Shade of life in Arifien's artworks

Shade of life in Arifien's artworks

Mehru Jaffer, Contributor, Jakarta

Luscious limbs, amorous arms and just a hint of humor is what
attracts collectors like Santi Solaiman to the art of Arifien.

Ever since she first saw his work some two decades ago she has
been mesmerized by the strength of the artist's strokes combined
with a generous use of color. Although Arifien's most recent
works displayed at Santi's Kemang Gallery are mostly black and
white, she remains a great admirer looking for the slightest
excuse to sponsor an exhibition of his work.

"He wanted to go black and white for a change, and I said
fine," said Santi who, along with Joseph, her late husband,
decided to officially take the relatively unknown painter under
their wing in 1992 as both thought that Arifien was extremely
gifted and had a great future.

The result is that within a decade Arifien has become the
darling of many prominent collectors like the Lippo Group and
Singapore's Lorin and Kristy Gallery although a larger group of
art lovers still await to discover him.

It was Josephine "Obin" Komara, the well-known cloth designer
and trend-setter who first discovered Arifien. Amazed at the
painter's capability for depth in both theme and style even
without a formal education in art, she risked organizing a solo
exhibition way back in the 1980s at her Menteng boutique, a
meeting place of the rich and famous.

She also traveled with his works to Japan. This exposure was
enough to inspire the small but influential cultural elite of the
city to swear that yet another sign of good taste was to be
able to admire an Arifien.

After eight years of patronage by Obin, Arifien was chased by
a long list of art galleries wanting to display his work. Santi,
who has collected art since times when it was still possible to
pay often less than US$100 for a Hendra Gunawan, became Arifien's
next patron. Santi found his work not only beautiful, colorful
and decorative but much more. Arifien became special for being
able to reveal the entire hoopla of humanity with all its little
details, including wrought iron furniture, floors tiled in
ceramic or wood, knick-knacks lying around a private bathroom or
boudoir, windows draped in heavy textiles but barely any clothes
on women with big bodies and fragile faces.

Considering how humble Arifien's background is many themes
treated by him seem painfully bourgeois, like in Lebih Baik Sakit
Gigi daripada Sakit Hati (Better to Have Toothache than
Heartache), where the clinic of a dentist cluttered with objects
that decorate as well as have utility value.

He also seems to be fascinated by performances of
transvestites, with those nursing a broken heart and tables that
are overflowing with feasts and flowers. A favorite one is titled
Besama Mucho for the deep involvement of two musicians in just
the joy of the moment. Both figures seem as if deaf to everything
else in the world as they preoccupy themselves with something as
decadent as their own respective selves.

"This could be because I do not claim to beautify life
but simply to record different moments of reality," Arifien as he
sat at the lush, green garden of the Santi Gallery, dressed in a
white linen shirt, tie and a dark pair of pants.

It dawned then how full of contradiction Arifien's own life
is, so similar to the tantalizing tales he tells on canvas. He is
able to relate without shame, in fact with much relish,
experiences of those days when he did not have enough money to
buy food and paying for an education was just a cruel joke. He
even tries to imitate the undignified sounds made by his hungry
stomach during those dog days.

The eldest of 10 children, Arifien ran away from home at the
age of 18 so that his father, a factory worker in Surabaya, would
have one mouth less to feed. Once in Jakarta he slept at a mosque
in Pasar Baru and during the day off loaded bricks from trucks.
He was without money and quite illiterate. His only friend was a
street dog who appears in most of Arifien's paintings, especially
the earlier ones.

Together with this dog, Arifien shared meals left over by
guests at a food stall by the roadside.

Yet the teenager continued to draw whenever he could
even though it was only on scraps of paper. During that time one
of the engineers at the sprawling construction site of the Hilton
hotel took a liking to Arifien. He was amused by the boy's
ability to perform little magic tricks and to draw, and brought
him home.

Arifien's job was to help in household chores, and to courier
messages. He often delivered letters to a professional group of
architects who noticed his drawings. One day he was offered a job
to draw designs for the interior of homes, offices and
restaurants.

Arifien's dramatic rise up the social ladder of Jakarta made
him very happy. The only problem was that he had little time to
draw what he would have liked to. One day he decided to give up
the corporate world altogether and to spend the rest of his life
just painting. That was more than 15 years ago.

Arifien smiles wistfully today as he seems to salute himself
for having listened to his intuition and mustered up enough
courage to follow what his actual calling in life was. At the
ripe, old age of 46 years Arifien has come a long way but he is
unable to get rid of the feeling that whatever he may have
achieved so far, it is still only the beginning.