Putu's works confined to Bali culture

Putu's works confined to Bali culture

By Ahmad Solikhan.

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Balinese artist Putu Sutawijaya proves that
pebbles too can make beautiful music.

The demonstration of this unusual fact was given by 25
students of the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) in Yogyakarta.
Sitting cross-legged and bare chested, the students stroked and
shook the pebbles they held in both hands, producing musical
sounds to the accompaniment of a Balinese dance.

A man, his body draped in white cloth, danced in front of the
seated ensemble. He gracefully swayed his head and vigorously
moved his fingers, his round eyes opened wide and darting to and
fro as if frantically searching for the meaning of life.

The performance marked the opening of 28-year-old Putu
Sutawijaya's solo exhibition titled Tidak Membumi -- Tutur Kata
dan Perilaku Tak Sinkron (Not Down to Earth -- Statements Don't
Correspond to Action).

The exhibition, which runs from Oct. 19 to Oct. 27 at the
Indonesian-French Cultural Center, features mask paintings and
installation works.

In his latest work, Sutawijaya, who hails from Angseri,
Tabanan, is no longer talking to otherworldly spirits. Now, the
artist is using his art to voice his opinion on sociopolitical
realities. And his view is that people do not do what they say.

The exhibition features 18 mask paintings. In a 30-centimeter
by 70-centimeter work titled uh...uph...uh...uph..., the artist
presents human faces which nominally are experiencing different
feelings, except they all have blank glares. The masks' facial
expressions do not reflect their true feelings.

The artist's installation works hang powerless, depicting
people in search of greater freedom and democracy. Statues' feet
do not touch the ground. There is no blood stains, where there
are wounds. What there is, is deep compassion.

A 100-centimeter tall statue titled Tidak Membumi, 1999 shows
a handing figure with outspread arms. The figure's head is bowed
and its hair falls down to cover its face. The work speaks of
people who cover up lies.

All 30 pieces on display are sexless. Sutawijaya, an ISI
graduate, said he wanted to avoid the kind of gender controversy
which has occurred on the political stage of late. Some
Machiavellian politicians have exploited the gender issue for
their personal gain, he said.

Sutawijaya, who was honored by the Indonesian Arts Foundation,
said his latest work was inspired by the political games in
Indonesia. Many self-styled politicians love making promises
they cannot fulfill, he said.

His latest works lampoon the country's political realities
over the past two months: lots of promises that politicians are
unable to honor.

Sutawijaya's works are all expressionistic, stressing texture,
simple colors and detailed lines. They can "talk" to viewers
without much explanation from the artist. This differs from his
surrealistic works of the past, which have been bought by art
collectors in Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Bali and a number of foreign
countries.

Art observers agree that Sutawijaya is a rising talent. The
Balinese culture is the dominant color of his work, although he
did not grow up on the tourist island.