Styles unite in Bandung artists exhibit

Styles unite in Bandung artists exhibit

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor/Jakarta

An exhibition opened at Bentara Budaya on July 21, called Pameran Gambar Tujuh Seniman Bandung. One would tend to translate Gambar as "Drawing", and in fact the host at Bentara Budaya did so.

For some people it was quite confusing, given the fact that not all the works were drawings, there was combined ink and brush, multi-media and digital prints. The argument that all were done in the spirit of drawing could be considered a weak "self defense", but could also signal a new direction in the understanding of drawing, and a crossing of traditional borders between media.

However, no mention of this was made in the little catalog, neither was it mentioned by the host who opened the exhibition.

Perhaps this wasn't a consideration at all, and the exhibition just explored a little-known moment of exhilarating experimentation of seven Bandung artists..

Andar Manik's framed digital prints on canvas, for instance, may have sprouted from exploring the potential of drawing, photography and painting, although one can't deny that suggesting a baroque-framed painting while it is a digital print on canvas of a photograph made of a drawing, evokes a sense of manipulative efforts in the first place.

Gusbarlian Lubis presents drawings in Chinese ink on paper, and a mix of pencil, ballpoint and acrylic on canvas. In addition there is also a work where he uses ballpoint, acrylic and collage on a photograph.

Gustaff H. Iskandar takes his inspiration from the La Divina Commedia that was written by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). An allegory of human life in the form of a vision of the world beyond the grave, it gave Gustaff the inspiration for various drawings in Chinese ink on paper, or Chinese ink layered with charcoal. Inspiration, and in some instances recreation, also comes from such masters like the Spanish painter Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) who covered the walls of his villa Quinta del Sordo with fourteen black paintings, considered to represent his most hellish visions. Gustaff's The Day After (After Goya) has the same gloom, depicting the crucified Jesus with a beheaded figure hanging upside down on the horizontal bar of the cross, whose head appears to sit next to the legs with arms separated from the torso dangling in the air. On a lighter note were other drawings, inspired by noted Irish novelist James Joyce.

Isa Perkasa draws all his worries on paper, using pencil and charcoal. Issues of people drawn into the mainstream of globalization, militarization, and other socio-political issues, it's all in his pencil and charcoal on paper. Potongan Rentang Waktu (A piece of time). Featuring his son in a printed T-shirt, one hand raised with his finger touching another finger coming from above, Isa says it's his worries about his son's future in the realm of globalization. Jalan Pintas (short cut), featuring a woman coming down a mountain holding a boy's hand, while a stream of rats rush up the mountain, is easy to understand as going against the current while looking for a way out.

Six drawings in Chinese ink on paper show various poses of Kendo, the Japanese martial art. The drawings were studies that R.E. Hartono made as an artist in residence in Japan recently.

Roumy H.P. explores human fear in the empty or frightful eyes of his Chinese ink drawings. Particularly remarkable is his work Stranded, 78.8 x 109 cm depicting a man with a bandaged head, face and body, and eyes wide open.

By far the most interesting, artistically honest and skillfully executed are the charcoal drawings by Marintan Sirait. While embodying the essence of drawing, her surrealistic figurative images evoke a sense of an earlier period, of the archaic, to be precise. It floats unattached to any anchoring background. Last night I heard a dog barking at the moon is one of her drawings (30x40 cm) in this exhibition that she says is the key to her other imaginations. It depicts the abstraction of a dog barking at the moon, and a tiny figure standing on a bow. Searching for the meaning of life and death, of the present and the past, Marintan seems to be drawing what she `sees' on her way back to antiquity. There is nothing glamorous, no faking, there is only the truth -- simple, strong, lyrical.

Pameran Tujuh Seniman Bandung exhibition runs until July 31 At Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Jl. Palmerah Selatan 17, Central Jakarta