BLUE Chip, the two words all art-inclined galleries aspire towards. To be like New York’s Gagosian, where works by Yayoi Kusama and Jeff Koons are things you see often. Maybe even London’s Tate Modern and Paris’ Musee d’Orsay, to bask in the masters of early modern art, Degas, Sisley, Matisse, Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh.
We enter these spaces to be electrified, to drown, to discover and lose ourselves all at one go. And when an exhibit is done just right, it becomes magical theatre for the mind, for the senses.
Aspiring is never a bad thing.
The newly-revamped two-level Galeri Prima, in collaboration with Singapore’s Art Xchange and Curate Henry Butcher Art Auctioneers’ (HBAA) held WhArt Now?
It showcased 25 artists and over 50 works comprising paintings and sculptures. The travelling show is on its second leg in Kuala Lumpur, debuting in Yogyakarta in September and culminating in Singapore in November this year. It is a lot to take in, the senses hitting overdrive after viewing the eighth and ninth work. And there is still the second level to “battle” with.
Again, not a bad thing.
Curator Benny Oentoro reflects: “Indonesian old master Sudjojona once said ‘Jiwa Ketok’, which translates as seeing an artwork with your soul. A good oeuvre will generate a certain reaction, an essence which encompasses the artist’s deepest feelings while making the work come to life.”
MAGIC ON CANVAS
Agung Mangu Putra’s 2015 oil on canvas Forgiveness, cleverly displayed as that mouthwatering amuse-bouche, is a glimpse into the chef’s universe, a taste of what’s to come. As it turned out, Forgiveness is the entree, war as an enterprise of death, those heart-breaking contemplations on humanity’s inhumanity.
The power in this arresting tableau lies in its bluntness and plainness: the son bows submissively at his mother’s feet, palms flattened on the ground. He seeks her grace, his pleas for absolution. And she, albeit atrophied by time, her skeletal frame and weathered skin hide none of her strength.
She is the matriarch, her pains so deep they splinter worlds. The piece of weaponry she holds back is a guileless reminder that war dehumanises those left behind in a downpour of economic dispossession and spiritual mutilation. And these, these are the words which cuttingly encapsulates Forgiveness, from Goenawan Mohamad’s Catatan Pinggir 1:
“Kegagalan kita untuk memaafkan, kesediaan kita untuk mengakui dendam, adalah penerimaan tentang batas. Setelah itu adalah doa. Pada akhirnya kita akan tahu bahwa kita bukan hakim yang terakhir. Di ujung sana, Tuhan lebih tahu.” (Our failure to forgive, the willingness to allow revenge into our hearts is an acceptance of limitations. After that come prayers. The final judge we are never. In the end, only God is omniscient.).
The young (and only in age) Agus Putu Suyadnya is a name many here are still unaware of. All that changes after WhArt Now? Surely. It has been a while since we’ve seen works which beautifully balances wit and gravity. The artist is described in the show’s catalogue as possessing a distressing amount of anxiety, enough to warrant a body of disquieting works which tackles themes of God, Man and Nature.
The 2016 acrylic on canvas Jangan Khawatir Ada Aku Di Sini (Do Not Worry, For I Am Here) is a stunning example of his artistic prowess. This is a shamelessly macho work, the noble elephant in deep liturgy. The armoured Knight gripping his sword as he genuflects in reverence, before facing the atrocities which patiently waits.
Yet another work, the terribly frank Berebut Benar (Who’s Right) by Antoe Budiono, is one more beguiling entree. His works often express life’s philosophies through ancient Javanese proverbs.
Berebut Benar depicts a pair of twins, or if taking a schizophrenic viewpoint, the same person in the midst of a heated argument. Clearly at an impasse, both vocalise their incubuses in silence, their unblinking eyes a slow, sure descend into madness. And the footwear on their heads? It brings to mind a Malay proverb “Kalau ditendang, biar dengan kaki yang berkasut, kalau ditampar, biarlah dengan tangan yang bercincin’. (It is preferable to be admonished by someone wise than to be judged by a simpering fool.)
Meanwhile, Cadio Torompo’s Selfie Di Tanah Pijakan is his way of voicing social/ political commentaries, allegories of whirlwind changes in his country as a result of varying political persuasions in power, the girl taking a selfie subtly implying that painful yearn for a happier future. She takes a picture of how she imagines life should be.
Selfies itself is a terrifying kind of humour, much is doctored to oblivion, as almost no one looks that good in real life. The final images we post online is (perhaps) to feed the raging narcissists in us — yes, those self-objectified photographs all in the insane chase for hearts, likes, re-tweets, pins and whatever other terms there are out there. But the truth is, if you ain’t pretty, you ain’t.
EXCITING BLEND
Honourable mentions run aplenty, from I Made Santika Putra’s sculpture Tabuh Rah, the proud cock triumphant after a protracted battle, to Nahyu Rahma Fathriani’s luscious I Have Seen The Devil — the Alice-like girl with a cat for a head. She lives in a hallucinogenic realm where being perpetually caressed by slithering tentacles is just another day in paradise.
Then, there’s R. Sumantri’s Superhero Series, which is just splendid, a jarring demonstration of pyrotechnics. His Asian pride on full show, the artist paints Captain America and Wonder Woman getting their marvellous steroid-pumped derrieres hurled into the darkest pits of Hades by a stupendous bloodthirsty horned Asian God brandishing a blade forged in Hell itself. And there is Superman in the far far background, determined to inflict some kind of hurt with a withering look.
WhArt Now? is an exciting blend of ingredients that make for a very interesting dish, works tinged with much-needed causticness and paradoxes, and some, downright gnarly. It’s the combination of the old and new which conceivably, could set the platform for cross-cultural deliberations. And who knows, a few of the names here could very well be legends in the making.