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'Hear No Evil See No Evil'
The World Bearers by Tjutju WidjajaWhen 74-year-old painter Tjutju Widjaja saw her grandchildren glued to their gadgets, she turned to pop art to express her concern
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The World Bearers by Tjutju Widjaja
When 74-year-old painter Tjutju Widjaja saw her grandchildren glued to their gadgets, she turned to pop art to express her concern.
Tjutju presents 10 candy-colored paintings and an installation to show the growing influence of technology on children in her solo exhibition, 'Hear No Evil See No Evil', running from Feb. 13 to 26 at Cemara 6 Galeri-Museum in Central Jakarta.
The exhibition, in many ways, reflects Tjutju's distrust of technology's capability to educate and form children.
Tjutju, who started her artistic journey in 2004, noticed that her grandchildren were frequently occupied with their gadgets, and that many parents delegated the job of nurturing their offspring to technology. 'Why don't they hug their children more often and teach their children by themselves, instead of letting the gadgets do the job?' wonders the grandmother of five.
In a painting titled Wow So Cool, Tjutju combines a picture of a boy with a collage of Superman and Wonder Woman comics, wrestlers and a skull wielding a gun to highlight youngsters' exposure to violent entertainment and games.
A similar message is conveyed through the paintings entitled Too Much and Hypnotized. The later features a photo of Tjutju's grandchild surrounded by cartoon figures of witches and hypnotized men.
All the works present popular comic figures in meticulous detail, which Tjutju created using a combination of hand painting, photo-editing applications and canvas printing techniques.
Born in 1941, Tjutju began her artistic journey when managing her husband's art glass decoration business. She often helped her clients to develop interesting art glass designs to decorate their buildings' walls and doors.
Tjutju Widjaja - Courtesy of Tjutju Widjaja
She studied Chinese calligraphy for some time before exhibiting her calligraphy in 2004.
Tjutju took a painting degree at Maranatha University in Bandung, West Java, and graduated in 2008, at the age of 67.
In 2010, she completed her Master's degree in fine art, graduating cum laude from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
Aside from participating in numerous exhibitions at home and abroad, Tjutju received gold medals at the Liu Yi Bei International Chinese Calligraphy Competition in Beijing in 2013 and 2015.
Tjutju is now an art lecturer at the Bandung Institute of Art and Cultural (ISBI).
'I entered the art scene in my 60s. At my age, I am aware that I can't compete with younger artists in the field of hand painting. What I offer through this works are my concepts,' she said.
Some of the paintings speak of Tjutju's hopes for a brighter future. A hope that all children, regardless of economic status, can receive an education; a hope that the future generation will make good use of technology, while at the same time holding on to their culture and traditions.
Through The World Bearers, Tjutju speaks of female empowerment.
An installation, Hear No Evil See No Evil Speak No Evil, is placed at the center of the venue. On a table, dozens of colorful Buddha statues ' covering their mouths, eyes and ears 'are placed in a circular arrangement. All the statues face an iPad showing shooting and battle sequences from video games.
'Tjutju Widjaja's works remind me of British artist Rose Wylie, who started her career in her 80s,' said the exhibition's curator, Rizky Effendy.
Fascinated: Children examine an art installation titled Hear No Evil See No Evil by artist Tjutju Widjaja at Cemara 6 Galeri-Museum in Central Jakarta. The artist is exhibiting her work until Feb. 26.
Wylie, he said, used her daily life as the main inspiration for her works. Wylie's paintings are often described as childlike, with a signature use of vivid colors and bold strokes.
'The latest works of Tjutju Widjaja show an interesting artistic progress,' Rizky said. 'She uses a pop, younger kind of art style. She mixed the bright and vibrant colors with photos and texts taken from pop art comics to create dynamic artworks.'
' Photos by JP/Yuliasri Perdani
