Monoprints by Made Arya Dwita Dedok.
At Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Resort, Jimbaran Bay. Tel: 701010.
Balinese artist Made Arya Dwita Dedok is multi-talented. He works in many fields, including photography, graphic-design, printmaking, painting and cartoons. The link between these disciplines and his whimsical, carefree prints is easy to see. In his exhibition, ‘Love, Peace & Understanding’, Dedok uses the rawness and directness of graffiti art, and he combines the spontaneity of the streets with the technical disciplines of a fine artist.
In monoprints such as ‘Be Happy’, ‘Enjoy’, ‘Smile Zone’, ‘Freedom’, ‘Always’ and ‘Hope’ Dedok creates light-hearted works which convey a message that life is to be enjoyed. For Dedok, his images are an expression of the appreciation he has for life and for all of its gifts. Although his images can include social commentary he is no cynic, but, rather, a humorous satirist able to laugh at himself as well as others. Within his prints Dedok often borrows from Balinese symbols. He particularly likes the ‘Barong’, a mythical animal which can appear in his work as a central and protective figure. Whether in the form of a pig, an elephant or a tiger, the ‘Barong’, for Dedok, is an expression of love, peace, interaction and positive thinking. As the key title print in the exhibition shows, ‘Love, Peace & Understanding’ is indeed Dedok’s joyful message to the world in these very troubled times.
However, what is refreshing about Dedok’s exhibition is that apart from the humor, Dedok is also able to show a much more serious side of his artistic personality. The work ‘The Rock’ can be interpreted as a metaphor for social issues which are brooding on the artist’s inner horizon, but, true to his humorous form, in the following work ‘Stronger’, Dedok demonstrates that these worrying social issues can be removed by a united social group effort. Dedok’s whimsical characters can be seen carrying the taxing rock to some other undesignated place. Adversity can be overcome by mutual action.
Made Arya Dwita Dedok presents a delightful exhibition, which appears to be whimsical, but, closer observation reveals a serious artist, who conveys his strong messages through the universally understood medium of humor.
Bandung Expanding.
Paintings by Various Emerging Bandung Artists.
At Tony Raka Art Gallery, Jl. Raya Mas No. 86, Mas, Ubud. Tel: 7816785.
Bandung has often been referred to as ‘The Paris of Java’. It has always been an artistic trend setting city, and it abounds with many young creative artists. Currently, the Tony Raka Gallery in Mas, Ubud, is presenting a show highlighting emerging Bandung Artists. The exhibition ‘Bandung Expanding’ features the works of 16 artists: Agus Budiman, Beni Sasmito, Cecep M. Taufik, Dadan Setiawan, Erik Muhammad Pauhrizi, Fery Widiantoro, Harry Cahaya, Henry Parulian, Iman Sapari, Muhammad Jabbar Dipanegara, Muhammad Reggie Aquara, Moch. Rizal Fauzi, Periangga Irianto, Rangga Oka Dimitri, Teguh Agus Priyanto and Yadi Juliansyah.
What is interesting about this particular exhibition is that all of the artists on display are committed to ‘super realism’ or ‘hyper realism’, in one form or another. Also, what emerges appears to be a fascination with contemporary alienated urban living. The majority of the works deliver a somber view on contemporary urban life. For example: Periangga Irianto’s black and white canvas ‘Alfie Capture’ presents a bleak impression of a cityscape, full of confusing traffic signals and signs, implying a lack of direction in city life. Mysticism and magic appears in Erik Pauhrizi’s ‘Pauhrizi and Salim’. A spiritual medium, or maybe a ‘black’ magician, seems to be manipulating and controlling space. While, downright horror is the subject matter of Moch Rizal Fauzi’s ‘Cos I got My Own World To Live Through’. Urban vampires are depicted tucking into a meal of pizza. It is a captivating image which really belongs in a B Grade horror movie. Finally, Muhammad Jabbar Dipanegara presents something a little more fashionable, so to say. His extreme close up of a tongue piercing, in the work ‘Black Jack’, is created with such realism that the image becomes horrific in its own right, apart from the implications of why anyone would want to do this to themselves.
As a relief to all this urban angst, a secondary theme of ‘art about art’ is also present in the show. Cecep M Taufik, in his work ‘Other Sight’, presents images from a street art market reflected in the shining gloss of an expensive automobile. Fery Widiantoro depicts a modern day artist’s studio, complete with computer laptop, superimposed over the works of Henri Matisse (1869-1954), in his painting ‘Closer Look At Matisse’, while, Henry Parulian, in his canvas ‘The Creation Of The Servant’, plays with the famous finger gestures of Michelangelo (1475-1564) to be found on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Henry implies the Birth of the Indonesian Working Class, but, given the art reference, it is also possible that he could be suggesting the Birth of a Religious Leader. Perhaps, this is the most controversial work in the show.
It goes without saying that all the works on display are executed with an extremely high amount of artistic skill, and, if you are ‘in’ to these current fashionable ‘pop’ related hyper real images, you are going to get a big kick out of the exhibition. These emerging artists demonstrate that the city of Bandung is still very much on the ‘cutting edge’ of Indonesian art trends.
