Paintings by I Wayan Sila
At Kwizien Bistro Restaurant
Jl. Raya Kaliasem, Lovina Beach
Tel. 0362-42031
Back in the mid 1960’s, when Andy Warhol was enjoying
his own fifteen minutes of fame as one of the founding fathers
of Pop Art, he still maintained a respect for the American
Abstract Expressionists. Seeing a distinction between his
own work and theirs. He regarded their art as ‘real’
painting. However, the admiration was not reciprocated. The
heavy weight abstractionists and the elitist New York critics
regarded him as just so much ‘fluff’, and relegated
his art to the Kitsch category. Warhol’s art was based
on style and fashion and the Cult of the Celebrity, featuring
‘tragic’ women such as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth
Taylor and Jacqueline Kennedy. But, his choice of the rich,
famous and beautiful carries a certain amount of political
weight in an age in-which chic is at once envied and reviled.
Warhol was not only celebrating but also criticizing popular
mass images and values. Although Warhol enjoyed an enormous
success with his celebrity portraits, there were moments,
especially when he was depicting outrageous subject matter
like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, that his art did slide into
the Kitsch.
No-one really knows where the term ‘Kitsch’ comes
from, but it is used to describe products without style which
lay claim to artistic value. Kitsch developed to take many
forms, from cheap paperbacks, pop songs, and Hollywood movies
to religious and political propaganda. Kitsch creates a kind
of harmony through romantic images, trivializing classical
genres of art, supplanting beauty with symmetry, emotion with
sentimentality, tragedy with sensation, and greatness with
pathos. Following the integration of mass culture images into
art, Kitsch established itself into the realm of fine art,
with an ironic sense of humor. Jeff Koons’ white porcelain
and gold-leaf statue of Michael Jackson and his pet chimpanzee
would rate highly on the Kitsch scale. So too would the glittery
and gaudy celebrity photos of French couple Pierre & Gilles.
Put it this way, anything painted on black velvet is Kitsch.
Clowns and waifs with big crying eyes are Kitsch. In fact,
anything with big dewy eyes, be it pussy cats, puppy dogs
or bunny rabbits are Kitsch.
When viewing Balinese artist I Wayan Sila’s exhibition
‘Kata-Kata’ the initial impression is one of Kitsch.
However, there are some features to his work that rescues
it from this art category. Sila was born and lives in Ubud.
He studied Balinese painting under Wayan Jujul, and his grand-father
is Wayan Barwa, a well known Balinese artist. Sila’s
muse is the owl. He paints owls in the forest, using traditional
Balinese painting techniques adapted to his own unique fashion.
Sila places many variations of delicate colors, layered on
canvas, to create his own tranquil world that is infused with
the mysterious symbolism of the owl. Throughout history, and
across all cultures, the owl has always maintained a special
symbolism. Perhaps, because it is a nocturnal bird, and it
possesses such strange hypnotic eyes, it is always associated
with mysticism, the supernatural, and ghosts and spirits.
It can represent wisdom, and it can be a harbinger of future
events. Not necessarily an evil omen, the owl, nonetheless,
creates an eerie impression. Even today, UFO mythology suggests
that the victims of alien abductions have implanted in their
memory an impression of an owl, to act as a ‘false memory’,
and to ‘mask’ the deep psychological shock of
the encounter.
Sila utilizes a time extensive and intricate Balinese painting
technique to create his haunting images. An outline is first
drawn with a handmade bamboo pen in Chinese ink on canvas.
Then, two brushes, one with water and Chinese ink and the
other containing water only, in order to lighten the ink,
are applied to complete a black and white sketch. Finally,
small amounts of delicately colored acrylic paint, lightened
by water, are applied to make the finished image. Over-painting
in yellow, white or brown, applied with a handmade bamboo
pen, creates the light and shade. Sila makes all his own canvases,
bamboo pens and brushes. He adapts traditional Balinese painting
techniques, and traditional Balinese designs, to create his
evocative images.
In the paintings ‘Alam Damai’ and ‘Two Owls’
Balinese motifs in the decorative use of the foliage and the
traditional colors of yellow, ochre and beige are highly featured,
whereas, in the paintings ‘Heiwa’ and ‘Sakura
Kehangatan’ Balinese style has been transformed into
a subtle Japanese effect, most notably in the use of blossoms
and leaves. Finally, ‘Aijyou’ and ‘Cactus’
display an almost Western style of illustration that would
not look out of place in a children’s book. All of the
works exhibit a high degree of artistic skill, plus an acute
sensibility attuned to the sensitive subject matter.
However, there is no getting around the fact that Wayan Sila’s
work does contain a certain amount of Kitsch value. It is
sentimental and schmaltzy. Yet, thankfully, Sila’s work
is not of the ostentatious and vulgar variety. Rather, it
is underplayed, and draws on the familiarity of the subject
matter to evoke a romantic response, conditioned by the notable
painting techniques of the artist. Sila’s art is actually
rather enchanting, and it draws the viewer into a magical
land full of enthralling mysteries and metaphors. Are Sila’s
fine paintings Kitsch? It is hard to say, but, all is in the
eye of the beholder!
