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Artist looks upon himself in EXHIBITION
A pair of grotesque sculptures hangs in the middle of the National Galleryâs main hall
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A pair of grotesque sculptures hangs in the middle of the National Gallery's main hall.
On one side of the hall, bloody voodoo dolls stare from behind glass display cabinets while large black-and-white and multi-color paintings adorn the other side.
Fifty artworks ' including installations, sculptures and paintings ' comprise a solo exhibition titled 'Me, Myself and Eye' by Pupuk Daru Purnomo at the National Gallery in Central Jakarta. The exhibition runs until Aug. 25.
'The exhibition is about me and what has happened to me,' Pupuk told reporters at the exhibition opening.
The 49-year-old said that expressing his thoughts through art had been his only way to be completely honest about everything, including taboo and erotic issues.
'Anxiety is an infinite part of my life and expressing it through art is an ideal way for me to express myself. Anxiety is essentially the only thing an artist has. It is certainly an integral part of my being,' Pupuk said.
The Yogyakarta-born artist has suffered from troubles in his ears and eyes ' ringing in his ears disturbs his sleep, and cataracts have hindered his work.
Apart from these physical problems, he has also suffered neurotic episodes.
Among the works inspired by his eye problems is a 76-centimeter-tall bronze sculpture of the artist with a pair of scissors thrust into his left eye, titled Self Portrait & a Pair of Scissors.
In the exhibition, the artist also displays a series of large oil paintings called Cataract Series, which consists of four 2-by-2-meter mosaic-like paintings titled Albrecht Durer, Gustave Courbet, Self Portrait and Rembrandt.
Art maestros are another main theme in an installation titled Maestros' Meeting, which is made up of 25 black-and-white drawings and 25 wooden chairs. The artworks contain the maestros' names, including Basquiat, Botero, Francis Bacon, Frida Kahlo and Van Gogh.
Two paintings ' each 250 cm by 150 cm and titled Maestro's Meeting I and II ' are also included in the installation.
'I like to imagine what would happen if these maestros were to meet, sit down together and talk,' Pupuk said.
The exhibition's curator Jim Supangkat said the Indonesian subtitle of the exhibition ' Memandang Pandangan Sendiri (Looking Upon One's Own Viewpoint) ' was taken from a speech by philosopher St. Sunardi at Pupuk's solo exhibition at Sangkring Artspace in Yogyakarta last year.
'In the speech, it was said that Pupuk's art directs the public to look upon their own viewpoint. The phrase is used in this exhibition to show that Pupuk's work is about reflection,' Jim says.
Jim added that although almost all of Pupuk's work stems from his personal experiences ' including family relations, sex problems and life drama ' it demonstrates a collective experience in facing reality.
In this exhibition, the curator said, reflection was emphasized.
Unlike other contemporary artists, whose work tends to focus on cultural problems, Pupuk remains loyal to problems within art, artistic sensitivity, personal problems and symbolism, said Jim
'His reflection does not flow from contemplation but from sensitivity: artistic sensitivity. His view was formed during the process of creating the artwork and not before,' Jim said.
'[Pupuk's] motivation is to be able to look upon his own point of view.'
- Photo by Jerry Adiguna
