Sri Warso Wahono exploits women's beauty in sketches
Sri Warso Wahono exploits women's beauty in sketches
Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta
Alone, idle, displaying fatigue, loneliness and restlessness,
here and there, naked and waiting -- on the bed or on a chair in
the sitting room.
These are the women of Sri Warso Wahono's sketches, being
exhibited at Galeri Cipta III, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Central
Jakarta, from Nov. 1 to Nov. 10, along with his sketches of other
subject matter, like fish, flowers, cities and landscapes.
Of course, the women in Warso's sketches are different from
those featured in the works of Liem Keng (Surabaya), who usually
depicts his subjects performing physical labor, such as carrying
a load on their heads (common among Madurese women) or taking a
great quantity of vegetables to the market in a becak (three-
wheeled pedicab) or even selling fish in the market.
The expressions we can observe in the women Warso has captured
in his sketches may be related to his fondness for drawing female
models in space - a room or a house - with two kinds of awareness
running together: the awareness of an artist and the awareness of
a model deliberately posing for a sketch. He also has his own
creed for the creative process: a sketch equals beauty!
The two kinds of awareness referred to above can also be found
in photography. A salon photographer takes pictures in co-
operation with his subjects, while a war photographer does his
job with a one-way awareness, in the sense that he takes a
picture only when the artistic moment is right. In other words,
his subjects do not realize that they have become subjects.
Warso, however, is not a sketch painter who likes to "steal"
artistic moments. He is not like Teguh Ostenrik, for example, who
turns his models upside down in his pursuit of unusual angles.
That's why the women in Warso's sketches generally appear in a
familiar perspective.
What is unusual is his lavish use of lines. Lines with dots,
dark and bright, shaded and smudged with pencil, the gradation of
the black ink and the white base of the canvas or the paper and
the confusion in texture - they all conspire to emphasize the
presence of objects in the spatial and temporal context.
In sketches, there are at least two prevailing techniques that
ensure the survival of the art form at home and abroad. Some
sketch artists are highly economical in their use of lines while
others, like Warso, apply them in a much more generous way.
Nevertheless, the more mature the painter, the deeper his
level of thought about the essence of things, a situation leading
to a more economical use of lines. Such a painter can be likened
to a highly skilled swordsman.
With one movement of the sword, a thousand heads will be
separated from their bodies. On the other hand, a novice in the
use of a sword will move his weapon many times without beheading
anybody because the direction of his blade is wide of the mark.
Warso is indeed no newcomer to fine art circles. Born in
Surakarta, Central Java, in 1948, he has completed some 200
sketches since 1978, most of which are featured in the exhibition
now under way.
He has 14 solo exhibitions to his credit and has joined dozens
of joint exhibitions at home and abroad, such as the Bienalle
International in Poland, the ASEAN Fine Art Exhibition, the KIAS
program and an exhibition in Brazil.
Warso is also widely known as a speaker and observer of the
fine art scene, although he is not as prolific as Agus Dermawan
T. A civil servant working for the Jakarta administration, he is
currently assigned to the Museum of Shadow Puppets. Between 1985
and 1996 he was a member of the executive board of the Jakarta
Arts Council as first secretary or head of the fine arts
committee.
His present exhibition is part of the program drawn up to
commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the Jakarta Arts Center. It
is interesting to consider why, despite the celebratory mood, the
women in Warso's sketches do not look dynamic. Are they
overwhelmed by a great concern for the future of the Taman Ismail
Marzuki?