Woodcuts dominate Yogyakarta's graphic arts

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.