Sakato artists seek their place on the map

Sakato artists seek their place on the map

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Amidst the vibrancy of art today, with installations -- video,
photography and comics -- drawing increasing attention,
landscapes as a subject matter have gradually taken a second row.

At least that is the general impression of most exhibitions of
contemporary art.

However, young artists, between 30 and 36 years of age,
hailing from Padang in West Sumatra and grouped in what is called
Sanggar Sakato, have their own way of portraying it, as evident
from their exhibition at Nadi Gallery here.

Although they studied at the Indonesian Arts Institute and
live and work in Yogyakarta, they appear fairly unfazed by
dominating trends.

Instead, they are returning to landscape painting, although
the term must be perceived differently from its original meaning
of naturalistic scenery seen through the physical eye, known as
landschap -- a style used by 16th-century Dutch painters to mark
the return of scenery to the visual arts.

As most of the paintings in this exhibition reveal, while
"landscape" for Sakato artists may be merely an artistic medium
to unfold their visions on the world in which we live, they
contain an inherent quality of enjoyable finesse and imagery,
even if they also include social and political critique or
commentary.

There is a notion of reverie, perhaps a longing for peace and
peacefulness, which for many is a fresh deviation from the
hitherto artistic commentary that either deters or leaves the
viewer perturbed.

This particularly felt in Terbang Tinggi #1 and #2, each 140
cm by 160 cm, featuring white clouds against a blue sky, by M.
Irfan, or in Handiwirman Saputra's superb paintings, 150 cm by
150 cm, likening earthen sculptures of a face on which a whiff of
cotton and plastic mark what is ultimately playful and lyrical.

It is also evident in Ardison's paintings Titik Api (Fire
Spot, 150 cm by 150 cm) depicting nature "cooked" in a wok that
is set amidst a forest on a hilltop.

Bukan Musim Gugur (Not the Killing Season, 195 cm by 140 cm,
features a white sculpture of what could be body limbs or logs
with white clouds gliding over the green mountains as a backdrop,
all seen through an open window -- although here the issues of
forest fires, environmental degradation or depletion and mass
killings have been carefully incorporated.

Similar is Saftari's 140 cm by 160 canvas of blue-green with
small trees on it suggesting the fertile soil, and his 120 cm by
150 cm canvas of gray, barren land that has bare trees standing
like poles dividing the arid land from the barren mountains.

While Zulfa Hendra's imagination on housing in Imaginasi
Tentang Rumah I, 150 cm by 150 cm), and II (40 cm by 150 cm) may
refer to fascinating surrealist imagery, it may also include the
issue of refugees who are fated to an itinerant existence.

Similar is Denny `Snod' Susanto's Big Tree' (150 cm by 130
cm). Featuring a strong tree with roots and all, floating in the
air as if moving toward the blue sky, with its branches topped
with white blossoms, it may simply be the product of capricious
fantasy; it may, however, also suggest modern man pulled from the
ground to which he was firmly anchored.

Meanwhile, Rudi Mantofani's finely painted maps titled
Indonesia and Nusantara Warna, each measuring 150 cm by 200 cm,
suggest a reaction to political issues sweeping the country
recently.

In Indonesia, a gold-green surface with light terracotta
colored islands of the archipelago and a black-and-white band
bordering the top of the canvas, suggests Mantovani's belief in
the basic strength of the nation, while Nusantara Warna featuring
green islands on a blue surface with a multicolored band
bordering the top of the canvas expresses the artist's belief in
the good of plurality and a uniting energy holding the nation
together.

Distinctly different from the above are Erizal As, Feri Eka
Candra, Gusmen Heriadi, Ibrahim, Yunizar and Zulkarnaini, who
tend to explore other styles, including the abstract.

Jumaldi Alfi, however, displays a surprising bluntness in his
two works, Pleasure?, 120 cm by 140cm and Pleasure! 140 cm by 120
cm, which feature a woman's buttocks.

in box:
Re-reading `landschap'
Exhibition of Sanggar Sakato
through Sept. 26
Nadi Gallery,
Jl. Kembang Indah III,
Blok G3 no. 4-5 Puri Indah,
Jakarta 11610.
tel. 5818129, fax 5805677
e-mail: info@nadigallery.com