Painter Jeihan stays true to his signature style

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.