Sculptor Sidharta holds a retrospective
Text and photos by Tarko Sudiarno
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Gregorius Sidharta Sugijo, one of Indonesia's most prominent sculptors, is exhibiting his works in a retrospective show at Museum Widayat in Magelang.
The exhibition, which opened last Saturday and will run until Jan. 22, features 134 of his works that include sculptures, paintings and sketches.
Sidharta, 68, is presenting works that span from the early years of his career to his latest masterpieces, 1950 to 1999. He says he intends to introduce "more of himself" to the local public through the works on display.
The artist, one of the first alumnae of the Yogyakarta-based Indonesian Arts Institute in the early 1950s, dedicated most of his time teaching at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
He retired recently from his position as chief of ITB's Painting and Sculpture Arts and is concentrating on creating artworks.
Only selected works are presented to represent masterpieces of each year of his career. The statues on show are not very large in size. Many of his best works have been collected by major museums both in Indonesia and abroad.
Among his monumental creations scattered around Indonesia and Asia are a mural mosaic at Hotel Indonesia, Jakarta (1962), relief on pulp and paper production process at Blabag, Magelang (1963), Garuda Pancasila eagle at the House of Representatives, Jakarta (1971), decorations of Sukarno's tomb in Blitar, East Java (1978), the Proklamator Monument, Jakarta (1979), the Ocean Monument in Tanjung Priok, Jakarta (1980), statue of children at ASEAN Park in Manila, and Balance and Orientation statue at Elgala Plaza in Fukuoka, Japan (1997).
Some of his latest statues in the show are Pengendang (Drummer) and Kelahiran Seorang Dewi (The Birth of a Goddess).
Sidharta says that although he has retired from his teaching job, he will not stop creating as an artist. He wants to exhibit his work at least once a year as a "token of artist accountability to the public".
He is worried that to stop creating would kill his creativity.
He opened the exhibition on Jan. 15 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Indonesian Arts Institute.