Spectacular work celebrates centennial of Affandi's birth

Bruce W. Carpenter ,  Contributor ,  Sanur, Bali   |  Sun, 04/27/2008 1:15 PM  |  Bookmark

Affandi
Sumichan; Sardjana; ed.
Imprint of Bina Lestari Budaya Foundation, Jakarta and the
Singapore Art Museum
Full color, three hard cover volumes in a case
816 pages, 400 paintings
2007

In 1938, the young painter Affandi (1907-1990), joined by fellow artists, including Hendra Gunawan and Sudjojono, became a member of Persagi, Indonesia's first modern art movement.

Rebels all, Persagi vigorously rejected the beautiful paintings of the colonial era as another form of oppression.

Instead they proposed a new modern Indonesian art that mirrored the nationalistic aspirations of the Indonesian people and their yearning for freedom from the colonial yoke. Inspired by the, often revolutionary, modern art movements of Europe, these three artists are now recognized as the most important of their generation.

Arguably, Affandi, certainly the most enigmatic of the trinity, was also the greatest and most original.

At the very least he was the only one of three who was to achieve international acclaim in his lifetime. Ironically, his unorthodox expressionistic style rendered by quickly applying thick layers of impasto directly from his tubes onto the canvas, was received with ambiguity in the land of his birth.

Sukarno, the first president and a renowned collector, preferred less challenging figurative art and his successor, Suharto, showed little appreciation for art at all.

Further Affandi's eccentric behavior, dress and egalitarian free spirit grated against the refined Javanese norms and hierarchy that dominated the nation during the New Order. In particular his penchant for graphic and rarely beautiful nudes and erotic paintings stuck out against the false morality of the era. Luckily many of his fellow country people, joined by international collectors, recognized his genius.

In 2007 in celebration of the centennial of Affandi's birth, Sardjana Sumichan, the son of Raka Sumichan, one of Affandi's greatest supporters and publisher of an earlier major book on his work, together with the Bina Lestari Budaya Foundation and the Singapore Art Museum, have produced a new monumental publication, Affandi, to honor this great artist.

Weighing in at over seven kilograms, and 800 pages, the full color edition includes over 400 paintings and six insightful essays from Bambang Bujono, Jean Couteau, Eddy Soetriyono, Helena Spanjaard, Jim Supangkat and Astri Wright -- an international collection of experts.

All of the texts are interesting. Among the Indonesians, Jim Supangkat's revealing re-assessment of Affandi's self portraits and Eddy Soetriyono's elegant handling of Affandi's nude and erotic oeuvre -- a still sensitive subject as the nation is still engaged in a absurd wrestling between the inherent and historical sensuality of its people and art and alien repressive moral systems that are a major source of schizophrenia -- deserve special mention.

Bali's Rabelaisian art critic Jean Couteau also delights the reader with an amusing recount of Affandi's love affair with Bali and brings hope that he will be able to continue what he does best -- write about what he likes.

Best of all the texts prove that it is possible to write something entertaining as well as relevant about Indonesian artists without deteriorating into pedantic dribble or vacuous laudations that typify often shoddy and quickly assembled Indonesian art books.

Obviously more motivated by profit reaped from collectors eager to buy parking spaces for their commercial painting "investments" than honoring the artists and their art, these publications have often done more damage than good to their reputations.

Let it also be known that the alibi that blatant errors, meaningless texts, poor layouts, horrendous color separation work, are not diminished by its size nor justified by the flimsy excuse "A poor book is better than none". If you cannot do it right than skip it!

While a smaller book, with a less rambling layout, might have increased the impact of the whole of Affandi, and coincidentally reduced its hefty price tag (be prepared to shell out your pembantu's annual salary), there is no denying that this luxurious set is worth the price and is a must for anyone interested in Indonesian art.

In short the professionalism and dedication of the large team who realized this enormous project over a period of two years deserves resounding praise for a job well done. That said, one hopes that it will not stimulate even larger art books about lesser artists.

Sadly the release of this spectacular work has been accompanied by rumors that many of the works illustrated were not "approved" and that legal action has been taken to prevent its distribution.

In spite of advice for caution, the integrity of those involved, conversations with those with inside knowledge, and a careful examination of the art illustrated, has convinced at least this art lover that these accusations are largely baseless.

There may be minor errors but these pale in view of the whole. Let us therefore celebrate both a century of Affandi and a great book to secure his for another 100 years.

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