Artist : Made Gunawan
Genre : Painting
Period : February 13 till April 8
Everyday, 9.00AM to 5.00PM
Location : Jenggala Keramik
Tel: 703310
“
Woman” as “Elephant”! This is a concept many Westerners may have problems coming to grips with, elephants not being something we would immediately associate with feminine symbolism, but this is the theme that Made Gunawan is currently exploring in his exhibition at Jenggala Keramik. To paraphrase some of Made’s thoughts: he feels that “many things which belong to a woman, including beauty, have directly impacted on my personal experiences and have forced me to visualize them”. Consequently, in these paintings, Made has identified “Woman” with symbols of beauty such as flowers, long hair and other things that he feels contributes to a woman’s mystique. But why elephants you may ask? The elephant, in Made’s opinion, “isa big animal that is not greedy, is gentle in assisting humans, and in its mode of life demonstrates for us how important it is to live in peace and unity”. All of these qualities, Made believes, are essentially feminine, so the “Woman” figure found in his paintings has been inspired, or de-formatted, from the “Elephant”. What is interesting about this exhibition is that we can see Made’s thoughts take visual form.
The exhibition is neatly divided into two sections. In the first section the majority of the paintings concentrate on some of those “Elephant” qualities that Made has identified as feminine. Paintings such as “Fun on the Elephant”, “Studying on the Elephant” and “Together on the Elephant” all highlight the gentle, or nurturing, qualities of the “Elephant”. Painting in a semi-figurative mode Made has stylized the shapes of the “Elephant” into soft oblongs, squares and triangles with long sensuous forms suggesting the trunk. In the second part of the show, these symbols, derived from the “Elephant”, are further stylized to suggest the forms of “Woman”. The sensuous trunk now finds it counterpart in the curve of a female nude’s torso, or can be seen in the arc of an arm holding a cat to a woman’s breast.
Surprisingly, this transference of symbolism from “Elephant” to “Woman” works extremely well, and is perhaps best exemplified in the paintings “White Flowers I - IV”. In these four paintings the oblong “Elephant” shapes form the bulk of the “Woman” bodies, while her arms and legs echo the ears and legs found in the “Elephant” paintings. The position of the “Woman” is slightly varied in each painting, creating a nice sense of tension across the group. However, what results from this set of paintings is not a cumbersome image, as one would expect with an “Elephant” being the inspirational source, but rather, for want of better words, a loving “Earth Mother” image full of warmth and compassion.
It is bizarre to say, but I think the flaw of this show is its outstanding professionalism. There is no doubt Made is a very competent artist but the show is perhaps too well painted, if that is possible! Everything here is handled in the best of taste. Nothing is left to chance. There are no risks. No sudden surprises or unexpected accidents. Even dribbled splashes and splotches are expertly handled. But, as a critic, I wish that Made would sometimes break free and lash out and startle us with the unanticipated. Happily, there is a painting in this collection that does show much promise, and indicates a possible direction Made should further explore once he is free of the constrictions of semi-figurative painting.
The painting “Tika Imagination 1” is a work executed in a contemporary “grid” structure and plays with repetition and recurrence of image. Having established his iconography, in this painting Made further stylizes his “Elephant/Woman” images to basic squares, triangles and rectangles. In the central squares of the grid Made places these symbols in slightly differing positions. The effect is a wonderful cascade of abstract movement flowing freely across the canvas. The borders between “Woman” and “Elephant” are completely blurred and the outcome is an animalistic painting of femininity. Having dispensed with the semi-realistic figure, Made is free to explore his concepts of “femininity” in an abstract manner. This is an extremely delightful painting and is the highlight of the show.
Made’s exhibition is a successful demonstration of the creation of a personal visual lexicon. I look forward to seeing how Made develops, for I feel he is a painter with much potential, and on the strength of the “Tika Imagination 1” painting alone he is well worth keeping an eye on.
