Three artists explore symbolism through masks in Yogya

Three artists explore symbolism through masks in Yogya

Text and photos by R. Fadjri

YOGYAKARTA (JP): When art becomes an expression wrapped in aesthetic values, symbolism is the preferred choice. Even realism, which aims to convey a more clear message, contains symbolism, adding its own value to a painting.

Such symbolism, through various styles, is depicted in the display of works by artists Alex Luthfi, Titoes Libert and Iswanto at the Baleanda Gallery in Yogyakarta, which runs to Jan. 13.

In a culture where open expression is subdued, symbolism flourishes. People tend to feel more comfortable in communicating through symbols, in the hope of avoiding open conflict. Euphemism is preferred over clear expression.

The spirit of symbolism goes hand in hand with conventional artistic expression, which highly values refined representation.

Art works become scattered with symbolism, sometimes causing a gap with the art audience. But with more openness in society, symbolism becomes more forward, and the intended message is captured more directly by the audience.

As the word discloses, the topeng (mask), depicting various human characteristics, provides one form of symbolism. Artists, especially dancers and those in the fine arts, find in the mask unique and endless ways to hide the real form by artificial expressions of certain characteristics.

This is the subject of the 12 works by Titoes Libert. In decorative style the professor from the Yogyakarta-based Indonesian Institute of Fine Arts wraps various masks in his work entitled Tiga Wajah Brengsek (Three vulgar faces).

In this work one mask fills the middle of the canvas, and on both sides two masks portray the clown characters in traditional wayang (puppet) stories.

The eyes and mouths of the masks follow the traditional style. At the top of the canvass a row five masks is featured, and the rest is splashed in primary colors.

The decorative spirit dominates Libert's work. Tree of Life presents four masks forming rows on a branch, with other masks between the branches.

This reveals the actual function of the mask, hiding the true character behind a mask, so that only the beauty of the mask is visible.

Verbal expression

Iswanto plays with masks, in more disguised forms, through his 12 paintings. Masks are covered with almost verbal expression. Iswanto not only uses masks as the abstraction of the face, but also other parts of the body such as the hands, or even just the eyes or nose.

In his collages he takes the form of a nose or, in another, a pair of eyes, and brings these together with torn pieces of newspapers and magazines. The printed words on the papers are mixed with other words, or letters applied in paint. Irregular strokes of bright paint fill the background.

On the contrary Alex Luthfi, also an Indonesian Institute of Fine Arts professor, is more clear with his masks, using them as caricatures. His nine black and white works features a pig's head manifesting the wild nature of humans. Social issues are included: the appropriation of agricultural land for a golf course, employees playing up to their bosses and human greed.

Luthfi perceives the pig as greedy and detestable. "Many political leaders act like pigs," Luthfi said.

His painting entitled The Legend of the Golfer, on two sheets of paper, features a pig's head with sharp fangs and a human body, posing like a wayang with joints on his arms and legs.

Dogs' heads pose fiercely behind the man-pig, on whose feet are golfers' shoes, studded with sharp nails underneath, standing on a helpless human.

Luthfi's The Era of Pigs in Ties shows the common practice of sucking up to superiors. A man-pig wearing a tie is eying a fellow pig about to lick the behind of another.

Symbols of the white-collar class using ties, pigs' heads and feudalist-like figures dressed in Javanese raja (king) headdresses, are used to convey the exploitative nature of authority towards the underprivileged.

Less clear messages are also found in Luthfi's works as he seems to be uncertain regarding composition. Luthfi fills his canvasses better through the expressive style.

The display succeeds in highlighting one theme, with a mixture of styles and techniques, from which we gain more understanding of symbolism as a mode of expression.