Artist : Andrea Aliani & John Stanmeyer
Genre : Paintings and Photography
Period : June 15 till September 30
Everyday, 10.00AM till 10.00PM
Location : Exhibit
Jl. Petitenget No. 106, Kerobokan
Tel: 739385
Out along Jl. Petitenget, in Kerobokan, a cluster of new art
galleries have suddenly sprung up over the last few months.
One of the more interesting galleries is Exhibit, which is
a large airy space with plenty of hanging room. It is an attractive
gallery that is currently exhibiting its inaugural show in
a very professional manner. Exhibit’s first show, ‘Between
Times’, features the work of Andrea Aliani, who is an
Italian abstract-expressionist painter, and John Stanmeyer,
who is a social-realist photo-journalist. Both artists are
currently resident in Bali.
Aliani says that the sources of inspiration for her work are
the painters Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock, and, initially,
she was drawn to the work of Joan Miro. Her art, she feels,
is more emotional than intellectual. “Most of my art
is drawn from the unconscious. The unconscious is for me the
source of my artistic production and expression. It is necessary
for my individual freedom. When I am working, my sense of
alienation immediately ceases. I can finally feel in contact
with my self. In a sense, my art is achingly personal. For
me, it is true that what I am is what I create. I can declare
that for me, art is life”.
Aliani is an intuitive abstract artist obsessed with form
and color, and has inventive ways of dealing with space. Her
soft biomorphic shapes, rendered in a palette of pastel grey,
blue, pink, brown, orange and fawn, drift over a neutral background
to create an over-all design which destroys any illusionistic
space. The paintings do not appear to be pre-determined, but,
rather, emerge almost by chance out of the conscious interaction
between the artist and the medium.
The influence of Rothko and Pollock are readily noted in Aliani’s
paintings such as ‘Untitled: 25 September, 2002’
or ‘Untitled: 4 November, 2005’. In these works
large expressive brushstrokes create beautifully balanced
organic shapes that express a delicate sense of serenity.
Though the brushwork is guttural the overall sense is one
of peace and harmony. A unification between intuition and
expression. Other works, such as ‘Untitled: 13 April
2002’, exhibit the surreal influence of Miro, in which
the hint of human forms emerge from the lavishly applied paint.
Created predominantly in blues there is perhaps an aquatic
theme to this work, in which humans intermingle with marine
life in a tranquil primordial ooze. All of Aliani’s
works display an exquisite sense of placement, a total mastery
of her medium, and a choice of palette that is refreshing.
Her work also shows a great deal of decorative charm that
results in very appealing canvases.
John Stanmeyer has been living in Asia for the last decade.
Stanmeyer is one of the world’s leading social documentarians,
having witnessed most of Asia’s recent major historical
events. He has received many prestigious photo-journalism
awards and recognitions. Working regularly for Time, Stanmeyer
has also traveled the globe for other magazines such as National
Geographic, Paris Match, and German Geo. John Stanmeyer’s
work has been shown worldwide but this is his first exhibition
in Indonesia.
John Stanmeyer’s photographs are superb. Apart from
technical necessities such as balance, composition and lighting,
Stanmeyer has an uncanny knack for being at the right place
at the right time, and to totally capture the moment. The
photographs are both fascinating and disturbing as they capture
the horror and sorrow of war and rebellion; the innocent victims,
unknown faces, ruined lives, grief and anger. While capturing
the political upheavals that have tormented Asia in recent
years, Stanmeyer has also given these images a poignant human-interest
appeal. In the photograph, ‘Balloons, Kabul’,
refugees find the time to appreciate and enjoy the simple
pleasures of a bunch of balloons drifting above the crowd.
Many of Stanmeyer’s images contain these candid, almost
ironic, observations that bring his photographs to life. They
transcend the normal function of photo-journalism, where the
photograph is a mere illustration of the newspaper or magazine’s
text. These images remind us that they are depicting ordinary
people in real situations. The photos move from being documents
of historical events into something verging on the realm of
visual-poetry.
The gallery Exhibit has taken a bold risk in presenting two
artists that are diametrically opposed to each other through
contrasts in medium, style and subject-matter, but, on-the-whole,
I think they have pulled it off. Two very different moods
are created in the gallery, yet each beautifully compliments
and supports the other. Perhaps, this show indicates a broad
range of work that the gallery intends to exhibit in the future.
You would be well-advised to check out this most invigorating
and extremely stimulating exhibition.
