Artist : Agus Tian
Genre : Paintings
Period : March 31 till June
30
Everyday, 11.00AM till Midnight
Location : Kwizien Bistro Restaurant,
Jl. Raya Kaliasem, Lovina Beach,
Tel. 0362-42031
For many years the Café des Artistes, in Ubud, has
been offering a successful combination of Fine Food and Fine
Art to their clientele. The proprietor, Mr. Rudy Kerremans,
is a well-known Ubud Patron of the Arts, and it has long been
his philosophy to make the wall space of his restaurant available
to emerging and established Ubud artists. Mr. Rudy has now
created a new Bar-Bistro-Restaurant, called Kwizien, at Lovina
Beach, in which he will continue to make this space available
to local artists. Kwizien is a rather glamorous and ‘up-market’
restaurant, and it offers a very high standard of French/Belgium
cuisine that will, no-doubt, find much favor with local residents
and tourists alike. In the restaurant’s very chic and
minimal ambiance, Mr. Rudy has chosen to exhibit the extremely
affable work of Agus Tian as Kwizien’s inaugural exhibition
‘Aku Cinta Padamu’.
Agus Tian was born in Sumatra, Indonesia, on August 18th,
1981. From a young age, he says, he displayed an affinity
towards the creation of art. After living and traveling throughout
Indonesia for several years, he decided to make the town of
Ubud, Bali, the base for his life and work. For a twenty-five-year-old
artist Agus has exhibited extensively, in places as diverse
as Banyuwangi, Yogyakarta, Ubud, Jakarta and Singapore. As
a self-taught artist, Agus says: “I learn through experimentation
with different styles, techniques and materials. My artistic
concept is to create beautiful images by utilizing the experiences
from my daily life and spiritual explorations”.
The paintings in this exhibition are created in the familiar
Ubud Figurative Expressionist style. Agus builds up thick
dense layers of paint in large free-flowing brushstrokes.
Out of this brushwork strange amorphous shapes can emerge,
which Agus then highlights with pencil and crayon scratches
to suggest human, animal or landscape forms. Text can sometimes
be scraped into the paint, and occasionally elements of collage
can appear in the form of photographs of Balinese Gods and
Demons, or amusing headlines from local Balinese newspapers,
which, taken ‘out-of-context’, can provide a humorous
subtext to the content of the canvases. What is refreshing
about these works is that Agus’ palette is not typically
brazen or confrontational. Rather, he employs soft, subdued
tones that create a subtle sense of serenity and peace.
In the painting ‘Ganesha’, created in a tonal
range of ochre, brown and grey, a large ‘blob’
is outlined by pencil marks to suggest the legs, trunk and
eyes of an elephant, while, in the painting ‘I Love
You So Much’, gentle tones of pink, grey and blue, plus
a bold burgundy, combine to suggest the form of a strolling
monkey or orangutan. In the red, orange, pink and peach painting
‘Wish You Were Here’ various images of the Buddha
have been collaged into the paint. All of these works reflect
Agus’ preoccupation with a variety of Asian spiritual
explorations in a very elegant and sensitive way. These works
offer an understated point of departure for personal contemplation.
Perhaps the most intriguing paintings in the exhibition are
a series of nine small untitled works. These canvases are
only 12 X 12 inches each and have all the appearances of excerpts
from a personal journal. In a lovely smooth range of colors,
moving through pink, red, blue, navy, ochre, cream, khaki,
grey, orange, yellow, brown, beige and peach, Agus uses these
‘little’ works to make observations on his daily
life. Basic drawings of parrots can be found nesting in trees,
while simply delineated chickens scratch in the dirt. The
rolling hills and turbulent skies of the Ubud countryside
are suggested, while casual day-trips to the beach are implied.
As the brushstrokes flow easily from one small canvas to the
next, a delicate narrative appears to take form. The tranquility
and simple pleasures of daily village life become abundantly
clear. All of these nine paintings are created in a relaxed
and carefree manner which has much visual appeal, and amply
demonstrates Agus’ effective brushwork, painting techniques
and gracious sense of color.
For someone so young, Agus shows a great deal of talent. But,
it is his decision to avoid the brash and garish and flamboyant
forms of Figurative Expressionism, and, instead, aim for a
more refined and delicate approach to composition and illustration
that is the most impressive aspect of his work. Agus’
canvases are extremely harmonious and they sit very well in
the clean lines of the Kwizien restaurant space. If you are
in Lovina anytime over the next three months check-out the
restaurant and this impressive inaugural exhibition. Also,
try the beef cubes boiled in black Belgium beer. Delicious!
E-mail: artwords2004@yahoo.com.au
