Paintings by Irawan Prasetyo
at Kendra Gallery, Jl. Drupadi 88b, Basangkasa.
Tel: 736628.
Bali based Javanese artist Irawan Prasetyo, better known as Pras, was born in Jogyakarta in 1974, and he studied there at the Indonesian Academy of Communication. In his exhibition, ‘Ordinariness’, at the Kendra Gallery, Pras presents objects, incidents and animals from everyday life, painted in a muted palette focusing on black, grey, white, beige and brown. By making us more aware of these objects of utility, or common familiarity, Pras hopes to share his joy and appreciation of everyday life. As Pras states: “Ordinary objects which I see around me, the common things I notice or snapshots of everyday life, have become the starting points of my work. I then develop, restructure and compose them based on my own understanding. In this way, I choose what to paint from among the random objects I happen to come across”. Pras appeals to our childlike tastes for simple and common things.
Well known artist and critic, Kun Adnyana, observes in the catalogue notes that the appreciation and depiction of everyday life “challenges the artist to find the mystery inherent in the world around him”. A goat, a cow, a chicken or a dog, Kun suggests, must be painted with total awareness in order to eternalize them as universal symbols of everyday life. Kun states that to express the world of everyday objects in a meaningful way, requires considerable creative thinking, artistic process, and conceptual awareness.
The subjects of Pras’ paintings are rendered in a very broad impressionistic style. The imagery is cropped, simplified, enlarged and, most importantly, slightly blurred. Pras has a desire to intensify our perception of the image. This technique of painting the subjects as a blur creates the desire to mentally comprehend an image which the eye alone cannot capture. Pras himself feels that “through the technique of blurring the image I am able to represent the comfort and joy I feel in the creative process”. However, the blurring of the image can also give rise to sensations of curiosity in the viewer, by shrouding the essence of the subject in layers of mystery.
The ‘mystery’ in Pras’ paintings can often be of a humorous or witty nature. A double-edged art characterized by a keen drollness and sardonic style. ‘Silhouette of White Cock’ presents a recognizable blurry black form of a white cock. We are only presented with the silhouette of the rooster. This visual play on the concepts of black and white forces us to make a mental leap between the subject of the painting, a ‘white’ cock, and its visual representation in ‘black’. The essence of the subject has been perverted. In addition, concepts of black and white and good and evil are now confronted. A ‘white’ rooster can be seen as a symbol of purity or innocence, whereas its ‘black’ silhouette suggests a more sinister interpretation. Perhaps, in this work, Pras is implying the possible dichotomy of nature present in all living beings. ‘Mystery’, of another form, appears in the work ‘Muncul Kambing Hitam Yang Lain’. Based on what appears to be a popular visual ‘trick’ of video performance artists, a goat leaves the left hand side of the painting’s frame, while simultaneously reappears on the right hand side. Concepts of ‘time’ and ‘spatial distortions’ are successfully investigated in this work.
Other intriguing exercises in ‘blurriness’ can be found throughout the exhibition. Often with different aims. ‘Out of Focus’ presents an image that is intentionally hard to ‘read’. The image could possibly represent a piece of everyday toilet tissue, while, it could also denote the form of an exotic bird. Interpretation is left to the viewer. In the work ‘See You Soon’ blurriness can indicate movement. One stationary bird is represented reasonably clearly, while the other is a mass of blurry feathers, signifying flight. In all of these works Pras successfully forces us to re-appreciate simple daily forms, however, once he has established his theme, Pras sends the exhibition into much more significant areas. ‘Dipinggir Garis’, a study of manual laborers, who squat daily by roadsides looking for employment, raises questions about Indonesia’s current employment and poverty levels, and ‘Malnutrisi’, a horrifying image of a starving cow, is a metaphor on the current crisis in Indonesia’s agricultural economy.
Ultimately, Pras presents images of a decidedly intimate nature. ‘Unhappy’ is a disturbing painting showing a vulnerable woman under deep emotional pressure. We are given no ‘background’ or external elements to this image. We are unsure if it is based on ‘reality’, or could be an image from a television Sinetron. Either way, it is a harrowing depiction of contemporary urban stress and alienation. Finally, in the canvas ‘Wishkey’, Pras displays a half empty bottle of Whisky. The question here is whether or not Pras is implying that alcohol is a means by which Indonesians can cope with daily life, or, if he is indicating something much more personal. Could alcohol be his inspiration and means to creativity? Whether or not he intends it, the painting is quite emotionally revealing.
It is in Pras’ impressive ability to make us reassess the ‘ordinariness’ in everyday life that the true ‘originality’ of his exhibition is revealed. However, it is also the simplicity of the canvases, and their ability to convey stories without pretense or exaggeration, that is the most interesting feature.
