Paintings of Jakarta displayed to mark the city's birthday

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.