free. Amid those making intriguing interpretations about his piece, the painter said of the title: "Every great artist is supposed to have a masterpiece, so I made up my own."

"Very serious" periods in the studio -- four months in the case of Masterpieces -- are only interrupted by intense spells of watching soccer.

Love of the arts can be traced to his late mother, Sri Widayati, a winner of a traditional singing contest, and his father Achmad Yusron, an amateur stage actor.

His aim in the near future is to hold his own exhibition, funded by the sale of his paintings.

"I want to try without sponsors first. It just sounds more satisfying," he said.

Funding art events here is still far from easy. Corporations willing to providing sponsorship are often controversial. The Philip Morris group -- which sponsored both the national and regional contests -- has ties with the tobacco industry.

Yuswantoro does not profess to be a tortured idealist giving his all in the name of art.

"I commit myself to making the best painting possible," he said. I'm very serious in the studio because I know my life -- and my kitchen -- depends on it."