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Jakarta Post

Playful Cats to portray social realities

Gang Nam Style, Pandu Pribadi, acrylic on canvas, 185 x 400 centimeters

Munarsih Sahana (The Jakarta Post)
Yogyakarta
Thu, February 21, 2013

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Playful Cats to portray social realities

Gang Nam Style, Pandu Pribadi, acrylic on canvas, 185 x 400 centimeters.

Apparently, painter Pandu Pribadi managed to explore many stories through cats playing their own games, and he found that cats could perfectly represent characters in society for his narratives on the social realities around him.

Pandu’s work is different from that of the cats used in the expressionist style of paintings belonging to noted painter Popo Iskandar. Cats in Pandu’s works of art are more playful, depicted in bold, strong lines and bright colors

Pandu, 47, acknowledged that he was fond of cats. He is also a big fan of world-renowned artists Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Keith Haring, whom he learned about when he spent three years studying fine art at the Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) in Yogyakarta.

These influences can be observed in the amusing images of cats in his current solo exhibition, “Cats Playful Aggression” at Sangkring Art Space Yogyakarta from Feb. 14 to March 1.

“Although they are wild with strong retractable claws, cats always look appealing and funny to me and they are often very sweet,” Pandu said, adding that there were always times when he felt he missed making paintings of this pet.

Hahaha Ketangkap Lu, Pandu Pribadi, acrylic on canvas, 145 x 180 centimeters.
Hahaha Ketangkap Lu, Pandu Pribadi, acrylic on canvas, 145 x 180 centimeters.He produced decorative lines as well with a tendency of adopting the Cubist style from Picasso, especially in depicting the faces of the cats. His images of cats often look comical with many of the animals opening their mouths and showing their sharp teeth, an aspect of cats that Pandu likes best.

Felines in Pandu’s works have two different roles: to represent the world of fables for telling stories about animals and as personification to tell stories about human life.

According to Pandu, through his images of cats he wanted to express his thoughts about the realities of life around him and to have a way to play with his favorite pet. The images are more like narratives about both humans and cats; his critical thoughts about the social realities he is concerned with and stories about cats’ behavior.

Telling longer stories can be easily achieved through the use of two large canvases in the works Gang Nam Style (185 x 400 centimeters, acrylic on canvas) created in 2012, and Kawin Massal (Orgy, 185 x 400 centimeters, acrylic on canvas).

In Gang Nam Style, Pandu wanted to criticize why people are so crazy about dancing that is imported from other cultures and Kawin Massal is his criticism of the sexual freedom and sexual deviation now commonly practiced in society.

There are several works dealing with erotic subjects as seen in Bercinta di Atap (Making Love on the Roof, 145 x 180 centimeters, acrylic on canvas), which features two cats cuddling on the roof. Pandu created a compelling composition by having the houses in smaller sizes than that of the two cats. This kind of freedom in composition is partly influenced by his favorite artists, particularly Miró and Haring.

Ditembak Dari Belakang (Shot from Behind, 145 x 180 centimeters, acrylic on canvas) is also an erotic narrative on cats. As a matter of fact, Pandu admitted, this developed an erotic theme of cats making love. In order to make it less vulgar, Pandu disguised the male sex organ into a pistol muzzle placed behind a female cat with a strange facial expression.

Pandu’s cats are not just ordinary ones. For example, their paws are similar to human’s feet; they have asynchronous eyes and significant claws. He admitted he did not mind when he imagined drawing a cat that eventually turned out to look like a tiger. It doesn’t matter if he failed to achieve the proportion as well.
Pemain Bola, Pandu Pribadi, acrylic on canvas, 145 x 180 centimeters.
Pemain Bola, Pandu Pribadi, acrylic on canvas, 145 x 180 centimeters.

He continued playing his game by positing an unknown language being uttered by a cat in Mioong Mioong (Meow Meow, 145 x 180 centimeters, acrylic on canvas).

There are still more images of cats playing by themselves such as Penjaga Gawang (Goal Keeper, 145 x 180 centimeters, acrylic on canvas) and Pemain Bola (Soccer Player, 145 x 180 centimeters, acrylic on canvas). Both are pictures of how cute cats are when playing soccer.

The cats used as personification are seen in Hahaha Ketangkap Lu (Gotcha!, 180 x 145 centimeters, acrylic on canvas), an image of a happy looking cat that had managed to catch a mouse. In Pandu’s imagination, this is about an embezzler being caught red-handed by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

In Petinju Ingin Jadi Penari (A Boxer Wanting To Be a Dancer, 180 x 145 centimeters, acrylic on canvas), Pandu playfully showcased an image of a cat wearing boxing gloves. He expressed his concern about some people doing work beyond their expertise.

Viewers are easily amused by looking at all paintings on display. Pandu admitted that he enjoyed the six-month long process of finishing the 12 paintings for the exhibition. He is happy with the outcome. However, he will stop drawing cats for the time being unless he misses painting them.

Cats Playful Aggression
Feb.14 – March 1
At Sangkring Art Space
Nitiprayan Rt 1 Rw 20 No.88 Kasihan, Bantul, Yogyakarta 55182
Opening Hours : Monday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Closed: Sunday and Public Holidays.

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