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Confessions of an art fanatic
Buying or not?: Visitors mill around the central exhibition hall at Jogja Gallery
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Buying or not?: Visitors mill around the central exhibition hall at Jogja Gallery. Art galleries are one of the places where people can go to find artwork. (JP/Tarko Sudiarno)
"At first I wanted to satisfy my desire," gallery owner Biantoro Santoso says of his passion for purchasing art. "But then . I got addicted."
Paintings, he says, have attracted him since he was a child.
"When I was a kid, I used to go to my best friend's house almost every day to play," he says.
"My best friend's father was a c/Tarko Sudiarnoollector. He had paintings by Affandi, Kartika Affandi, Hendra Gunawan, Dullah and many more. I just loved seeing those paintings.
"I even told my father that I wanted to have an Affandi piece."
He still doesn't have an Affandi piece, but Biantoro has turned himself into a respected painting collector and gallery owner, whose greatest interest is in contemporary paintings.
"Whenever I visit galleries or artists' studios, I have this feeling of wanting to own paintings that I like. I sometimes buy paintings without thinking where I will put them."
The worst feeling, Biantoro says, is not being able to own a painting that he can afford, either because it's not for sale or someone else already bought it.
"If the painting is expensive and I can't afford it, then that's fine. I know my limits. But if it's something that I can really buy. ... It's so distracting to not be able to have it. I feel that I have to have it," he chuckles.
Then there are the moments when he can get the painting he really wants. "I feel satisfied, but then, that's it. I feel normal again and start to want other pieces."
"That's why I said collecting paintings is for self-gratification," Biantoro says, adding that some collectors keep their paintings in storage because they don't have enough space in their homes to display them.
Knowing his weakness, Biantoro has learned to stay away when budget is an issue. "If I don't really have money, I won't go to painting exhibitions as often, so that I won't get tempted *to buy paintings*."
-JP/Dian Kuswandini
