Works of RI, Italian painters on display

Thu, 04/03/2008 1:38 AM | World

The Italian Cultural Institute in Jakarta is organizing a painting exhibition from April 3-28 to showcase the work, some never before seen, of the late I Gak Murniasih of Bali and her Italian friend, Mondo Zanolini, who still resides in Bali.

"The exhibition will be opened at the Italian Cultural Institute in Jakarta on Thursday evening, the institute's new deputy director Livia Raponi told The Jakarta Post.

The exhibit, titled Undisclosed Paintings, offer two complimentary views on violence in relationships between men and women.

The works of Murni, as Murniasih was more commonly known, depict this violence in the form of woman witnessing their internal disintegration, while Zanolini's works show women trapped physically.

Murni, who was born into poverty and was sexually abused in her childhood, expressed her feminine identity, mind and desire in an unorthodox style thanks to her lack of formal training. Called vulgar by her critics and unrepressed by her supporters, her paintings boldly depict the curves and distorted lines of female bodies.

Zanolini's works are more introverted. Zanolini is a multitalented artist -- a writer, painter, video director, actor -- who started his career in Bologna in the 1970s before settling down two decades later in Bali where he found his muse, Murni. Although he has shown his work in Bali and overseas, this is his first exhibition in Jakarta.

Livia said the institute had received a lot of support from the Italian community living in Indonesia for the exhibition. (JP/Mariani Dewi/Veeramalla Anjaiah)

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