Painter Jeihan stays true to his signature style

Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta

Against a brown backdrop, a fair-skinned, full-breasted women in black hugs her child. She seems disturbed. From behind her pupils, which look like two black grains of rice, there is a look of depression. The feeling affects the child, as shown in tension in the kid's eyes.

The painting, titled Mother and Child, is the work of none other than famous artist Jeihan, who is exhibiting 24 of his works at Galeri Santi -- which is now under new management -- alongside 25 works by artist Hidajat LPD.

The exhibition is appropriately titled, Two Travelers, since the two artists are close friends. The two are related not only for the love for fine art but also because they share a common interest in other realms of art, like theater and literature, not to mention philosophy. History notes that they, along with some other revolutionary artists, once held the so-called Court of Poetry in the 1970s, an activity that caused quite a stir in the literary world.

Both 64-year-old Jeihan, who now lives in Bandung, and Hidajat, who was born in Jakarta in 1943, make human beings the center of their creative processes.

However, Jeihan prefers to present human figures alone or in twos (like a mother and her child) or three figures at most. These figures are presented in a sitting, lying or standing position in a motionless, or a tableau, state. Once in a while he provides a certain symbol to signify certain meaning or context, for example, the veil in the painting titled Nuriah (without Abdurrahman Wahid) as the image of a Muslim woman, or a protruding bra in Nin as the image of exoticism or eroticism.

In terms of figures for his paintings, Jeihan has, until now, shown his tendency to divide the main space into two. He then fills the two backgrounds with contrasting colors (dark blue- yellow, green-brown or red-blue). Only a few of his paintings have a single-color background. Jeihan moves his brush in a staccato manner with the sweep responding to a gesture figure.

The presence of these paintings of figures may be taken as one confronts short poems, or the Japanese haiku. Like poetry, these paintings can be interpreted many ways. When the eyes are just two hollow spaces, there is mystery there. A combination of poetry and mystery make his paintings an endless source of discussion.

Like poems, Jeihan's "poetry paintings" have recently often lost their charm, compared with his own works in his golden period (1970s - 1980s). All this change must be a natural process. As one gets older, one becomes established and engrossed in one's own passion, forgetting any need to make a breakthrough.

While Jeihan's paintings may be likened to poetry, Hidajat's works are comparable with short stories. In other words, the element of narration becomes an important part of his creative process, rather than visual aspects of his personality. In this context, it is no surprise to find him earn a citation from the German government for his painting called Ballad of German Unity, a work created to celebrate the unity of East and West Germany.

To reinforce his "short story paintings", Hidajat, who spent his childhood in Garut and his adulthood in Bandung, West Java, usually makes use as his references various major social and political events in Indonesia and abroad. He also uses symbols taken from tradition, like from leather puppet shows, masks or ronggeng dances. Hidajat's narration is stronger when he uses an impression approach rather than a realist approach, which leans heavily on anatomy.

One of his paintings, Ronggeng Banten, which is dominated by gloomy colors and the play of yellowish light, can visualize the world of performance, in which the actor has charmed the audience, all crowded either sitting or standing. Looking at this painting, one will feel as if looking at Indonesia today, in which the community is "agape", puzzled by the games played by the elite on the political stage.

While Jeihan is powerful when presenting his single objects with hollow eyes, Hidajat, on the other hand, has his power when presenting a crowd. These two friends, in their own way, have long filled their canvases with human figures and problems.

The exhibition runs until Oct. 4, 2002 at Galeri Santi, Jl. Benda No. 4, Kemang, South Jakarta.