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.