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The painter behind 'pecel lele' banners
The ubiquitous paintings found in street food stalls did not arrive from nowhere; it came from one painter in East Java with big dreams
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Teguh Wahono is the pioneer of pecel lele banner painting
(Courtesy of Yongki Satria/Yongki Satria)
A
middle-aged man, with a flat cap on his head and a collared shirt, sat quietly as his eyes stared down the 12-square-meter banner in front of him. The flashy neon green fabric was still plain. There were only thin sketches of chickens, gourami fish and other drawings of animals recognizable on the banners of a pecel lele warung (deep-fried catfish food stall). Pecel lele is of course the popular Indonesian dish that originated in Lamongan, East Java, but now can be had anywhere across the country.
Many times he tried to land his brush to embolden the sketch lines, yet over and over again he refrained from doing so - inspiration was not with him today. His name is Teguh Wahono, the unsung maestro who created the iconic pecel lele banner, whose style is so ubiquitous that it is difficult to think of any other drawing style warung banners would employ.
“Hot days like this, all the ideas in my head evaporate. My head feels like it’s boiling. I'll just continue this in the afternoon. For now, let's have a cup of coffee," he said with a laugh.
Inside his studio, built in a large cement-walled room located in Bulutengger village, Lamongan, Teguh Wahono has created thousands of pecel lele banners. Warung, which are spread across Indonesia, are like open galleries that never fail to showcase Teguh's creations.
The pandemic has not helped business. Previously averaging 10-15 banners monthly, Teguh’s income has dwindled to half of what it used to be. The warung, his regular clients, are closing down. The banners cost an average of Rp 250,000 (US$17.74) per meter, with each warung averaging 3-4m, and the banners lasting for about six months before the weather and rain forces the warung to get a new one. But the pandemic has meant far fewer orders.
“Things are up and down [for the warung business]," Teguh says, “They’re lucky if they haven’t gone bankrupt," he continued.
Journey and dreams
