Paintings, Sculpture, Digital Printing and
Video Performance
by various artists, at Gaya Art Space,
Jl. Raya Sayan, Ubud. Tel. 979252.
The exhibition, ‘Anti Aging’, at Gaya Art Space,
is typical of avant-garde shows in-which trends and artists
are spotlighted as representatives of a time, which is ‘now’,
and a place, which is Yogyakarta. The works can be viewed
as an alternative, or even an attack, on the conventional
definition of art and art practices. The ‘art’
object, at least as it has been traditionally conceived and
executed, is challenged. The exhibition presents a multiplicity
of concepts and ideas that make it difficult to think of the
exhibition except purely in terms of individual artists, or
even individual works, which can be seen as amusing, outrageous,
paradoxical, irritating and even often joyous.
Nindityo Adipurnomo’s catalogue notes state that the
concept of this ‘Anti Aging’ exhibition is to
“provoke and motivate the embryo of new thinking emerging
in the modes of many artists’ work, who use their vital
energy and fantasies to launch fresh and lively idioms to
explore and experiment with notions around aging”. Conversely,
Alexander Boldizar, the director of the Gaya Art Space, theorizes
that the art on display “has the power to create moments
of presence, bubbles of temporary permanence without sterility.
The best of art is the moment of ‘happening’.
This happening can occur at any moment in the life of the
work. It can stay in idea form and never materialize, or the
artist can be very generous with his energy and make manifest
something of his idea. The person looking at the work for
the first time can have a moment; when he remembers it he
can have a moment; it can be sitting above his couch or crouched
in a memory that pops out. A work of art has a life of its
own if it is a work of art. It can be like the life of a person.
A life within a life that expands time, for a moment of anti
aging”.
Whatever interpretation you wish to place on this exhibition,
whether it is Nindityo Adipurnomo’s vision of vigorous
and energetic artists forging new directions in experimental
art, or Alexander Boldizar’s idea of art being a cathartic
or epiphany-like moment of revelation, what the exhibition
reveals are 15 contemporary avant-garde Indonesian artists,
who take their audience through a whirlwind tour of recent
and current artistic styles and concepts.
Abdi Setiawan. Born in West Sumatra in 1971, he presents life-size
and life-like wooden sculptures of ordinary Indonesian citizens,
which perhaps find their inspiration in the work of American
‘Pop Sculptor’ George Segal.
Agus Suwage. Born in Purworejo in 1959. Suwage suggests in
his work that ‘Pop Art’ will be alive for ever.
Although ‘Pop’ culture has a short historical
background new ‘Pop’ movements will always be
invented, Suwage implies.
Anusapati. Born in Surakarta in 1957, he creates works inspired
by daily objects that are used by the rural populace. The
objects are created from natural materials and they remain
simple in form, and are intended for use.
Beatrix Hendriani Kaswara was born in 1984. She paints primary
colored acrylic works that appear to find their source in
photographs, which are then treated by computer-filter-effects
found in soft-ware like Adobe Photoshop.
Christine Ay Tjoe. Born in Bandung in 1973, Christine regards
the human outer-skin as the element of identification. She
makes ‘packages’ from found objects, that are
then photographed and presented as digital-prints on canvas.
Eko Didyk Sukowati (Codit). Born in Central Java in 1977.
Throughout his collages Codit depicts a ‘Pop’
world, full of glamour, with a touch of revolt. His art reveals
‘cool’ global and local funky ‘Pop Icons’
and ‘Stereo-Types’.
Eko Nugroho. Born in Yogyakarta in 1977. By observing reality,
and taking inspiration from comic-books, Nugroho visualizes
his themes with a great sense of irony, which comment on political,
environmental and social issues.
Fx. Harsono. Born in Blitar in 1949, Harsono is the oldest
participant in the exhibition, and his works are involved
with issues connected with the recent International movements
of Minimalism, Conceptualism and Installation.
Hedi Hariyanto. Born in Malang in 1962, his work studies the
relationship between the human, nature and the environment.
Hariyanto’s sculptures and installations comment on
the growing Indonesian culture of ‘Consumerism’.
Ag Kus Widananto (Jompet). Born in Yogyakarta in 1977. Jompet
is one of the few Indonesian artists exploring Video. He questions
Javanese social ‘Stereo-Types’, and hopefully
these queries can act as a stimulus for change.
Melati Suryodarmo. Born in Surakarta in 1969, Melati is a
Performance Artist, who attempts to “touch the layers
of her emptiness”. Photographic documentation of her
Performances are presented as digital-prints on canvas.
Nindityo Adipurnomo. Born in Semarang in 1961, he questions
the male dominance to be found in most Indonesian families.
Nindityo discloses that Indonesian paternalism is an inherited,
inescapable and intimate experience.
Popok Triwahyudi. Born in Mojokerto in 1973. Inspired by cartoons
and the mass-media, Popok offers, in a witty way, a view of
his crowded world that censures and doubts the systems of
values in Indonesian social classes.
S. Teddy Darmawan. Born in Padang in 1970. The ‘Head’
and the ‘House’, and the interchange of these
‘Icons’, have appeared as ‘Signs’
throughout Teddy’s work. He presents forms and messages
to study, decode and absorb.
Terra Brajaghosa. Born in Yogyakarta in 1980. Terra collects
images from media sources, such as TV, magazines, billboards,
web-designs and posters. He uses these as part of his process
in ‘interfering’ with pre-existing images.
Viewed as a survey of avant-garde art trends, the exhibition
‘Anti Aging’ can be seen as a dynamic outburst
of creative energy, from a selection of Indonesian artists
who are working to show how new ideas do, can, and should
replace old ones. This show demonstrates that ‘Art’
is, and should, always be in a state of ‘Flux’.
The artists display a dedication to constantly re-evaluating
their Indonesian culture and heritage. Maybe the greatest
benefit of this show, however, is ‘intellectual stimulation’.
As a prescription for ‘Anti Aging’ nothing beats
a hefty dose of stimulus to the old brain cells!
