Woodcuts dominate Yogyakarta's graphic arts

By R.Fadjri

YOGYAKARTA (JP): When the Dutch attacked Yogyakarta in 1948, a number of artists printed provoking woodcut posters. The woodcut technique allowed for cheap, quick reproduction of images in the absence of a modern printing press.

The woodcut has subsequently dominated the graphic art works produced in Yogyakarta, where the Indonesian Academy of Arts (ASRI) started turning out graphic artists in the 1950s. Today the academy, which continues to teach woodcut techniques, has become part of the School of Art and Design at the Indonesian Institute of Arts in Yogyakarta.

Woodcuts are created by carving into sawo (sapodilla) wood, or hardboard (dense fiberboard). Paint or printer's ink is then applied to the raised part of the carved surface and the wooden block or hardboard segment is placed face down on paper, where it leaves a print.

Although the techniques used for producing prints from wood and hardboard are basically the same, the use of solid wooden blocks in woodcuts yields a finer fiber texture, than the use of hardboard, whose monotonous grain produces a rougher texture. In recent years, due to the decreasing availability of solid wood blocks, hardboard has been used more frequently.

Woodcuts and hardboard cuts dominated the Exhibition on Fourty Years of Yogyakarta Graphic Arts in Retrospect which took place at the Purna Budaya building in Yogyakarta between July 16 and 21.

Due to this, the exhibition fell short of showing the true extent of the richness of graphic art techniques. Apart from the woodcuts and hardboard cuts, only a few etchings, silk screen and mono-prints were displayed. And the simple blind prints displayed only proved to enforce the impression that a greater emphasis was being placed on expression rather than the technical aspects of producing graphic art. The exhibition had only one work of lithography, and that was done as a student Belgium in the 1970s by the late Affandi.

One striking aspect of the exhibition was the apparent development of styles, seemingly along the lines of Western art theory, from realism in the 1950s to contemporary arts in the 1990s.

In the 1950s, realistic forms strongly dominated the graphic art images produced. The works from this period tended to be illustrative in nature, reflecting the initial development of graphic art works, which functioned as illustrations for books. With a minimum use of color ( mostly black on white paper) the graphic artists of the 1950s dealt with topics of everyday life. This tendency toward realism style continued into the 1960s, when more color was introduced into prints.

In the 1960s, some of the realistic graphic art works depicted the reality of life without political pretensions. An example of this is Subardjono Arifin's work, Sepuluh Tahun Lagi Dia Sudah Dewasa (She Will be of Age in 10 Years).

However, because populism came to the fore, especially in the months before the abortive communist coup of Sept. 30, 1965, many of the works produced during that period carried political messages of one sort or another. At that time, the thinking of social realism strongly dominated the expression of artists, including some of Yogyakarta's graphic artists. Purwanto's work, Membanting Tulang (Living by the Sweat of the Brow), of a bare- chested man in shorts wielding a crowbar in front of a backdrop of primary colors, is a strong example of this type of content.

Although showing some progress from the previous decade, the use of colors was still not highly varied in the 1960s.

When abstraction in art spread among Yogyakarta's painters in the 1970s, the graphic artists also started leaving realism behind. The technique of etching also came into wide use at that time.

In the 1980s, the deformation of shape made its appearance in naive, surrealistic and pop art styles. Graphic artist Watoni applied the naive style in his hardboard print Hijau Matanya (The Green of His Eyes). Graphic artist Harry Wahyu applied the silk screen technique in his pop-art style work Tutup Mulut (Shut Your Mouth).

It was also in the 1980s that Yogyakarta's graphic art developed its own character, which was highly distinct from that produced by graduates of the School of Art and Design at the Bandung Institute of Technology.

Yogyakarta's graphic artists, who produce works through the use of hardboard cut, mono-print and blind print techniques, have come to ignore the graphic art tradition of easily reproduced works of art. They tend to produce one of a kind graphic works, not the usual series.

"Yogyakarta's graphic artists are inclined to use the techniques solely as a medium of expression," said Sun Ardi, Dean of Yogyakarta's School of Art and Design at the Indonesian Institute of Arts, who is also a graphic artist.

This unconventional attitude has led to accusations from some of their colleagues in Bandung that they are not graphic artists.

Variation

When a Yogyakarta graphic artist does produce a series of prints from one woodcut block, they tend to strive for different results each time the block is applied to paper. The block is sometimes placed rather haphazardly on the paper and rubbed superficially by hand, or even stepped on. This results in an unpredictable spotty texture that cannot be duplicated in another print. The use of a thicker layer of ink or paint results in increased thickness of texture on the paper.

Hardboard cut works by Yamyuli Dwi Iman reflect this kind of approach to print making.

The 1990s has brought a tendency to use mixed media in graphic arts. Graphic artists have begun printing on a wide variety of materials other than the standard printing paper, while maintaining traditional printing techniques. Edi Prambandono's work Pengecer (Retailers) consists of six bamboo plaited food containers hanging on a wall, each with a piece of straw paper which has been silk screened with the names of traditional food, tea and cooking spices, attached.

Some graphic artists have branched out and used the blind print technique to explore space. Teddy's work Guns Become The Banana has eight boxes with glass lids. One box contains a pistol. Six boxes contain blind print technique paper prints of pistols, and the last box holds three plastic bananas.

Giving priority to expression over technique, which is a long- established tradition in the School of Art and Design at the art institute in Yogyakarta, provides fertile soil for the development of contemporary art works because of the possibility of pluralism and the loose relationship with convention.

"Technique is not everything in art. The important thing is how to express as reflected in the final result of a work of art," Sun Ardi says.

This provides a basis for creativity that is different from that advocated in the art education provided at the Bandung Institute of Technology, where the technical aspects of creation are emphasized to the point that an artwork can be reduced to little more than a mathematical equation.

Whatever the difference, 40 years of Yogyakarta graphic arts have enriched Indonesia's graphic art sector and done a great deal toward bring the appreciation of graphic art in Indonesia to the level already enjoyed by painting.