Russian painters create Indonesian canvas

Russian painters create Indonesian canvas

Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta

Scorching sunshine, beautiful, tropical panoramas and Indonesia's
cultural diversity are all things of great interest to Russian
artists.

Understandably, when some Russian artists took part in an
exhibition of Russian paintings held at Borobudur Hotel in
conjunction with the 55th anniversary of Indonesia's independence
in 2000, they took this opportunity to explore areas in Java,
Madura, Bali and Kalimantan, where they painted or made
spontaneous drawings.

Two years later, a different group of Russian artists traveled
to Sumatra for the same purpose.

Currently, their paintings of Indonesia are being displayed at
the Indonesian National Gallery. Also exhibited are some
paintings exploring objects from Russia and some other countries.
As many as 24 Russian artists are taking part in this event.

Over 150 paintings, in various media, styles and sizes by the
Russian artists, are on display.

These artists obviously have mastered realist painting basics,
thanks to their formal studies at various art higher learning
institutes in Russia, such as the Moscow (formerly Stroganov)
Institute of Fine Arts, Surikov Academy of Arts, Surikov State
Institute of Fine Arts, Sirikov Art Institute and Russian Academy
of Arts. Famous both at home and abroad, they are actively
engaged in expeditions and exhibitions abroad such as in India,
Italy, Nepal, Germany and Canada.

Anisimov, who is president of the Russian Bureau of Creative
Expeditions and president of Russian-Indian Roerich Art Club,
features boats at Pangandaran, fishing in Bali and boats in
Bengkulu in his works, handmade woolen tapestries. This thickly
bearded artist well understands that the sea, boats, fish and the
poleng (checkered) cloth are cultural and religious elements that
play an important role in local people's lives. These works are
far better than his previous paintings.

Sculptor Alexander Belashov sees Indonesia as a haven for
flora and fauna. Look at his oil painting, made on canvas, titled
Idyll" (2000). In a park full of flowers and colorful plants,
birds, butterflies, lizards (or, perhaps, monitor lizards),
grasshoppers and monkeys carrying their young live in harmony.

Hopefully, he is not satirizing Indonesian politicians --
involved in bickering every day -- and telling them to learn from
these animals how to live in peace.

Meanwhile, Gennady Glakte has recorded Bali through its women.
They are depicted carrying offerings, naked, along with men and
resting in the company of birds and dogs. The women's figures
look stylized, as can be seen in children's paintings.

These paintings show a great leap compared with his previous
ones, such as Pink Morning (1987) and Poet and Muse (1992), both
highly academic in nature.

Then four different painters explore the Borobudur Temple in
their work. Stanislav Nikirev uses millions of pencil dots on
paper to depict the temple. Vitaly Mironov uses a great burst of
lines and daring colors. Vladimir Pereyaslavets is absorbed in
detail, while Georgy Poplavsky captures the temple with pencil-
made reliefs on paper.

Another Russian painter, Irina Makarova, in her work titled
Dream about Madura (2000), features the local bull race, not in a
linear way, but through several yellow, red, green and blue
circles. The position of the bull, the gamelan players and the
dances, as well as the mosque, seem to start from the middle and
then spread to the edge. Besides, yellow and blue shadows of
sickles are also found in this work.

In Morning time Blitar, graphic artist Olga Yausheva features
the esthetic moment about a cow being slaughtered under a fan-
shaped banana tree on a bright morning. She successfully plays
with the shadow of the banana stem and midrib to create the
impression of time and volume. This painting is as interesting as
Morning in Bukittinggi (2002).

"I'm greatly amazed by the great natural beauty of Indonesia,"
she said while in Jakarta along with Anisimov and Konstantin
Inozemtsev to represent other Russian painters who could not be
present at the exhibition.

If their work on Indonesia is compared with their paintings
that have Russian themes, there is a difference, particularly
with respect to colors.

Erica, a Yogyakarta-based artist now studying fine art in
Russia, said that this difference was attributable to the
difference in climate and seasons. She said her own works, which
were made in Russia, have shown a shift in colors because she saw
a lot of snow.

The Russian objects present in this exhibition range from
important sites like the Kremlin and Trubnaya Square in Nikolai
Burtov's works, the vessels in a beautiful sea in the works by
Konstantin Inozemstev to the interior of an imposing church in
the work of Alexander Vorokov.

Officially opened by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, this
exhibition is being staged jointly by the Ministry of Culture of
the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of
the Republic of Indonesia, the Embassy of the Russian Federation
in Jakarta, the Russian-Indonesian Cooperation and Friendship
Society and the Russian Bureau of Creative Expeditions.

Chairman of the organizing committee, Tong Djoe, said that the
exhibition was held both as a means of diplomacy to strengthen
bilateral cultural relationships and to welcome Megawati's
upcoming visit to the Russian Federation.

The exhibition is ongoing at the Indonesian National Gallery, Jl.
Medan Merdeka Timur 14, until April 17; it is open to the public
from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.