Artist : Made Wianta
Genre: Paintings, Hand-Painted Ceramics and Glass
Period : February 17 till April 20 Everyday,
9.00AM till 6.00PM
Location : Jenggala Art Gallery, Jl. Uluwatu II, Jimbaran,
Tel: 703311
Made Wianta was born on December 20, 1949 in Apuan, Tabanan,
Bali. From a very young age he learned about traditional Balinese
painting, and discovered early on the styles he would like
to explore, such as Balinese ethnic motifs that incorporate
the use of batik, beads and decorative patterns. Wianta attended
The Indonesian Secondary School of Art in Denpasar from 1966
to 1969, then, he moved to Jogyakarta and attended the Indonesian
Institute of Fine Arts, and graduated in 1974. After living
in Jogyakarta for 4 years he moved to Brussels, Belgium, to
study Modern Western Art. In a career that has encompassed
over 30 years, Wianta has exhibited extensively throughout
Indonesia, plus, he has participated in many important and
successful exhibitions in Europe, America and Asia. Wianta’s
dedication to his art has made him one of the most influential
artists currently working in Indonesia, and, he is respected
for his continuous learning processes and sense of discovery,
which has earned him the reputation of being a multi talented
artist. Wianta creates in many forms, ranging from painting,
batik, music, theatre, dance, poetry, calligraphy and even
to installation. He is continually exploring all the elements
of art. Wianta says his creative and relentless mind constantly
needs ways of expression, and that he chooses a variety of
mediums to express his inner thoughts and emotions, but, it
is his work as an Abstract Expressionist Painter that gives
him his most eminence.
Abstract Expressionism was an Art Movement initiated in New
York, after the Second World War, in which the painting process,
as an expression of spontaneous emotions and spiritual or
physical energies, was the reason for and the objective of
painting. This art style, in which new painting methods such
as ‘drip painting’ were employed, is sometimes
called Action Painting, because the act of painting, and its
sequences of movements, become the theme of the picture. In
Made Wianta’s fine exhibition, ‘Natural Flowing’,
at Jenggala Art Gallery, he uses many of the ‘free-flowing’
principles of Abstract Expressionism to create a sublime physical
and spiritual journey. Inspired by his travels to many places
around the world, Wianta’s paintings portray these journeys
as seen through the window of a high-flying airplane. “I
was mesmerized by the light, dew, rain, snow, ocean, beach,
lagoon, meadow and tree. Many different nuances that present
deeper meanings and appreciation towards life. Anything that
touches my heart and awakens my deepest emotions and makes
me want to continue creating and observing, because life doesn’t
just stop at one point and learning has no ending”.
As observed from 30,000 feet, Wianta portrays the land masses
and oceans as interblending swirls and splashes of flowing
and merging watery acrylic paint. A navy headland may surge
into an aquamarine sea banded by a golden line of foreshore.
White lines, representing rivers, may playfully wind their
way through dark valleys or barren red deserts. The world,
as observed from this height, is reduced to nothing more than
shapes and forms that appear to have an underlying pattern
that interconnects them through some intangible logic. The
world, as observed from this height, appears in its full majesty,
where the human presence is unimportant compared to the mystery
of nature. Somewhat like the oil slicks used in psychedelic
light shows of the early seventies, Wianta infuses these forms
with a cosmic sensibility. The works become images that trigger
within us a powerful emotional response. We move beyond reading
them as physical landscapes, and, instead, appreciate them
as landscapes of the mind. Paintings, such as ‘Always
Together’ and ‘Yellow Nuances’, even suggest
the basic elements of life, where amoebic sperm and ovum are
found swimming in a primeval ooze. Wianta takes us on a journey
in which we have no alternative but to question our place
and role in the measureless cosmic reality of the universe.
What is remarkable about these paintings, though, is that
Wianta frequently covers his splashes and smears of watery
paint with dots of primary colors, and squiggly little lines,
which recall his early fascination with Balinese beading and
decorative patterning. As a ‘cooling’ device these
marks are essentially telling us not to get too involved.
Read what you like into the works, but, remember, that they
are, after all, simply charming examples of color, tone, shape
and form. This blatant distancing is the signature of a true
master, and indicates Wianta’s total understanding of
the principles of Abstract Expressionism, in that the work,
even so, is only about the work.
