Presenting animals in the last kingdom

Teuku Ferdiansyah Thajib ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Yogyakarta   |  Sat, 02/23/2008 4:44 PM  |  Lifestyle

Throughout history, animals have been assigned by humans everything from spiritual to political meaning.

Responding to this, Jogja Gallery is presenting the works of 35 Indonesian visual artists from Feb. 19 to March 9 in an exhibition titled "Animal Kingdom: The Last Chronic".

"It is important to note that this exhibition is not endorsing a whole new art style nor has it been specifically commissioned to participating artists," wrote curator Mikke Susanto in the exhibition flier.

Susanto said now was a crucial time to discuss animal visual representations in Indonesia's art history, without elaborating further how the 59 works being displayed would contribute to the ongoing discourse.

To this apparent anthropocentric aim, works on animals in various forms, species and poses are showcased in the gallery hall, inevitably prompting a zoo-like atmosphere.

Imitation and the mutation of animals are the common themes pulling these works of art together.

The metaphorical uses of animal behaviors have been generally used among lay persons to understand wider social relations, and indeed this is reflected in many visual works in the exhibition, including caricature works by Paned Ketut Taman and Suraji.

The exhibition also highlights some artists' fixations on a particular animal species. Horses, butterflies and boars have developed a certain iconic relation to the recent works of, respectively, Ugo Untoro, Sasha W. Tranggono and Joko Pekik.

While other artists, like Erica Hestu Wahyuni, F. Widayanto and I Dewa Putu Mokoh, choose to explore style with an emphasis more on animals' comical features and reshaping them in playful tones and colors.

Bunga Jeruk's Dolphin Kiss falls into this adorable animal category in which a bulky crimson teddy bear with starry eyes is kissed on the forehead by a dolphin.

A trip to this visual animal kingdom also brushes with formal nuances in Setyo P. Nugroho's painting of a tiger and herds, as well as refreshing surrealist perspectives presented in Iwan Effendi's acrylic on canvas entitled You Want Peace, Prepare for War.

Perceived as passive, most animals presented in the art works are almost already denied of power under the gaze of man.

Subverting this idea, Agus Suwage in his installation work titled Dead Poets Society, displaces the gaze through the eyes of three crows lurking on an extended shovel.

Agus shrewdly depicts how animals can turn into witnesses. Yet again, working under the all-dominating view of humans, one can not avoid seeing the animal gaze as something else but as that of vultures that threaten our very existence.

I-BOX: ========================================================= Animal Kingdom: The Last Chronic Exhibition runs until March 9, 2008 at Jogja Gallery, Jl Pekapalan no. 7, Alun-Alun Utara, Yogyakarta. =========================================================

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