Still waters run deep in the art of Arnold Sobers
Adrian Smith, Contributor, Jakarta
When your father's first cousin is called Sir Garfield Sobers and is cited in the Encyclopedia Britannica as "the most gifted all-around cricket player of all time", you know that whatever you do in life, it is going to be a hard act to follow.
But that hasn't stumped 46-year-old Arnold Sobers.
"I always felt blessed with a God-given gift for art, even during my childhood."
As an artistic adieu to his six years spent in Indonesia, a selection of 15 or so of the native New Yorker's Acts of Love are currently on display, in South Jakarta, at Koi Gallery.
The term Acts of Love was coined by his wife from her observations of what is involved in the creative process.
And though he has tried his hand at most artistic media -- his favorite being sculpture -- what is on display are enhanced copies and a series of pencil-drawn portraits with one or two paintings, all priced at between US$350 and $1,000.
Arnold Sobers' educational and professional background could not, at first glance, seem further away; he took an MBA in International Management, worked as a marketing analyst from 1980 to 1981 for Citibank in New York, and then spent the next two years in credit administration on a World Bank project at the central bank of the Philippines.
And since then, he has also worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington D.C. as a contracts specialist, and later as a management consultant.
He attributes his wife for seeing promise in his art and encouraging him to take it up, initially part-time, and since 1996, full-time. He explains his transition as, "doing something new for me that satisfied me professionally".
He took up mastering color technique at the Royal Academy of Arts in Brussels and later on at the Arts Student League in New York.
But it was at a Biennale in Dakar, Senegal in 1992 that he made his breakthrough, when his late entry impressed the organizers so much they allowed him to display four of his works, double the number normally permitted per entrant.
He also thanks the Art and Embassies program, run by the U.S. State department, for choosing to display his works at the American ambassador's residence in Jakarta.
Technically, his portraits are very precise; their detailed muscle content, bone structure and hair reflect a well-trained, accurate eye -- every pencil line drawn appears worth its while.
But what sets Sobers' works apart from others is the emotional content.
"My art is sometimes considered by others as realistic and figurative at the same time, but I feel that reduces it solely to the technical. While technical education is an acquired skill, what an artist needs is 'something else' ... the intangible to give him and his work inspiration."
Sobers' artistic development can be exemplified in two portraits. An early work Somalian Camel Herder expresses the subject's strength, pride and dignity through pose and muscular physique. In a more recent work, Nenek, emotion is expressed through the eyes; one pair closed, the other wide open. Its qualities speak of warmth, love and affection.
"With my later works there is a greater interplay between the negative and positive. They are more figurative, giving the sense of something more intangible."
He acknowledges that different people view works of art with a different frame of reference and encourages his audience to leave themselves open.
"I like to think that art is like reading a book, as opposed to watching a movie. With a book your imagination can explore ideas, but in a movie you only get what you are given."
One of his favorites is a portrait of the well known American artist Georgia O'Keefe, famous for her flower, desert scenes, whom he describes as romantic. "At the time (1993) I felt very open to the creative process. The interplay between negative and positive forces created something different."
Another title Men Who Dream features his Indonesian muse. Full of hope and anticipation, it reflects the mood of the country at the time of Habibie's election.
In Acts of Love quality makes up for quantity. Arnold Sobers' portraits, particularly his more recent ones, seem to epitomize the expression "still waters run deep". Their gentle appearance belies an absorbing emotional content that can hold the viewer's gaze longer than most, and provide enough depth to linger long in the memory.
Acts of Love by Arnold Sobers will be on display at Koi Gallery, Jl. Mahakam, Jakarta Tel.: 722-2864 Fax: 723-6428, from April 30 through Sunday, May 12, 2002.