Wahyudi a master at clever global parodies

By Aendra H. Medita

JAKARTA (JP): In the graphic arts, creating extraordinary power in the exploration of visual forms is more than a mere process. It centers on an understanding of concept and technique.

Supangkat Wahyudi, who has hundreds of graphic artwork to his credit, selected 30 of them for the exhibition Kodok Tumpak Jaran (A Frog Riding A Horse) at the Milenium Gallery at Jl. RS Fatmawati 15, South Jakarta, until June 18.

The works show Supangkat Wahyudi's success in meeting the requirement to skillfully use technique in making powerful images. He has adequately recorded the power of global visualization, but what is more special about him is that he no longer creates his works from a standard printing process.

The works, created in the last six years, have been directly created on raw materials generally used in woodcuts. His objects, which are global in nature, range from derision to well-founded parody. He has responded to the strength of the objects with his artist's attitude when confronted with the reality of the world.

Inherent in his works is a need to convey the metamorphosis of the world's great figures like Picasso and Einstein. His works, which many tend to consider as no longer belonging to the strict graphic arts definition because they are drawings on plywood, reflect the present context, especially through the criticism conveyed in the titles of the works.

Supangkat, 43, graduated from the graphic arts department of the fine arts school of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in 1986. Art runs in his blood as his grandfather was a leather puppet master and his grandmother a batik maker. He became deeply interested in art after taking lessons from Harto PR at the Fine Arts Secondary School (SMSR). His works have attracted audiences both at home and abroad, for example in Malaysia, since 1987, the year when he first exhibited some of his works.

Details of objects in his works testify to his patience in processing his spirit and experiences, on which his search for the global power is based. His visualization draws heavily on the tumultuous world and a life that he has ceaselessly got in touch with through hard work and seriousness.

This time, however, Supangkat introduces a new esthetic idiom. Although the objects in these works are far removed from the reality of nature that the public can easily identify, it is not without maturity of mind and technique that Supangkat has created them.

With the application of monochrome colors, greater poignancy is reflected from the works that have been created as woodcuts or those made with a shaving technique. In addition, he seems to be also offering a mirror of a modern pattern symbolized in his own style in the context of satire and ridicule.

Musyawarah Mufakat Untuk Menjilat Bersama (Deliberation For A Consensus To Kiss Up Together, 1995) shows five dogs as the focus of attention, with skyscrapers in the background, as if suggesting that global power and the prevailing megacities were a true reflection of the world today.

A similar theme is found in Baca Aturan Main, Bila Sakit Berlanjut, Rasain Lu (Read The Rules Of The Game -- If The Illness Persists, You Have Learned Your Lesson), 1999) and Kridit Pangkal Gaya (Loans Allow One To Have Style, 1997). In "Habis Golf Rakyat Berang" (After Golf, People's Fury, 1999), a work that features the photograph of Kartini, there is a view of a golf course with some people running amok.

Jeritnya Nyaris Tak Terdengar (The Shriek Is Almost Unheard, 1997) parodies an automobile advertisement showing the onslaught of instant food products. There is a burger and in the opening of the bun, there are two sausages, vendors selling meatballs and lontong (rice steamed in a banana leaf). All of them are squeezed together, but their shrieks are unheard. The strength of the mischievous and ironic parody is derived from its view of the trend of a global culture marginalizing small-scale vendors and the small people.

Supangkat's works also show the metamorphoses of world greats like Einstein, Picasso, Mona Lisa or even Bill Clinton in his relationship with Monica Lewinsky.

In Einstein Terjaring AIDS (aku ingin duit sekarang) (Einstein Is Infected With AIDS (I want some money now), 1997) for example, the picture of this great scientist is placed next to an ATM. In Maaf Kami Tak Sanggup Menatap Karya Tuan Picasso (Sorry, We Cannot Afford To Gaze At The Works Of Mr. Picasso, 1997), Picasso's works are presented in their own power, but with the presence of two children being carried and refusing to glance at the works.

In Monalisa Lali Weton (Mona Lisa Forgets Who She Was), the figure of Mona Lisa is drawn exactly like Leonardo da Vinci's original, but one of her hands is clutching a cellular phone while a watch is around one of her wrists. As for the work called Selingkuh Enak Di Coba Dan Perlu? Komentar Anak Singkong Tentang Clinton Dan Monica (Are illicit Love Affairs Nice To Try And Are They Really Necessary? The Comment Of One Who Lives On Cassava About Clinton And Monica), there are four children and a mother carrying a child in a sling. A White House stands beside them, contrasting with the images of the children.

The symbols he presents through great figures or other objects Wrender his works fraught with restlessness. In this respect, the spontaneous cut of a line will make the figures in his paintings possess their own strength. The figures are no longer objects that can be manipulated. They show a style coming from inside. Perhaps the adventure in these works is more contemplative in nature than usual, so that the impression of an understanding of his adventure has been wisely conveyed in detail by means of a perfect technique.