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.