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