Work of distinguished artists on display

By Aendra H. Medita

JAKARTA (JP): Three artists Danarto, Sukamto and Ipe Mar'oef expressively depict objects, taken from not only daily life but also the shadow puppet world, through their works currently exhibited at the Lontar Gallery which will end on Friday (Nov.17)

While the daily objects that Ipe Mar'oef has drawn, show his firm lines and Danarto's forceful sweeps result in extraordinarily strong lines, Sukamto shows greater emotion in his lines.

This exhibition shows to the public what is interesting about the objects in their works and unravel the mysteries underlying the drawings in the exhibition.

As the three fine artists differ in terms of character, space and style, their works can be easily distinguished, or more precisely, the aura of each of them is reflected in their respective works. Another distinction of these three fine artists is that their works have contributed significantly to the history of Indonesia's fine arts. The three of them have intensely involved themselves not only in fine arts but also in the arts in general.

Ipe Ma'roef is a name to recall instantly when you talk about Indonesia's realm of sketches. He has given his-all to arts. Born Ismet Pasha Ma'roef on Nov.11, 1938 in Tepi Bandar Oto, Padang, West Sumatera, Ipe learned painting from Affandi, Surono and S. Sudjojono. He began to exhibit his works as far back as 1950. His sketches have been published in a number of literary and cultural media publications such as Zenith, Budaya and Budaya Jaya.

In Ipe's works, each object reflects the aura of the lines he draws to visualize his mental image. In his hands, objects have found life. His lines are strongly drawn although his interrupted lines may give the impression they have been made only spontaneously. Take "Semua Melihat Ke Atas (All Looking Upwards), for example. The drawing shows six figures and regardless of who or what they depict, they are arranged within a shocking frame.

In his two other works, Pengamen Mojokerto (Mojokerto Street Singer) and "Ayah Angkat Dali (Dali's Adoptive Father), Ipe is rather different. These two drawings are almost similar because the two figures - the street singer and the adoptive father - are depicted as if they were siting. Ipe has successfully offered the firmly-made lines as sitting objects although chairs are not explicitly shown.

The works of Danarto, born on June 27 1940, show a serious study of the objects. Danarto, a 1961 graduate of the Indonesian Fine Arts Academy (ASRI) in Yogyakarta, is no longer at his elementary stage. To him, a line is no longer an instrument, as Bambang Bujono writes in the catalog of the exhibition. He considers lines as part of the fine art language. Therefore his lines will flow freely in keeping with what Danarto himself wishes to have. What is interesting about Danarto is that the expression of his love for lines constitutes a perfect totality.

Take his work titled "Wisangeni di Medan Laga (Wisangeni in a Battle Field), for example. Here Danarto draws his object highly descriptively so that the details of the figure can be graphically brought out and line strokes illustrate the battle scene in which Wisangeni is involved.

As a painter, Danarto is capable of not only making use of lines as his strength but also of creating nature in its charm and beauty very carefully. In his two works, Sejoli di Tepi Telaga (A Couple at a Lake Side) and Bulan ke Tujuh (Seventh Month), Danarto not only captures the atmosphere but also presents his figures, charming an beautiful, in great similarity to the figures from the shadow puppet world. Further to this, Danarto shows in his drawings a high-level ability to essentially explore lines.0

Sukamto is quite different from Ipe and Arief. Born in Solo on March 13, 1945, he graduated from Surakarta Arts Academy in 1950. Now he teaches at the Graphic Arts School of the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ). His generally highly expressive works appear within his highly characteristic frames. In the present exhibition, his works tend to be carried away by emotion.

Studying the graphic arts in Rotterdam, the Netherlands between 1977 and 1978, Sukamto has his preference for the objects found in the shadow puppet world. In his works called "Abimanyu Rancap (Abimanyu Masturbates) and "Batara Kala Lahir (Batara Kala is Born), he resorts to more symbolism than in his other works.

These works show his understanding of atmosphere and not the essence of shapes. To lend visual prominence to the figure in his drawings, he makes use of dark polishing. He presents a central object in its detailed form without much embellishment so that in Batara Kala Lahir, a woman figure is depicted as someone with long hair hanging loosely down to the shoulder. In his expressive force, his awareness is recorded so that the emerging expression is but an overflow of emotion.

Sukamto's other works are similar. They do not offer much variation but they reflect standard processing of the graphic styles in general.

All in all, the works stressing atmosphere are now part of the esthetics of the strength underlying the works of these experienced fine artists. This exhibition, therefore, may be regarded as an event to invigorate the drawing realm because drawing is actually the most important part of Indonesia's fine art history.