Rudi evokes the human spirit in pastels

Pavan Kapoor, Contributor, Jakarta

Rudi Mukahar's artwork is a reflection of the mind of a man with simple ideas, which he attempts to express in detailed perfection.

Even in appearance he looks intriguingly staid and straightforward in comparison to most of his counterparts and he could easily pass for someone working in a government office or some other streamlined organization.

Rudi Mukahar's exhibition, titled Evoking the Human Spirit, was opened at the Kupu Kupu gallery on March 7 by Warweck Porsar, a noted handicraft dealer from Yogyakarta.

All of Rudi's paintings on display are in pastel. One is instantaneously struck by his fascination for the precise and proportionate human figure, which he recreates in authentic detail.

Women, children and men from Bali predominate in gloriously colored batik attire and are brought out by the rich pastels on paper. The abundance of bare torsos also shows his mastery of coloring the many skin types of people of all ages. The shades of human skin range from fair and yellow to dark and sun-kissed, and from taut, shining skin to wrinkled, mottled complexions -- Rudi masters them all with his crayon strokes.

Young Balinese women collecting flowers awash in the golden sheen of young skin -- the tanned tight skin of a little boy in The Favorite (64 cm x 49 cm, 2001) as he holds up a colorful bird cage with a look of triumph in his boyish animated eyes. Then there is the muscular, taut skin of the Balinese and Javanese dancers in Horse Rider (100 cm x 70.5 cm, 2001) and The Baris Gede Dancers I (99 cm x 71 cm, 2001).

The old woman hunchbacked over her seemingly daily task of decorating the king's crown with fresh frangipani flowers in Nostalgia (54 cm x 71 cm, 2000) shows Rudi's adept hand at painting old, wrinkled skin, with pronounced veins. It is also perhaps the expressions that Rudi manages to capture along with the details of the human anatomy that give a special atmosphere to his paintings.

In Smile Of Achievement (74 cm x 54 cm, 2001), he paints a wrinkled man carrying an axe. His face is weathered by the many years he has worked in the wheat fields. Along with the picture, he also indulges in a little story behind the painting. "The painting was inspired by my father, who was a farmer. As a young boy, I, too, have worked in the fields and remember the feeling of achievement when the fields yielded the fruits of labor. And that is the inspiration behind this painting."

The veins on the smiling farmer's arms stand out perhaps as if the painter wants the onlooker to notice the toil and hard work that has gone into producing the golden fields of ripe wheat, which stretch out into the horizon behind him.

It is the omnipotent expression of the eyes that seem to follow one around. All the facial expressions are highly descriptive of the activity the figure seems to be indulging in.

The peaceful serenity of the young girl in Flower of Bali (69x48 cm, 2000) reaches out to the onlooker through her placid eyes and smiling mouth. Her simple bodice is hastily closed by a safety pin and her loose hair belies the simple and untouched beauty that exists among young Balinese girls. In a simple and natural pose, Rudi manages to capture the essence, the atmosphere of his subject very effectively.

Butterflies evoke a certain memory of something delicate yet wild, free and beautiful. It is perhaps only coincidental that a painter in love with the theme of incorporating colorful butterflies in his paintings at the drop of a hat should have his solo exhibition shown at a gallery named Kupu Kupu (butterflies).

Sometimes it seems as though destiny gets a little coquettish, naughty but nice. There are intricate and colorful butterflies in the sarongs of the men and women that adorn Rudi's art works. The cushion the lovely damsel in The Butterfly Maiden (37 cm x 27 cm, 2001) rests her exquisite head on is covered with a batik print of wild butterflies.

How is Rudi able to capture the atmosphere of his paintings so effectively? Upon closer inspection, it is the small things that he incorporates that enable him to do it. The flying tassels of The Garuda Dancer (93 cm x 73 cm, 1999) gives the feeling of the dancer's motions.

It could be the smoke from the incense sticks in Twilight (55 cm x 72 cm, 2001) or perhaps the translucent bodices of the five women in Dance For the Gods (72 cm x 92 cm, 2002). The use of correct colors and the position of small items in the background, which contribute to the whole image, are also important aspects of Rudi's magic.

For lovers of realistic and ornamental ethnic Indonesian art, Rudi Mukahar's Evoking the Human Spirit is the right place to spend a languid afternoon to allow the artist a chance to evoke, elevate and help us get in touch with our human spirit through his visually pleasing images.

The exhibition is at The Kupu Kupu gallery in Plaza Kebon Sirih at Jl. Kebon Sirih 17 - 19. The exhibition will run until March 23.