Wirantawan frees himself from his Balinese roots

Wirantawan frees himself from his Balinese roots

Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta

Artists who move to a big city like Jakarta and Yogyakarta
usually bring along the traditions of their hometown, which then
often becomes their source of inspiration and creativity, as well
as a psychological point of return.

This was true in the case of the late painter, Mara Karma, who
continuously depicted objects from his home province West
Sumatra, even though he has been resident in Jakarta for quite
some time.

By contrast, there are painters who try to set themselves free
from the burden of tradition. One of them is I Putu Wirantawan, a
30-year-old Balinese who has lived in Yogyakarta since his
student days at the Indonesian Arts Institution (ISI) in 1995.

"As a Balinese, I am attached to and deeply respect Balinese
traditions. But for my work, I would like total freedom," he said
during his solo exhibition at Edwin's Gallery in Jakarta.

True, no urban painters are obliged to tie themselves to their
traditional roots, or to entirely reject them. The choice is up
to each artist.

In Putu Wirantawan's case, art lovers will not find Balinese
objects on his canvases. Viewers will not encounter frequently
painted Balinese scenes done by so many other artists such as
Arie Smit and Maria Tjui. There are no temples, Legong dance,
barong mask, odalan (temple rituals), Kusamba boats or
cockfighting scenes.

Putu Wirantawan, who has been active exhibiting his work since
1993 and achieved several domestic awards -- among others "The
Best Ten" in the Philip Morris Art Award VII 2000 -- prefers
having common people as his subjects.

In his oil painting titled Tauladan I (Example I), he depicts
a mother's love for her two children. Kenikmatan (Pleasure), a
300-by-145-centimeter painting, dominated with blue hues, shows
one of the traditional daily routines of village women: Looking
for hair lice.

Another 250-by-145-cm oil work on canvas, Digiring (Herding),
depicts a group of men herding a large cow. Nonton Televisi
(Watching Television), is of a poor family enjoying a television
program in their bamboo hut.

Ordinary people depicted in his paintings are fat, not skinny
like those living in poor villages. He said this was to
illustrate their strong character in facing their ordeal.

For colors, the artist prefers dark blue, blackish green and
monochromatic brown. However, in some paintings he uses some
contrasting colors to give better emphasis.

The interesting thing is his technique. He combines thin
brushwork, effects produced by the rubbing of his arm or rubber
slippers, the pressing of tubes as well as scratches made by
nails. He also cleverly combines the subject clearly depicted in
the foreground with the obscure, abstract and impressionistic
background. In contrast to the dark colors, white appears
sporadically to create a sense of depth and prominence.

Next to his realism work, Putu Wirantawan also produces giant
size abstract paintings, such as Tebaran Energi (The Spread of
Energy).

Although art critic Suwarno Wisetrotomo referred to it as the
"inner world", Edwin Rahardjo of the gallery felt it was a
logical and emotionless piece of work in comparison to his
realism paintings, which are full of emotion.

Not caring about such evaluations, Putu moves freely and
comfortably enters and exits the doors to the realms of realism
and abstraction at will. Probably this is because he is honest
with himself and with what he wishes to express through his
paintings. He is not attached and does not get tied down to
tradition, including his own traditional roots in Bali.

I Putu Wirantawan solo exhibition at Edwin's Gallery, Jl.
Kemang Raya 21, South Jakarta, runs until Feb. 10, 2002.