After 42 years of marriage, Adrian Palar and Runi Palar will hold their first-ever joint exhibition of paintings and jewelry themed "Timeless Change", featuring a juxtaposition of their contemporary artworks.
In the month-long exhibition starting this Thursday to Dec. 7 at the Four Seasons Resort Jimbaran, Adrian will present 26 paintings of vertical and horizontal lines, while Runi is set to showcase around 40 of her designs of gold and silver jewelry.
"Actually, there is no similarity in the themes of our respective artworks, but we both create contemporary art by renewing various classical techniques," Adrian said Monday.
While Runi mainly explores curved shapes in her designs, Adrian delves into vertical and horizontal lines to create contemplative canvases.
"I'm fascinated and profoundly inspired by vertical and horizontal lines because they can shape beautiful and artistic spaces," said Adrian, whose works are influenced by post-modern Cubism.
Runi mostly uses sterling silver as material to craft necklaces, chokers, rings, earrings, brooches, and other jewelry. To embellish them, she adds various types of stones, including moonstones, pearls and amethysts.
"I'm usually inspired by surrounding things to decide the theme of my works," said 63-year-old Runi.
Highlights of her works that will be displayed in the upcoming exhibition include "Milky Way", "Tree of Life", "Angel", "Wild Orchid" and "Folded Cosmos", all of which are new collections.
The remarkable journey of Adrian and Runi began at the Indonesian pavilion at the New York World Fair in 1964, when an interior designer from Bandung, West Java, met a young dancer from Yogyakarta.
Adrian, a graduate of Bandung Institute of Technology's art faculty, began his studies as a painter with artists Srihadi Sudarsono and But Mochtar before switching to a new course in design and interior architecture.
In 1970, Adrian urged his wife to experiment in designing silver jewelry to channel her creative energy, a radical idea since silverwork was a male domain back then.
Within less than a decade, Runi's startling modern designs made her one of Indonesia's top young jewelry designers.
In 1976, Runi created her own brand under the company named RUNA Jewelry managed by Adrian.
After the couple moved to Bali in 1986, Runi continued to win both domestic and international awards, while Adrian became increasingly focused on his paintings.
As a gift to his wife's persevering efforts in jewelry design, Adrian founded in 2001 the RUNA House of Design and Museum in Lodtunduh, Gianyar regency, the first jewelry museum in Indonesia.
This Friday, RUNA Museum will hold a Balinese dance performance and a photography exhibition presenting Balinese dancer images, titled "Dancing with Time".
Some maestros in Balinese dancing - Ida Bagus Oka Wirjana, I Gusti Ayu Raka, Jro Puspawati, Jro Gading Arwati, Ni Ketut Arini and Bulan Trisna Djelantik - are slated to perform various traditional dancing, including Pendet, Legong Lasem, Kebyar Duduk and Candra Metu.
At the same venue and time, photographer Doddy Obenk will commence his month-long exhibition of his works on Balinese dancers. To capture the lively movements of the dancers in his images, Doddy explores various lighting techniques.
