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Word on the street claims graffiti is legit art
Although it is often branded as vandalism, from scathing social criticism to a character under a bridge, graffiti is one way that young painters can express themselves
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Although it is often branded as vandalism, from scathing social criticism to a character under a bridge, graffiti is one way that young painters can express themselves.
“For me, graffiti means popularity,” said artist Astu, whose graffiti can be seen at, among others places, Dukuh Atas in Central Jakarta, Pondok Gede in Bekasi and Kebagusan in South Jakarta.
Astu and dozens more teenagers from Jakarta’s high schools and universities were participating in a three-day graffiti workshop that ended Thursday.
The workshop, held at the National Gallery in Central Jakarta, was organized by the Jakarta Centre Culturel Francais (CCF).
The pieces the young artists presented were not necessarily graffiti, murals and artworks in various media including acrylic, canvas and on T-shirts were also produced during the event.
Graffiti is a form of street art that usually involves brightly colored spray paint, while a mural is more likely be a visual social commentary and is generally painted rather than sprayed.
Differentiating himself from Astu, Popo said his graffiti was a forum for political dissent and criticism.
Popo showed one of his pieces that criticized a multinational shoe company that he believed was exploiting its working by paying them very low salaries.
The poster featured a figure being stabbed by the company’s logo with the tagline “Just stick it”.
Guntur, better known as the popular Jong Merdeka, also believes that graffiti is a serious form of art.
Displaying slide shows of his pieces, most of which gained the appreciation of the workshop’s participants, revealed his versatility as an artist.
“I don’t like to identify myself with a certain style,” he said.
Guntur showed pictures of his work painted on walls of cafes, bistros, churches and museums in Jakarta and other regions.
Another graffiti artist from France, Joan Francois, who participated in the workshop to share his experiences, praised the creativity of the Indonesian graffiti artists.
“It seems that I’m not needed here. They all have great talent,” said Francois, who admitted that he had not researched any of the artists before arriving in Indonesia.
He said that he was surprised to see the style of the painters had not been strongly influenced by foreign artists.
“I can see they all have strong roots in Indonesian culture, which they use as basis for their work,”
he said.
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Correction
In the article "Word on the street claims graffiti is legit art" published on Jan. 29, the name of one of the graffiti artists quoted was misspelled and should have read "Ashtwo".
We apologize for the error and any inconvenience it may have caused.
- Editor
The Jakarta Post, February 18, 2010, page 17
