Paintings of Jakarta displayed to mark the city's birthday
By Parvathi Nayar Narayan
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta di Kanvas Pelukis Jakarta (Jakarta on Canvas) exhibition brings together an eclectic collection of artists and paintings that express individual responses to the city of Jakarta.
"The theme is Jakarta because the exhibition is to celebrate the birthday of the city of Jakarta on June 22, when Jakarta becomes 469 years old," explained Ipong Purnama Sidhi, a curator of the show.
There is a long tradition of artists taking pride in painting their cities, creating a visual textbook that captures both the physical details and atmosphere of a metropolis. Often these paintings are displayed in the respective city's museum.
Jakarta's unique culture and colorful history have inspired many painters, beginning perhaps with the topographic painters of the 19th Century, like Ernest Hardouin and J.J. Cornelies Rappard. The tradition was followed by the Dutch Indies painters of the early 20th century, and then, as recently as a few years ago, by the painters of the Bengkel Pelukis Jakarta workshop.
The Association of Jakarta Painters, whose members include Abas Alibasyah and S. Sorentoro, is the most recent group to show paintings on Jakarta. The commercial exhibit, Jakarta di Kanvas Pelukis Jakarta, features 23 of the 60 members and their 80 paintings. The paintings range in price from Rp 2 million to Rp 25 million.
Among the more interesting paintings are the hyperrealistic works by Dede Eri Supria. His painting Waste evokes shades of trompe l'oiel, confusing the viewer into mistaking the painting for the actual object. From a distance, Waste looks like a collage of items from a dump -- an abandoned slipper, fruit peels, crushed newspaper. Closer inspection reveals it to be a carefully worked painting of a cardboard box opened to reveal the heaped rubbish.
In Trying to Grow, an architectural-type painting of an incomplete industrial site, Dede has painted his commentary on the growth of the city.
Amrus Natalsya's work, in contrast, is more naive. It has simple descriptive elements and child-like vision, but lacks a formal perspective. In paintings like Night Market Outside Jakarta, he typically carves out his subject on large wooden panels with irregular edges, and then paints the embossed images with acrylic paint. Amrus' works are dissimilar to Irsam's decorative and almost flat paintings, or the expansive waterfront scenes of IB Said, or Kidro's becak paintings. Kidro only paints pedicabs, drawing from his own life experience of cycling the now banned vehicle.
The wide range of styles and subjects are of equally diffuse standards and quality. The exhibition needs more questioning or challenging works, but the common theme, which reveals how divergent the works are, makes the show interesting. Different aspects of the diverse and complex city seem to have struck different chords in each artist. No two artistic interpretations are alike.
Jakarta di Kanvas Pelukis Jakarta was opened by Governor Surjadi Soedirdja last night. The exhibition is open to the public until June 23, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Bentara Budaya Jakarta on Jl. Palmerah Selatan No. 17 in Central Jakarta.