Spanish artist uses RI newspapers in the abstract

Spanish artist uses RI newspapers in the abstract

By Parvathi Nayar Narayan

JAKARTA (JP): Ramon Canet is an abstract artist from Spain, whose works are currently on show in Jakarta. Abstract painting admittedly is not always easy to appreciate.

Of course it could be argued that all painting is a form of abstraction, presenting a three dimensional reality on a two dimensional surface implies a certain compression of details.

However, abstract paintings such as those of Canet's refer to "non-objective" paintings where there is no hint of any recognizable subject matter. Color, form and shape exist as themselves, with no reference to nature. The belief is that color, form and shape have a reality of their own.

Pure abstract art presents an intellectual problem to which an artist seeks an intellectual solution. In the painting he must resolve basic problems of material, gesture, color and form. The search to discover the purest "form", for example, liberates form from all representational or symbolic attributes; this often results in blocks or geometric areas defined by color. The color then stands for itself, its own strength and properties without being descriptive of anything else.

Canet is deeply concerned with these components of art in their basic and simplest forms. He has studied the many modern concepts and streams of art. He uses his knowledge of the European Avant Garde and American Abstract Expressionism. But when he paints, he said, it is with feeling and from the heart.

Canet was born in Palma (Mallorca) and studied painting at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de Sant Jordi in Barcelona. From 1976 he abolished all things figurative from his work. Inspired by the Abstract Expressionists, Canet worked initially as an action painter. That is to say, he approached a painting without a preconceived idea in mind, allowing the idea and application of paint to be simultaneous.

The works that have emerged from his stay in Yogyakarta during January and February earlier this year are more contemplative works. His colors have changed and become more muted, more earth- like in response to his surroundings.

Travel is an important part of growing as an artist, according to Canet. He enjoyed the opportunity to be in Indonesia and experience life here. He was interested both in the life of the common people as well as getting a feel for the local artists, their work and philosophies.

The most familiar component in the 21 paintings produced during the artist's Indonesian sojourn is the use of newspapers. The mastheads of The Jakarta Post or Kompas appear as elements in his works. Thus it is also the most obviously "Indonesian" aspect of the paintings. There is a certain tension created by a familiar object, part of our daily morning ritual, seen out of context, on a wall as part of a painting.

Canet explains that he was fascinated by the concept of using a medium of communication, the newspaper, within the confines of another medium of communication, a painting. He adds with a smile that newspapers were his "friends " during his stay in Yogyakarta.

Mixing dry pigment with the acrylic medium, Canet plays with different paint consistencies. The "newspaper series" typically has a thickly textured background in grays or ochres. Against these he places blocks of pure color, scarlet or blue. He enjoys the contrasts created by the geometric shapes, empty save of color, and the information-rich newspaper strips.

Canet himself admits he is an artist who moves very slowly from style to style. Thus the introduction of the newspaper with its words as a design element is a major movement in his oeuvre. The paintings in the "newspaper series" are among the most successful of the work on show.

None of the works are titled, which always takes away a certain dimension -- powerful clues as to the artist's intentions. For instance, that paintings numbered 18 - 20 are self portraits of the artist and could easily be lost on the viewer in the absence of titles. These paintings are somewhat unusual in the context of an exhibition of abstract painting. They do not conform to the definition of pure abstract art since they have a figurative dimension in the rudimentary doodled forms.

What detracts from the paintings overall is the sensation of deja vu. The elements of the work on view seem too familiar, like already explored territory. Collaged pieces of geometrically shaped papers, even the newspaper as part of the fragmented pictorial structure, were seen in the Cubist works of Picasso, Gris and Braque.

The purity of the simplest geometrical forms have been explored time and again. Suprematism, for instance, where artists like Malevich used the line and square as the basic visual element. Or Constructivism as a eulogy to the simplest "machine produced" forms -- a rigorous experimentation with squares and circles as in the works of Lissitzky.

However, the sum of these parts in Canet's work is, of course, his own. So to the intellectual concerns of which his paintings are visual resolutions.

The artist believes that paintings help people to live. He would like his paintings to attract people and inspire a way of thinking in them. The idea is to stimulate a person's natural desire to be contemplative or introspective. The absence of a familiar point of departure would perhaps provoke the viewer to explore unfamiliar territory himself.

Canet is the sixth artist in the "10 of the Best" series organized by the Embassy of Spain. Under this program, ten of the best artists from Spain are brought to Indonesia and given the opportunity to live and work here for a few months.