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.