Artist : Hansen
Thiam Sun
Genre : Paintings
Period : July 14 till
September 30
Everyday, 10.00AM till 9.00PM
Location : Alila Gallery Ubud
Desa
Melinggih Kelod, Payangan, Gianyar
Tel:
975963
Hansen Thiam Sun was born in Toho, West Borneo, and he is
a pioneer of the minimalist painting style in Indonesia. Since
his return from his studies in the USA, in the 1980’s,
Hansen lived in Bandung for twelve years before moving to
Ubud in 2003, where he established the Hansen Art Gallery.
This gallery does much to promote non-representational painting
styles in Bali. However, as his exhibition ‘East-West:
Through Women’ demonstrates, Hansen also absorbed much
knowledge of contemporary culture, in the form of Pop Art,
during his stay in the States. This knowledge Hansen has channeled
into an interesting body of work which attempts to further
enhance the concept of East-West Fusion Art within Indonesia.
For this exhibition Hansen does not rely on abstraction and
minimalism. Instead, he turns his attention to figurative
representation in a series of confrontational images. Speaking
of these paintings Hansen states: “The impact of popular
culture, especially from the USA, throughout the world is
undeniable and it is now happening on a large scale. The excesses
of this culture can be found everywhere. The truth is that
the popular culture itself contains good and bad things. In-the-same-way,
the local culture, or what we understand as ‘Eastern’
culture, does not always contain goodness or wisdom. The East
culture also has its incompleteness or badness”. To
reflect this dichotomy Hansen presents a series of alluring
women, dressed in lingerie, provocatively arranged before
a background of calligraphy.
In Hansen’s paintings there co-exist two different forms
of representation. In the female figures western illusionistic
techniques such as perspective, significant line depicting
the female form, and chiaroscuro modeling to the face and
body are employed, while the background is a more abstract
mode of painting, which includes a Chinese-like calligraphy
of a decorative and contemplative style. The indecipherable
Chinese calligraphy, which is found in the background of every
painting, symbolizes, for Hansen, an imaginary language which
can be used as a tool for non-verbal communication. The women,
on-the-other-hand, could have been lifted entirely from a
Vogue lingerie supplement. All the women are depicted in provocative
poses; they are scantily dressed, heavily ‘made-up’
with lipstick and eye-shadow, and gaze out of the canvases
as if absorbed by their own reflection. The myriad marks of
decorative brushwork on the lingerie and hair emphasizes the
artifice of the image. This makes a strong ironic contrast
with the background and contemplative role of the calligraphy.
Throughout the history of art, whether in the West or the
East, women have always been timeless sexual objects in fine
art. Theobjectification of women in Hansen’s paintings
could raise serious issues amongst Feminists, when confronted
by Hansen’s work. The paintings are in a sense voyeuristic,
although not erotic, for the work cannot merely be reduced
to its content without acknowledging both the formal qualities
of the paintings and the artist’s intent. Hansen justifies
these images by stating that “women” in his paintings
“are neutral objects. Human”, Hansen says, “Is
something full of paradox and controversy”. In Hansen’s
eyes “Woman is Human and also part of Man”. Whether
or not Hansen succeeds with this argument, and whether or
not he succeeds in contributing to the advancement of East-West
Fusion Art can be evaluated by a brief examination of the
paintings.
In typical Pop Art style all of Hansen’s paintings are
produced almost identically. ‘File of Woman 8, 9, 10
and 11’, which are just four examples of the works on
show, all display a sense of ‘mechanical reproduction’
much admired by pop artists. The calligraphy is embedded into
the background in each painting in the same manner. The delicate
dabs, curls and swirls of the material of the lingerie are
constantly repeated, and the impressive line work that delineates
each woman is immaculately reproduced. Hansen displays a stunning
ability to create illusionistic figures, yet, the women depicted
do not acquire mass or solid form found in traditional realist
work. Rather, by using soft colors and sweeping evocative
lines, Hansen creates intentionally flat forms. These women
are ‘cartoon-like’, and this links them to popular
culture and their roots in Pop Art.
All-the-same, it can be argued whether Hansen has successfully
created an East-West fusion. The calligraphy can easily be
misinterpreted as decorative elements in the works, rather
than statements of localization. Yet, there is one outstanding
feature all the women in these images have, and that is their
sense of ‘Zen’ calmness. As each woman gazes from
her canvas you feel an amazing sense of ‘aloneness’.
Not to be confused with ‘loneliness’, these women
deliver a sense of completeness; an assuredness in the mind
and body. This is that inscrutable Asian spiritual philosophy
which is almost impossible to depict, and which Hansen has
caught so well in his paintings.
The emphasis on the objectification of women to be found in
the paintings, plus whether or not they succeed as East-West
Fusion, are both contentious issues. Nevertheless, being faithful
to the tenants of Pop Art, in which there is no meaning to
be found except for that which the individual brings to it,
as examples of contemporary Pop Art, Hansen’s exhibition
succeeds very well.
