Artist : Made Wijaya
Genre : Photographs
Period : October 27 till
December 14
Everyday, 8.00AM till 10.00PM
Location : Richard Meyer Culture
Jl. Petitenget 200XX, Kerobokan
Tel: 7445179
Renowned landscape architect Made Wijaya is currently holding
an exhibition of photographs, entitled ‘Tukang - Beauty
in the Workplace’, at Richard Meyer Culture in Petitenget.
This exhibition is unusual in a couple of ways. Firstly, it
contains some extremely large format prints created on vinyl
that are installed outdoors in the space surrounding the gallery,
and, secondly, the show contains some extremely confrontational
imagery.
The photographs in this exhibition are mostly portraits of
workers from various professions whom Made has come into contact
with in his travels through-out Indonesia. “Often saturated
with intense color, or showing a very subtle patina, the photographs
express a deep and subtle empathy for the subjects and their
individual beauty and surroundings. This is work that is direct,
uncalculated and modern, capable of challenging the very idea
that photography might not be on the level of painting”.
In the past, photography has been regarded as the ‘poor’
cousin of painting, for they do have many similarities in
common. Form, shape, color and composition are components
to be found in both mediums, but, the instantaneous way in
which the photographic image is captured lends itself to interpretations
of how we ‘see’ reality, rather than how we ‘depict’
it. In this show, Made reveals how he ‘sees’ reality,
and these observations are clearly conveyed to the viewer.
It is widely appreciated that the camera is a sort of detached
eye. The mechanisms of which are analogous to the mechanisms
of the human eye. When one says of one-self that one is ‘only
a camera’, that is tantamount to saying that one is
but an eye. One registers what is there, what would have been
there whether one had seen it or not, and that, as an eye,
or a camera, one makes no contribution to the visual array,
and, in particular, that one does not judge. But, there is
another system of knowledge connected to the eye. The relationship
between the external world and the photographer. In this system
of knowledge, the eyes are, as the saying goes, ‘the
windows of the soul’, or, of the photographer. The photographer
reveals himself through the way he presents the world. The
photograph becomes an intermingling between body and soul.
Between object and subject. To read a photograph is to inevitably
and inextricably to read the mind and soul of the photographer,
as well as to perceive a visual record of the way the world
appeared at the moment the photograph was created. We learn
more about the photographer through his choice of subject.
By the way in which the subject is addressed, and from what
is revealed about his personal attitude towards the subject.
The large format outdoor photographs on display in this exhibition
are very impressive when it comes to scale, but, all-the-same,
these prints remain ever-so slightly blurred, and the intensity
of the colors does not match the vibrancy and clarity of the
smaller scale images displayed inside the gallery. What these
smaller, and subtly intense, photographs display is a gentle,
soft-core homosexual-eroticism. Much emphasis is placed on
naked torsos and denim-clad crotches in these photographs.
All of the chosen subjects possess a youthful beauty that
is more androgynous than masculine, as they coolly glance
towards the photographer, directly into the camera-lens, and
then on into the viewer, with an inquisitive, tempting gaze.
Body language alone suggests that more is on offer here than
hammering-in some nails or mixing-up some paint. The sexy
suggestions of the images are very hard not to miss.
Actually, the day I visited the gallery to check-out the show
a group of young ‘gay’ Indonesians was already
there. They were having a great time. Whispering and Giggling
and Pointing at the photographs. So, apparently, the whole
message of the exhibition was not lost on them. No-doubt,
this show will find its audience in the ‘gay’
enclaves of Seminyak, rather than in the ‘straight’
art-world at large. This is a shame, because Made’s
exhibition does carry a very strong message to the more conservative
and cautious viewer. Bali is a melting-pot of cultures. Apart
from the Balinese, with-in this tiny island you can find representatives
from practically every major island in the archipelago, plus
an extraordinary range of both tourist and local Westerners.
The island’s ‘gay’ community is a small
sub-culture of this vibrant microcosm we call Bali, yet this
community possesses enormous influence in the Cultural, Social
and Financial Institutions of the island’s make-up.
For far too long this powerful sub-culture has been tolerated,
but ignored. Not intentionally political, never-the-less,
Made’s exhibition does remain controversial, as it succeeds
in putting a face onto this small but influential minority.
A face that is undoubtedly beautiful, but, a face that also
displays an enormous determination, strength, character and
courage.
