'Mutant' fails to evolve further than cartoon

TOKYO (JP): Art was not the first thing that came to mind when people heard of an exhibition called The Mutation being held here. Thoughts turned instead to the artistic namesakes of Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo of the Mutant Turtle Ninjas! When informed it was an art show, many people assumed it was an Indonesian twist on the Japanese cartoon show.

The famed turtles may have no direct relationship with The Mutation: Painstaking Realism in Indonesian Contemporary Art. But art critic Jim Supangkat, the show's curator, believes foreign influence in the New Order is the main force behind the emergence, or reemergence, of the genre he terms "painstaking realism".

Supangkat explained recently that the exhibition was intended to show the genre can not be observed using the discourse of the American photo-realists.

The curator said painstaking realism emerged after Indonesia reopened its doors to the world in the late 1960s and early 1970s under the New Order. "After the abortive communist coup in 1965, the effects of globalization became evident, and the visual experience of Indonesian artist became extremely rich, stimulated by the emergence of advertisements, high-quality printing, and so forth," he said.

The idea of mutation, which Supangkat defines as "where a substance is transformed into another substance", is a curious one. Unfortunately, the exhibition fails to carry through in conveying it. The curator has not defined what the original substance is, or what is the mutant substance it has become.

He hinted at "Sudjojono realism" as the original substance, but did not elaborate sufficiently on this matter. Neither has this been clarified through the exhibition. More study is obviously needed.

The notion of painstaking realism is very much a technical one. According to Masahiro Ushiroshoji, curator of the Fukuoka Art Museum, Supangkat admits that painstaking realism "does not have a clear concept and is far from being a movement". The weakness of the curatorial concept is due to its emphasis on technique. The title fails to further explain the presence of a discourse beyond its meaning as an adjective of a technical process.

The works of the nine artists in the show differ in technique and style. As the notion of painstaking realism is a technical one, the placement of at least two of the artists in the category of seems questionable. Even some of the works of one artist may technically depart from the definition. The exhibition could have benefited from a more intensive selection process.

It is also questionable whether a discourse based on the use of similar techniques in painting can be established. It may face the same fate as American photo-realism, which Supangkat claims "did not last or due to the basic thinking being quite vague and its position like minimalism, being wedged in between the end of modernist development and the emergence of contemporary art".

One interesting point is that all the artists, with two exceptions, studied at either the Indonesian Art High School (Sesri) or the Indonesian Academy of Art (ASRI). This warrants further research to investigate whether a common discourse indeed exists, and whether a movement may emerge. (Amir Sidharta)