Artist : Slamet Basuki
Genre : Paintings
Period : October 15 till November 30
Everyday, 10.00AM till Midnight
Location : Café des Artistes
Jalan Bisma 9X, Ubud.
Tel: 972706
Slamet Basuki is an autodidactic painter. This is to say that he is self-taught. But, this observation is not meant to disparage his art. He is a fine painter. There may have been circumstances preventing him receiving a formal art training, or, conversely, he may not have wished to seek one. Usually, with autodidactic artists, there is an overwhelming desire to create, plus a clarity of vision and expression that could only be impaired by the disciplines of academic study. Autodidactic artists also tend to be loners. Their vision is often highly personal and their art can easily defy customary categorization.
Born in Magetan, East Java, on October 24, 1955, Slamet received his initial art training in the Art Market Ancol Jakarta, under the careful supervision of Sudaryono Sudarso. As he gained confidence his work became more and more successful, to the point, where, in the last six years, he has participated in over nine exhibitions, in venues as diverse as the Bali Cliff and Nusa Dua Beach Hotels, the Crown Plaza Hotel and WTC Building in Jakarta, and the Bharata Art Gallery in Ubud. Currently, his work is on show in an intriguing exhibition entitled ‘Dancing Colours’, at the Café des Artistes in Ubud.
Speaking about his art, Slamet says: “Basically every country has many varieties in culture, traditions and artistries. Indonesia has lots of tribes like the Asmat, Dayak, Javanese, Balinese and the Torajan. They all have a different culture and tradition which is clearly expressed in their artworks. I try to combine decorative, ethnic and primitive influences from all over the archipelago and make the deformation complete, thus it creates a new style, never seen before”. Slamet may be attempting to create a homogeneous Indonesian art, but, there is evidence of the influence of Western Art Styles within his work that suggests he could be using them to achieve his goal.
Slamet’s paintings all depict troupes of women, whether in groups of three, five, seven or nine, participating in an elaborate Indonesian dance. The arms, torsos and legs of these women have been elongated and exaggerated in a primitive way to emphasis the sense of movement. The energetic colours, consisting mainly of shades of blue, red, orange and yellow, are applied to the canvases in thick brushstrokes or with intense, staccato, paint daubs. Much consideration is given to the placement of the figures and the space around them. These techniques are hallmarks of Western Expressionism.
There is a strong sense of Conceptual Art to be found in these works. Slamet paints the same image over and over again. The elongation and exaggeration of the bodies never varies. The repetitive, zigzagging, vertical and horizontal lines to be found in the paintings remain constant. When grouped together, and viewed en masse, an extraordinary pattern emerges over the canvases that unite the paintings in a dazzling display of carefree decoration. Strong vertical patterns move down the canvases, created by the zigzagging arms and legs, while a subtle horizontal movement is carried across the paintings by the placement of heads, shoulders and feet. The effect is mesmerizing.
Finally, elements of Ironic-Pop-Art can also be found within the paintings. The use of repetition goes without saying, but, Slamet’s choice of a banal subject matter is the key to understanding this work. There is no doubt that these images are based on Indonesian fabrics. The zigzagging pattern can be found throughout Indonesian ethnic art and artifacts. Having chosen to paint a subject of no real significance, Slamet, and the viewer, is free to observe these canvases purely as exercises in painting, where the meaning of the work is the practice of painting in itself. This is a very detached and cool art.
The central image of Slamet’s paintings, that of the dancing women, can be seen as a successful blending of primitive, decorative and ethnic themes that possibly results in the creation of a harmonized Indonesian style. But, I am sure that this could not have been achieved without Slamet applying some principles of Contemporary Western Art. Consequently, I think it can be reasonable to classify Slamet’s work as East-West Fusion, and to categorize him as a Fusion Artist. Fusion Art is a dominant movement in Indonesian art at the moment, and this movement can only grow stronger as more and more Indonesian artists choose to address International art trends and concerns, while retaining an appreciation of their traditional art, cultures and values.
