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Brutality, beauty & sanity: The work of Ipong Purnama Sidhi
Hey YouTwenty seven years ago, fresh from the country’s premier art institute, the Fine Arts School (now the Yogyakarta Institute of Art), Ipong Purnama Sidhi got more sneer than cheer when he accepted a nine-to-five job at the country’s largest publishing company, PT Gramedia
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Hey You
Twenty seven years ago, fresh from the country’s premier art institute, the Fine Arts School (now the Yogyakarta Institute of Art), Ipong Purnama Sidhi got more sneer than cheer when he accepted a nine-to-five job at the country’s largest publishing company, PT Gramedia.
To fellow artists, working for a corporation means selling one’s pure soul to the devil, especially back in the 1980s, the heyday of the art community’s fight against their common enemy: the establishment as embodied by the New Order regime.
It was therefore not an easy choice for the young artist to shift from the carefree rhythm of student life to being an employee at the Kompas daily newspaper, something that meant sacrificing time and self-indulgence.
Though he had been assigned to mostly creative desks, the stink at Gramedia turned into a long "rest" from painting for Ipong.
It was not until 1997 that he took up painting again, although he did so rather casually at first, joining in exhibitions with fellow artists with just one or two works.
“When I’m sane, I paint. But I am more often insane,” he says of his drive to paint.
It was not until a decade later, in 2007, that he was challenged to produce enough material for a solo exhibition. He took to the brushes intensively to turn out his “Pop Culmination” exhibition, which represented quite an achievement for an artist who been immersed in the routine of office life for so long.
However, it was this very regimentation that gave Ipong the discipline needed to work on the big task, as his pace, sensibility and critical perspective were honed during his time as a graphic designer in the newsroom.
It took five months for Ipong to produce the 40 paintings featured in his 2008 solo exhibition. The work explored diverse themes, with a focus on socio-political issues. It was also in 2008 that he displayed his works at the country’s largest fine art exhibition, “Manifesto”, at the National Gallery in Jakarta.
Ipong seems to have secured his sanity, with a number of exhibitions this year, including at the
Seni Rupa Rai Gedheg and Vox Populi galleries.
Beginning Sept. 3, Ipong will showcase 13 new works in his second solo exhibition at the Ganesha Gallery at the Four Season Resort in Jimbaran, Bali.
Renown for his spontaneous yet symbolic works, Ipong’s signature grotesque figures are characterized by their deformed and disproportionate faces and torso. He is of belief that the style of an individual artist must be the fruits of a personal search through the course of life.
“Style stays with the artist as an individual signature. Themes must evolve along with our surroundings, our understanding of life and our perception of what’s happening around us,” he says.
He stresses that honestly expressing oneself is an obligation for artists.
“Honesty matters to me. A realist cannot be a surrealist and vice versa even if one insists and persists. In my works, I let out my spontaneous energy and try my best to be 100 percent honest.”
Ipong’s works are explosive with unruly lines and bursts of unpredictable colors. Almost all of them bring out strong, vivid expressions of anger and irony in their scornful look at social phenomena and urban problems. The works however do not reflect the personal manner of the father of three, who is soft-spoken, calm and composed.
Curator Tubagus P. Svarajati says that Ipong takes a different perspective on all his human characters. They nearly all have the same faces: flat with eyes and brows that are almost alike and maroon lips. Many of the characters resemble 'clown faces'. “My impression is the “clowns” are an allegory of life that is made light, without burden. People and clowns seem to call their viewers to communicate.”
By bringing up people and their problems, Ipong is free to take on the world with his sharp criticisms of social conditions. His decorative figures are metaphors for clumsy, banal, satirical and ironic urbanites. Reflecting on the characters that he draws, viewers will be invited to see their reflection and to have a good laugh at themselves.
Ipong’s originality has been confronted on more than on occasion. His style has been criticized for drawing too much from Jackson Pollock’s wild splashes or Jean du Buffet’s deformed figures. In response, Ipong quotes Picasso and tells the story about the history of cubism.
“Picasso frankly said ‘If there is something to be stolen, I’ll steal’”. When conceiving of cubism, Picasso looked up to Paul Cezanne, something that was reflected in his works. He also couldn’t let go of the strokes and brushes used by Goya and Rembrandt. Our maestro, Affandi, too was much influenced by van Gogh,” Ipong says.
“Call me old fashioned but I believe that an art work is personal. Influences from other artists are inevitable because we are exposed to their works and in our creative search we explore, enrich and season them; not copy them outright,” he says.
Unlike Paul Simon, “I am not a rock, not an island,” Ipong continues, adding that he feels we are all sociable creatures.
Images courtesy of Ipong Purnama Sidhi
Dynamics of Lines
"Social and Emotional World"
Solo exhibition by Ipong Purnama Sidhi
Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Resort, Jimbaran, Bali
Sept. 3 until Oct. 5, 2009
