Painter Barli celebrates everyday life
By Aendra H. Medita
JAKARTA (JP): Traders. Dancers. Nostalgia for life remembered in the village. Painter Barli Sasmitawinata has remained consistent in his choice of themes during his 66-year career.
At the age of 80 (he became an octogenarian on March 21) Barli, one of the country's most acclaimed artists, continues to paint the images around him. Some of his works are now on show in Barli, 80 Years, at Galeri Sriyanto in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, until Aug. 7.
His works are full of expressive realism, in which the strong lines are not only full of esthetic qualities, but also play with colors (turquoise and other variants of purple predominate) on the canvas. Those he paints or draws in charcoal are not mere objects, to be seen and observed and scrutinized, but are invested with their own particular dignity, be they a vendor selling a sweet treat to passersby or an elderly woman carrying a small child.
The son of a nobleman turned trader, Barli was brought up in the surroundings of a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Bandung. He was accomplished in the Sundanese arts of his native West Java, including theater and music, but turned his attention to painting at the age of 15. In his teens, he studied with the Dutch painter Jos Plumentz and Italian artist Luigi Bobili.
During the Japanese occupation in World War II, he was appointed to head the arts organization for Bandung. Later, during the struggle against the returning colonial forces, Barli joined with Sudjana Kerton, Hendra Gunawan and others as war painters. He was assigned by then Col. A.H. Nasution to design the emblem for the Siliwangi Military Command, which is still in use today.
In 1948 he founded Jiva Mukti fine arts education with its headquarters at the Cultural Center Foundation Building; he also continued his art education in Paris and Amsterdam during the 1950s.
He also taught at Bandung Technical University, now the School of Fine Arts at the Bandung Institute of Technology, but did not stay long due to a difference of opinion with the school's director, Ries Mulder. The latter believed that an understanding of realism did not need to be included in formal teaching for students, but Barli disagreed, considering it important for artists to gain a complete understanding of that which they took for granted around them.
The artist then went it alone in teaching, at his home-cum- studio Rangga Gempol. He continues to teach today, but now in the larger space of the Barli Museum on the road to Lembang in Bandung. He has taught such fine artists as Anton Huang, Popo Iskandar, Rudi Pranajaya and Chusin.
Color
Use of bright colors predominates in the works featured in the exhibition, all of which are from the period 1998 to 2001. But the strength and power of the colors is balanced by the distinctive lines and shading of the artist, especially in his black-and-white charcoal drawings.
This is evident in his works such as Menggendong Anak (Carrying the Baby), Mengambil Air (Fetching Water) and Menggendong Kendi (Carrying a Jug), delineated by firm lines, the mark of a master artist.
In his color paintings, including Bobotoh I and Bobotoh II of a man holding a fighting cock, Membatik (Batik Printing) and several nude studies, the brilliance of the hues used are defined precisely by Barli's expert command of lines.
What sets him apart from other artist is his exploration of themes and the making of the everyday take on a new meaning, seen in Pengamen (Busker), Di Pasar (In the Market) and Tukang Cendol (The Cendol Seller), among many others.
Collectively, the works show that this painter's qualities have not diminished over the years or through a recent bout of ill health, but have strengthened with the maturity of his years.
Galeri Sriyanto is open from 10 a.m. to 6 a.m. from Monday to Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. It is located at Jl. Gedung Hijau Raya 36, Pondok Indah, South Jakarta.