Paintings by Ida Bagus Putu Purwa
At Tony Raka Art Gallery, Jl. Raya Mas No. 86, Mas, Ubud
Tel: 7816785
Born in 1977, Putu Purwa studied art in Denpasar at the Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia (STSI) from 1996 to 1998. He is one of the new breed of Balinese artists who are eager to demonstrate that Balinese art is not a petrified edifice of traditional forms of art. Nor, do they feel, that Balinese art can be regarded as the prevailing exotic and romantic constructions of imposed reality inherited from past generations. A legacy of the colonial period and the influences of European artists, who sought to portray ‘a paradise lost’, an alluring and irresistible utopian Bali. This young breed of Balinese artists are searching for vital and fresh new meanings from their realm of cultural knowledge of being Balinese. Their aim is to express the way in which they see themselves, and, most importantly, their own experiences of the world.
In his exhibition ‘Sign Session’, at the Tony Raka Gallery in Ubud, Putu Purwa explores the male body in motion reacting to signs and sensations. In the entrance of the gallery, Putu’s ‘Neon Signs’ installation shows his vision of the invasion of traffic signs in our everyday life. Putu states: “Signs are everywhere. Instructing this and that, stopping this and that. Either to obey or violate. Signs always reflect every movement. We cannot avoid signs”.
In the accompanying catalogue essay the art critic Arif Bagus Prasetyo elaborates on Putu Purwa’s concept. “Traffic signs are a visual code which represents the traffic regulations; they are valid laws which are applicable in public roads. Traffic signs function to regulate movements, giving instructions, restrictions, and guidance to every person who uses the roads. When someone enters the road, they only have two options: obey or violate the traffic regulations, follow or resist the traffic signs”. Traffic signs in Putu’s paintings, Arif suggests, can be seen as a symbol of a regulative authority regime which controls individuals. This regime, be it State, Religion, or Traditional Values, proposes signs, regulations, and protocols, which control individual behavior. The individual is placed in a position where it chooses to follow or revolt against these collective impersonal ‘signs’, but, eventually, these imposed regulations will only result in creating a sense of isolation and helplessness within the individual. It is this sense of isolation, and the body’s reaction to it, which is the theme of Putu’s artwork. Putu feels that the body must always move to its own rhythm. Following sensations which emerge spontaneously. If the body chooses to resist the oppressive structures implanted by an authority regime, it will explode with a myriad of sensations and emotions including hope, indecision, happiness, panic, confusion, and surrender. The body will continuously move and temperamentally change in order not to be strangled by an imposed order.
Putu Purwa presents larger than life images of a heroic, idealized, male body, reacting to traffic signs placed either in the foreground or background. The works are created in a frenzy of spontaneous strokes, wild melts and splashes, expressive brushwork, and flowing unreadable and almost hysterical texts. All of the paintings are presented with a dazzling display of cropping and placement. Interestingly, the same isolated male figure is trapped and ‘contained’ by the edge of the canvas and a thin white painted border or ‘void’. The male is able to penetrate and enter the void or ‘push the boundaries’ but not the edge of the canvas. This very powerful visual construction poses many questions. Are we all victims trapped and controlled? What are the ramifications if we penetrate and even escape into the ‘void’? How do we live and think ‘outside the box’? However, it is the subtle implied narrative which emerges from these paintings which is the most impressive aspect of the show. Starting with the work ‘Sign 2’ Putu depicts the initial uncertainty these countless signs can impress on the body. ‘Sign 4’ suggest a growing fear of authority, then, ‘Signs 5 A, B & C’ further intensify this mounting apprehension. ‘Sign 6’ gives way to feelings of absolute hysteria, while, continuing on through the exhibition, ‘Sign 8’ reveals the body’s ultimate surrender to these ever present controlling symbols. Yet, it is, perhaps, the series ‘Signs 14 A thru F’ which are the most powerful images in the show. Here, almost like pixilated photography, the body is depicted in a series of six paintings poised on the edge of an abyss. Motivated, maybe, by the pressures of the dominating and controlling ideology, the body now finds itself contemplating the act of suicide. A full range of emotions play across these images, which lead to the final decision.
Throughout his exhibition Putu Purwa is continually saying that the body can be a means of resistance or subversion to the existing main stream ideological paradigm, its limits and boundaries, which can cage human beings, turning them ultimately into ‘rational animals’, functioning purely on reason and consciousness, and denying their ability to experience desire and uncertainty. Uncertainty, Putu Purwa feels, is an essential part of being human. “Uncertainty humanizes humans, and it is a blessing and a curse of human freedom”. With a bold, new, unique Balinese voice Putu Purwa’s, paintings create a vivid impression of man’s entrapment and repression, criticizing much of what he feels is wrong in present day Indonesian society.
