Artist :Lony Wings
Genre : Paintings
Period : June 1 till July 15
Everyday, 10.00AM till 6.00PM
Location : Café des Artistes
Jl. Bisma 9X, Ubud
Tel: 972706
Born in 1976 in Banyuwangi, East-Java, Lony Wings studied art in Bandung then he moved to Bali, to find inspiration for his work. Lony has traveled extensively throughout Bali, painting in places as diverse as Jimbaran, Kuta, Nusa Dua, Ubud and Sanur, while he continues to search for inspiration and develop his techniques of realistic painting. Lony has provided extensive Artist’s Notes to accompany his exhibition, ‘Consensusism’, at the Café des Artistes, so it is easiest, and best, to let his own words speak for him:
“
The idea of my paintings is to show, or to make people believe, that there are possibilities to communicate with nature, culture and the spirit through art. I have been inspired by Dutch landscape painting techniques, which I translate into a Balinese style through the depiction of rice fields, temples, the beach and other natural elements. Color is important for me in my work. Featured colors are Yellow, Red, Blue and Green. The canvases are layered in color, which suggests a sense of serenity, and the reduced color palette enhances the power of symbolism. Yellow suggests contemplative bliss and joyful anticipation, Red is a silent power and life energy, Blue is rest, peace and fulfillment, while Green stands for purity, fruitfulness and emotion”.
During his travels Lony claims he met a ‘Dutch guy’, who he doesn’t name, who introduced him to a ‘new’ painting style called ‘Consensusism’. Taken from the Latin word ‘consensus’, meaning peace, harmony and accord, this painting style apparently “depicts scenes of light and harmony emerging to take the place of scenes full of despondency, darkness and gloom”. For Lony, ‘Consensusism’ expresses “our visions of a peaceful and blissful world in radiant colors and minimalist form. The contrasting colors evoke excitement and vitality. ‘Consensusism’ paintings exude an atmosphere of harmony and repose, a world where man and beast are still sleeping”.
This may be all well and good, but, there is no such thing as a ‘new’ art style. The history of art illustrates again and again that all emerging styles build and develop from pre-existing modes. When analyzing and appraising Lony’s work, I would like to suggest who this unnamed ‘Dutch guy’ could possibly be, who influenced him so much. Perhaps this mysterious Dutch influence could have come from Piet Mondrian! I am not claiming that Lony met Mondrian, that would be impossible, considering that he died in 1944, but I think that there can be no doubt that Lony came under the influence of a Mondrian follower or admirer, for there is much in common between Lony’s ‘Consensusism’ ideas and the esoteric theories of Mondrian.
Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) developed his own personal spiritual-scientific philosophy of asceticism into a powerful, bold, art form, which he called Neoplasticism (more commonly referred to as the De Stijl), in which shapes, lines and, in-particular, color, all have autonomous values and relationships. After Fauvist and Cubist beginnings, Mondrian developed a structural system of painting that emphasized the universal nature of color, and restricted his canvases to the primary colors of red, yellow and blue. This structured purism of color was seen by Mondrian as a symbol of the inner order of the world, and his colors, and their relationships to one another, were intended to symbolize certain values, senses or emotions; such as joy, bliss, power, energy, peace, purity, fulfillment, etc. The similarities between Mondrian’s theories and ‘Consensusism’ ideals are extraordinarily alike!
Lony’s paintings recall the Fauvist and Cubist periods of Mondrian’s work. His canvases, of sea and landscapes, are created in a loose grid structure, and feature a reduction of form into basic squares, triangles, rectangles and, occasionally, curves. Color is restricted to the basic primaries, and is applied to flat, unblemished surfaces. There is little expressive brushwork to be found. This allows the colors to radiate and glow in a pure, undiluted form. Perhaps the best examples of Lony’s color theories can be found in the two paintings ‘Ciel Bleu I and II’. A simple landscape, comprising of a building and trees, is created primarily in the tonal ranges of Red and Yellow in the canvas ‘Ciel Bleu 1’. This work suggests the pleasures of a robust Summer. Exactly the same image is created in a Blue and Green tonal range in the painting ‘Ciel Bleu II’. The result is a more melancholy canvas, suggesting the severity and hardships of Winter. These paintings more than adequately prove Lony’s point that color can influence our perceptions of the image.
Whether or not I agree with the originality of Lony’s ‘Consensusism’ theories is a debatable issue, for all artists are allowed, and should find, inspiration in the work of others. But, I readily admit that the combination of Lony’s Indonesian heritage and historical Dutch influences have resulted in paintings that guide us through a world of peace, joy, contentment and harmony. Lony uses color to express the mysticism of our inner world, and like stained glass windows, these works illuminate with a spiritual light.
