A Group Exhibition of Paintings,
at Kendra Gallery of Contemporary Art,
Jl. Drupadi 88b, Basangkasa. Tel: 736628.
In their exhibition, ‘Cosmetic Culture’, the Kendra Gallery explores the impact of the pervasive images of female beauty promoted by the Cosmetic Industry on women in general, and Indonesian women in-particular. Happiness, it appears, can only be achieved by improving one’s outward appearance, to attain a more beautiful, and socially approved, idealized and homogenized concept of beauty. Ten Bali based artists, who all work in the figurative genre, present clever subversive comments on cultural narcissism, conspicuous consumption, and the sexually charged Cosmetic Industry.
Archeologists have established that cosmetics were first used around 4000BC. Not only were they used as make-up and perfume, but they also took the form of fragrant ointments. Throughout the Roman Empire, Kohl was applied to darken eyelashes, and to accentuate the shape of the eyelids. The Romans also used a reddening agent as blush for the cheeks, and some whitening powders to enhance skin tone. The Knights of the Crusades returned with exotic cosmetics from the Middle East, and the popularity of cosmetics was established in Europe. After World War I, cosmetics were to become part of the new techniques of industrial manufacturing, packaging, and advertising. Cosmetics became accessible to all levels of society, regardless of race, age, or gender. A new industry was born, and ever since cosmetics have prospered in a world which is full of myths and miss-beliefs.
The concept of female beauty is not ‘real’, but is what French Philosopher Jean Baudrillard called ‘hyperreal’. Something ‘more real than real’. Something artificial that comes to be more definitive of the real than reality itself. Female beauty is the artificial product of images promoted by the Cosmetic Industry. Feminist thinking maintains that myths concerning cosmetics and beauty are injected into society through movies, magazines, television, newspapers, arts, and, are even reinforced by the education system. Feminists claim that the Cosmetic Industry has been constructed by a social, political, economic and cultural system that exploits women. Cosmetics can be seen as a cultural issue linked to patriarchal dominance.
Thus, it is interesting that the exhibition, ‘Cosmetic Culture’, displays the work of ten Male artists, and the observations they make on the influences of the male dominated and controlled Cosmetic Industry on Indonesian women.
Wayan Pastika (Tabanan, December 1971), presents a dazzling portrait of a beautiful woman, into which are woven symbols of leaves and grapes. Eating grapes, apparently, can promote natural beauty. However the title of the work is ‘Anggur Merah’, or ‘Red Wine’. Here, Pastika is commenting on how intoxicating the experience can be of looking at a beautiful woman.
The idea of skin whiteness is an issue which is interwoven with a woman’s self image, particularly in the Asian region. Whiteness of skin tone is linked to a woman’s beauty, desirability, and intelligence. The Cosmetic Industry reinforces this very racist concept by providing and promoting numerous cleansing products to bleach the skin. In his painting ‘Dua Buah Pas Poto’, Tatang BSp (Tegal, 1965), depicts a woman robustly cleansing her face with product to achieve an impossible statuesque goal, lacking any natural color.
In the work ‘Trend Baru’, by Alit Suaja (Badung, Bali, May 1977), a Balinese woman, dressed in traditional costume, confronts an advertising image of a woman wearing superb make-up. The question is whether or not the traditional woman will abandon her culture, to embrace a new glamour.
‘Illusion #2: Myth of Beauty’, by Wayan Suja (Batubulan, December 1975), present a famous icon of the 20th Century. Maybe, Wayan is suggesting that this particular myth is as outdated and unnecessary as the disposable and crushed wrapping paper on which the face of Marilyn Monroe is presented.
Another approach to the Cosmetic Industry can be seen in the painting ‘Mmmuaaah’, by Agung Darmayuda (Silakarang, June 1977). Here, the traces of a woman’s bright red lipstick are to be found on an Rp50,000 banknote. Cosmetics and financial rewards are immediately linked together.
Wayan Hendra Kusuma (Denpasar, Bali, February 1973), comments on the proliferation of cosmetic billboards and advertisments destroying the beauty of the urban environment in his canvas ‘Kotaku’, while Nyoman Wijaya (Tabanan, Bali, November 1971), in his canvas ‘Look at Me’, points out the ironies of a low fat milk magazine advertisement, contrasted with the providers of the liquid, in the form of two luscious and beautifully rendered cows. Polenk Rediasa (Tambakan, March 1979), also supplies a startling image of a ‘Glamour Girl’ being engulfed by her lipstick, in his painting ‘Tergantung Terikat’. These works all make very strong comments about the manipulation of women by cosmetics, through the Advertising Industry.
Perhaps the message of this exhibition is summed up in the works of Agus Cahaya (Bandung, West Java, 1972) and Cundrawan (Denpasar, Bali, 1972). In his painting, ‘The Wall #2’, Cahaya presents an abstracted composition which is created from the remnants of cosmetic advertisements plastered onto a wall. Time and weather has obliterated them to meaningless trash. Meanwhile, Cundrawan presents a portrait of an elderly Balinese woman in his work ‘Old Skin 3’. Wearing no cosmetics, we are presented with an image of dignity. Perhaps, the invisible interior spiritual space of the subject, as opposed to its exterior as the object of the masculine gaze, and the object of male desire. It is right to say that True Beauty always comes from within.
