Profile of
the Artists
MADE
WIANTA
Made
Wianta, one of the most influential living Indonesian artists today,
belongs to the first generation of modern Balinese artists who studied
in the prestigious ASTI art academy in Yogyakarta Alma Mata of most
of Indonesia's most prominent artists of the post war period. Born
in the simple surroundings of the village of Apuan in the mountains
of west Bali in 1949, Wianta thrived in ASTI during the heady years
of the early 70s.
First acclaimed as a versatile painter and draftsman Wianta
has grown into a vigorous multidimensional artist. Today
his internationally acclaimed creative expressions have
expanded to sensual extravaganzas incorporating poetry,
music and drama with profound if not prescient events such
as Art and Peace installation performed on eve of the second
Millennium with over 2000 participants. Wianta also has
a long history with European art, which began in 1975 when
he lived in Brussels for two years where he began a restless
exploration of new mediums. He has since frequently traveled
and exhibited domestically and abroad absorbing.
In Japan, for instance, he was inspired by traditional
calligraphy to create a series of passionate explorations
of graphic form, color and line that are pure poetry. Now
at the height of his career and powers, Wianta continues
to delight and surprise us with yet new and unexpected
masterpieces.
IDA BAGUS INDRA (KNOWN AS IBI)
While clearly a modern
rather than traditional painter, the Balinese autodidact,
Ida Bagus Indra, is a true independent. Born into a prosperous
high caste family he was expected to join the family enterprise
after graduation. On attempting to fulfill his filial duties,
in the end he surrendered to his irrepressible creativity.
A prolific and mercurial artist, he has already at a young
age explored a diverse number of styles reflecting his
inquisitive nature. Success and maturity have certainly
not slowed his pace; his recent work is far more focused.
As in all his work, he approaches it from an emotional
rather than intellectual perspective. His children are
wondrous beings amusing, cute, naughty, spoiled and
at times angelic. In comparison his depictions of women
in their many roles mothers, objects of desire and
manifestations of Ibu Pertiwi, the Earth Goddess
is complex and ambivalent. The juxtaposition of these two
related but distinct themes not only creates a thought
provoking suspension but also a subtle form of social commentary
that provokes the viewer to review personal attitudes and
stereotypes.
Like his home, Bali, Ida Bagus Indra, stands at an important
crossroads as both face a complex new world. With artists
with the insight of Ida Bagus Indra we can rest assured
that both will rise to the challenges.
NYOMAN SUJANA KENYEM
Since his graduation from the Indonesian
College of Art in Denpasar, the work of the young Balinese artist
Nyoman Sujana alias Kenyem, has largely focused on anonymous human
and animal figures.
In his latest painting cycle, he has carried shadow, leafes and
flowers theme to its extreme and entered the world of pure shadows.
As in his earlier canvasses totem figures stand in column-like rows
-- elongated projections of invisible forms located somewhere outside
of the canvas. Lacking any individual features, some of these silhouettes
are dark, even ominous.
Like real shadows they recede into bright often multitude backgrounds.
Others, however, would seem to belong to an inverse shadow world
that is luminous and resplendent leaping out from dark backgrounds.
Since ancient times the Indonesian peoples have associated the shadow
world with the awesome supernatural world of spirits and ancestors.
The wayang sacred shadow puppet theatre in Bali has long exercised
a powerful of the metaphysical and visual arts of the island.
PANDE GDE SUPADA
The art of the Balinese artist Pande
Gde Supada is notable for its haunting imagination.
Time and time again we are find ourselves wrestling with the meaning
of his emotionally charged figures, some hidden in the shadows and
leaping forward luminous and bright.
Supada's inspiration is found in contemplation and meditation,
an interior dialogue with himself and the collective conscious.
The layered, scratchy surfaces of many of his paintings are reminiscent
of ancient caves.
As we enter we find ourselves blind for a moment as our eyes adjust
to the low light. At a certain moment we are unsure if the forms
we see on the walls are natural, created over the centuries, or
ancient paintings, faded and covered with layers of time.
As we stare we recognize the silhouettes of animals and humans,
sometimes faces and attempt to understand their meaning.
A special moment of understanding ignites as we find ourselves
spontaneously caught in a ménage en trois, a mysterious dialogue
between the artist, his imagination and our own.
WAYAN SANTRAYANA
The Balinese artist, I Wayan Santrayana,
has been long been intrigued with the Balinese concept of the buana
agung (the Macrocosm) and the buana alit (the Microcosm) which can
be best explained by the old English expression 'As above, as below.'
It is the quintessential acknowledgment
that the Universe is One. His canvasses boil with emotion and color
in their struggle to achieve unity. At times they soothe and harmonize,
in others the viewer is confronted with stark contrasts. Santrayana
also plays between pure abstract and figurative art.
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