Art of the city

The Jakarta art scene remains vibrant despite the financial crisis. The Jakarta Post has selected just three of the numerous art events to focus on here.

Laksmi Shitaresmi (b. 1974) has, like some other female artists, “painted” herself out of the gender issue and problems that haunted her early youth. Much of her work used to focus on the self, but lately she has widened her scope to include issues of a social and political nature. This is again evident in her current solo exhibition, titled “Nakedness Reveals Life”, on show at Bentara Budaya Jakarta.

The exhibition features wrinkled hands to indicate age-old sayings, symbols to denote localness, and sculptures in bronze to show she has entered a new phase in her artistic creations.

One painting from the series Ibu Pertiwi depicts wrinkled hands holding an earthen pot, traditionally used for cooking. Large paintings featuring animals from the Chinese Zodiac have been among her canvases every time there was a presidential election. Presiden Anjing, President Babi and Presiden Kambing are titles that may have led to unpleasant connotations, as “anjing” (dog) and “babi” (pig) are used for name-calling in colloquial Indonesian.

But Laksmi insists it is purely meant as a zodiac reference to the zodiac in the year of the election.

Symbols abound, such as a lotus flower held by the pig reverting to peace and rebirth while the tree of life used at the opening of a wayang performance reveals a wish for new and better beginnings. The sarong marks each of these paintings; there can’t be any mistake — this is about Indonesia.

Quite different from her usual work is the painting Renungan Diatas Toilet, in which simple lines with only a little “decoration” outline the position in such situations on the loo.

Art of the city

The show is also Laksmi’s debut for bronze sculptures, a result of her latest creative explorations. Among the most remarkable in the sculpture works is The Winner, featuring a nude à la Columbian master Botero, as well as the president in the zodiac of the goat and a baby lying on a leaf.

A graduate of the Yogyakarta Arts Institute, Laksmi Shitaresmi, who used to paint for therapy, now seems to have reached a level where her creative urges are leading her to the adventure of other mediums, such as sculpture. Surely she will proceed further, and we wait to see her next exhibition

Edwin’s Gallery celebrates its 25th anniversary with an exhibition that opened Wednesday at the National Gallery. The exhibition, titled “Silverlinings”, has both works from the gallery’s collection, showing the path of artists who have been connected to the gallery for some time, and new works by selected artists.

Edwin’s gallery, owned by Edwin Rahardjo, has long been a staunch promoter of Indonesian artists locally and internationally. Edwin, who studied art and architecture in the US, was a photographer and collector when he set up a photography studio in 1980. In 1984, however, he decided to open a gallery specializing in graphic works from the colonial era. To allow access to as many people as possible, he then made postcards of the works, as well as developing a framing business. He proceeded to hold exhibitions of Indonesian greats such as Ahmad Sadali in 1985, after the gallery moved to Kemang.

Over time, Edwin’s Gallery has become a pioneer. Not only did he initiate “small is beautiful” exhibitions of small-scale works, his gallery was also the first to hold an exhibition of contemporary Chinese artists, and the first to give a boost to Indonesian contemporary sculptors by holding a sculpture exhibition at a time when the public was not yet interested in this area of the arts.

Continuously renovating the building of his gallery, Edwin Rahardjo, supported by his wife Listya and son Kevin, is now working on setting up a museum at his place in Kemang.

It is hoped that other galleries will follow suit in developing and promoting contemporary art in the country. Congratulations to the Rahardjo family — may the gallery continue to be a lighting beam in the world of art.

The emergence of d’Peak gallery, which officially opened at Jl. RS Fatmawati 56 on Aug. 7, is certainly a good sign for artists who will now have plenty of space to showcase their works. A former Volvo showroom, d’Peak has a space of 3,000 square meters spread over three floors. The renovated construction includes glass doors, but has retained its former architecture.

The gallery’s owner, Andi Bintoro, who spoke at the opening of the exhibition “Up and Hope”, added he had also opened an art space with the same name in Singapore. Bintoro said he hoped to be able to bring Indonesian works abroad, while also revealing his intent to hold local auctions every three or four months. The inaugural exhibition has 129 artists participating with more than 200 works