The Death of Gatotkaca
Painter Gede Mahendra Yasa rarely included Balinese elements in his previous works because he preferred the Western contemporary style.
But in his 'Post Bali' exhibition, which will run until March 29 at the ROH Projects in the UOB Plaza, Central Jakarta, Mahendra has 14 works on display that explore the techniques of Balinese painting.
The exhibition's curator, Enin Supriyanto, said the idea behind this project emerged five years ago when Mahendra expressed his intention to explore his contemporary style.
'He liked to question western paintings and was influenced a lot by foreign painters' styles. But then I asked him to explore his Balinese roots,' Enin said.
The exhibition aimed to explore whether Mahendra's works could still be recognized as Balinese painting or not.
'There are stereotypes that have been promulgated regarding the 'Balinese' style. This project is trying to explore how and why a painting is accepted as 'Balinese',' he said.
Two paintings ' Priest and Salah Kiblat (Wrong Direction) ' are in the photorealism style and depict the daily lives of the Balinese people.
'Many say these painting can be categorized as 'Balinese'. But I used a contemporary approach for these works; so, can they still be called 'Balinese'?' Mahendra said.
Mahendra tried to do more with the Balinese style in Kumbo Karno Karebut Cum Planet of the Apes as he carefully followed the Balinese painting procedure and used a traditional Balinese canvas.
But In Laskar Pelukis Bali (A League of Balinese Painters), the 46-year-old combined Balinese characteristics with modern symbols.
He portrayed a Balinese painter whose body is covered by tattoos and added a helicopter.
'I started to mix the perspectives, trying to create illusive space in the painting,' he said.
In the second part of the exhibition, Mahendra's efforts to combine Balinese and contemporary styles is more obvious, displaying paintings that come in pairs.
'We have four pairs of paintings in this room, hanging side by side and are inseparable in order to create tension ' to contradict one another,' Mahendra said.
The most striking pieces are 7 Magnificent Masterpieces #1, the 150x200 centimeter newspaper collage in black and white, and 7 Magnificent Masterpieces #2, a colorful acrylic painting of the same size.
Mahendra said both paintings used the Batuan (a Balinese painting style) style where he painted the objects from a bird-eye view perspective and included the replication of seven foreign painters' masterpieces into the paintings.
Moreover, he decided to use newspapers in the collage because he wanted to highlight the importance of texts and pictures in his work.
'One should not only think of classic Balinese painting as something that can only be viewed, but also be read. That's why I used paper in these images,' he said.
Another pair of paintings, Between Me, You, and the Bedpost #1 and Between Me, You, and the Bedpost #2, seemed to be heavily influenced by American painter Jackson Pollock and his dripping technique.
But a closer look at the second painting and Balinese symbols are apparent.
Mahendra said he was not done with his experiment yet, adding that he still needed to truly deconstruct the structures of identity and images in Balinese painting after the exhibition.
'This exploration is far from done,' he said.
PHOTOS BY JP/WENDRA AJISTYATAMA
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