Artist :Agni Ardi
Genre : Painting
Period : May 8 till June 30
Everyday, 7.00AM to 11.00PM
Location : Three Monkeys Cafe
Jl. Monkey Forest, Ubud
Tel: 975554
Agni Ardi is an interesting painter with an unusual background. After studying in the Faculty of Art and Design at the Bandung Institute of Technology, he developed an interest in the ornamentation found in the traditional symbols present in undeveloped societies within Indonesia. On his return from studying abroad at the Essex Art College, in England, he moved from island to island around Indonesia trying to capture the spirit and emotions of various rural communities. Living as one of them, and working as a farmer and as a fisherman, he slowly moved from the mountains to the coast where he fell deeply in love with the ocean and the distant horizon; the line that gives him inspiration for his paintings. Apart from being a talented painter Agni Ardi is also an award winning Actor and Theatre Director. All of these experiences and influences find themselves expressed in his art.
Agni Ardi has an interesting approach to the creation of his art: “In the process of my paintings I am a player of colors, lines, shapes and spaces on the canvases, and I keep playing from one beginning to another beginning as long as my art is fun for me”. In his present exhibition, “Moon Catcher”, at the Three Monkeys Café in Ubud, Agni employs the theme of the Moon, and its cycles, to have fun with circles, triangles, lines, waves and shapes. These charming paintings, some of which are created on stretched and buckled yellow silk for added dimension, display much skill and subtle insight.
The paintings are produced in the Abstract Expressionistic mode of built up layers of textured paint. Circles (or Moons) are usually placed high on the canvas and the triangles, waves and shapes are placed accordingly to create balance, and to perhaps suggest land masses or seascapes. Ever present is Agni’s horizon line, found either high or low on the canvas, but always delivering a dramatic sense of tension. Some works are created on series of abutted canvases and the placement of the circles and horizon lines suggest the changing seasonal position of the moon in its celestial passage. Colors are usually muted. Mauve and Purple with contrasting Peaches and Ochres. Most intriguing of all are the areas of subtle filigree based on Agni’s study of indigenous Indonesian cultures. These areas are either etched deep into the paint or appear as delicate golden overlays, either way they bring to mind tribal fertility symbols associated with the Moon. Plowing, sowing, reaping and possibly something much more arcane and decidedly pagan!
“
Moon on Fire” is an explosion of red, orange and yellow paint, lavishly textured with gold etchings and filigree. The work impacts onto the senses. Apocalyptic images are instantly summoned up, together with some sort of dark, subconscious, animistic terror. This is an arresting painting and it is a superb contrast to the more serene works found in the rest of the exhibition. Agni Ardi is a gifted artist of much depth, and his paintings are delightful.
