Yuri Gorbachev transforms fantasies in 'Bali Series'

Yuri Gorbachev transforms fantasies in 'Bali Series'

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): After exhibiting his vibrant icon art works here
a year ago, Russian-turned-New York artist Yuri Gorbachev has
returned to Indonesia with paintings that are even more
energetic. His exhibition will be held at the Regent Jakarta
until Feb. 3, 1996, and will feature paintings inspired by his
visit to Bali.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is an image of a girl dressed
in a wild version of a Balinese Legong costume. She is posed in a
manner reminiscent of the Monalisa, except in reverse. Her body
is slightly shifted to the right of the painting, while her eyes
face the opposite way. The girl holds a flower in her left hand,
and her right hand forms a gesture apparently derived from
Balinese dance. She is framed by an ornamental piece taken from a
gamelan orchestra, which adds an elegant touch to the
composition.

The image is undoubtedly derived from Thilly Weissenborn's
famous photograph of Legong, which, as Adrian Vickers pointed out
in his book Bali, A Paradise Created, has been frequently chosen
by the tourist authority for their tourist pamphlets. After
Weissenborn's book, other less beautiful photographs of dancing
girls proliferated, making the dancing girl a recurrent image of
Bali.

Ironically, the image was very likely created in Weissenborn's
photo studio in Garut, West Java in the 1920s. An old tourism
magazine published a series of photographs of dancers taken in
her Garut studio. In the background, the props of the studio can
be seen, including the elegant piece from the gamelan used in the
famous photograph. It is therefore highly likely that her famous
posed (and seated) Balinese Dancing Girl was actually created in
West Java.

In his Balinese Woman, Gorbachev has included additional
elements, like the towering banten offering arrangement placed on
a table to the left of the central figure.

"I wanted an image that people could recognize as Balinese,"
the artist explained.

Own interpretation

Although Gorbachev presents this Balinese identity by
borrowing Weissenborn's quintessential composition, the painting
is his own interpretation of the original image.

Many of the ornaments in the photograph have been transformed
into other elements and motifs. The ornamental flowers crowning
the figure's headdress are changed into naturalistic flowers. A
large leaf is placed above the figures right ear. Other large
leaves decorate the dancer's cuffs. The frangipane she holds has
been transformed into a hibiscus. The mat she sits on seems to be
Mexican rather than Balinese. To the right of the composition, is
an orange curtain which is by no means typical of Bali.

Yuri Gorbachev knew about Indonesia since he was very young.
"Unlike in America where people have little idea about Indonesia,
in Russia, people know about Indonesia," he claimed.

Before his first trip to Indonesia, he realized that his
knowledge about this country was limited to what he had learned
about in school and from images of Indonesia from the 1960s.

"I had to use my imagination and fantasy to picture what the
country was like," he added.

To provide him with a better idea about the country in which
he was going to exhibit, his associates sent him postcards which
presented views of contemporary Indonesia.

Then, at his exhibition in Jakarta last year, Indonesian
collectors Robby Djohan and Ciputra challenged him to paint Bali.
They suggested that the only way he would be able to paint Bali
was to visit the island.

Not only did he visit, but he also fell in love with the
island. As he stated in the exhibition catalog, "I felt like I
was witness to one of the wonders of the world. Time stopped for
me. Color, sound, day, night, all blended inside of me as if I
were in a special kind of heaven. When I returned to New York,
Bali was inside of me. I was inspired and I began to recreate the
reflections of Bali in my paintings."

Gorbachev also filled his New York apartment with Balinese and
Javanese wayang golek puppets, statues of horses, masks and other
objects. During his most recent trip to Bali, he collected 125
more objects. These objects helped him recreate his reflections
of Bali.

Despite becoming well acquainted with Bali, Gorbachev's images
have not become more realistic. They are still filled with his
vivacious fantasies about Bali.

Fortunately the rich Balinese ornamentation is close to his
decorative style. His art is derived from his interest in Russian
Orthodox icons, the exquisite craftsmanship of Faberge jewelry,
and his favorite artist, the Romanticist painter Rousseau. Bali
was an excellent subject for his canvases.

Of the 36 paintings exhibited at the Regent, 18 are Balinese
in theme.

The Lovers is another composition derived from a well-known
image of Bali. This time, the artist borrowed a rendering from
the tales of Tantri in a 19th century illustrated Balinese
manuscript, reproduced in the Periplus Guide to Bali.

While little attention has been given to the Balinese details
of the composition, like the architecture of the Balinese bale
sakepat pavilion and the textile motifs used by the characters in
the picture, Gorbachev managed to create another image easily
identified with Bali but remaining typical of his work.

The artist cleverly uses historical images with established
visual association to Bali to create his "contemporary naive
paintings", as he categorizes them.

Less successful

Gorbachev's other attempts are less successful. His depiction
of Morning in Bali presents two women carrying baskets of fruit
and fish to sell at the market. With long scarves covering their
heads and long layered skirts, the women appear more Middle
Eastern than Balinese.

The painting is embellished with vegetation that bears no
resemblance to the natural environment of Bali. While real
Balinese penjor banners elegantly curve at their summit,
Gorbachev's remain straight and stiff.

The architecture seems to be taken from the chaotic
contemporary Balinese architectural style which can be seen
mushrooming in Kuta and Legian. He stayed in a small hotel in
Legian which may have been surrounded with such structures, but
the arrangement of the structures and their rooflines is
reminiscent of Moscow's Kremlin.

Sunset in Bali, Landscape with Balinese Lake and Lake with
Swans, show the artist's lack of sensitivity to the depth and
dimension of the island's landscape. This is inevitable because
he stayed in the beach town of Kuta instead of the artists'
community of Ubud. Although Gorbachev did spend much time
traveling, he did so on motorcycles and spent almost no time
walking through Bali's lush natural environment.

Gorbachev's landscapes are far less interesting than his
paintings of popular Bali. He could learn by walking around and
taking time to observe rice paddies, dense gardens and deep
ravines of Bali, like Walter Spies did in the past.

The artist could look at contemporary Bali cliches, like
postcards of the Tanah Lot temple at sunset, photographs of
Uluwatu from the air, posed birds eye views of the Kecak dance,
and images of nightlife on Kuta Beach.

"Saya suka Indonesia (I like Indonesia), and even saya cinta
Indonesia (I love Indonesia)," he exclaimed, and so we can be
sure he will return. Most importantly, however, Gorbachev wants
to make Indonesia even more visible on the world map.

He wants more Americans to know about Indonesia. He will
therefore include his depictions of Bali in a 300 page book of
his works. The artist was recently asked by the United Nations to
create a series of endangered species paintings. An eminent image
in this series will be a depiction of an Indonesian parrot. These
images may even be made into stamps. When the time comes, the
Indonesian bird will definitely gain exposure around the world,
and Gorbachev's paintings may help turn world interest toward
Indonesia.