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SE<:YIC>I'-I 5
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Space-Land-M ankind Ruang-Tanah-Manusia
Environmental disaster has become the a major international
issue, both in the North and the South . Hence the term
environment has acquired the connotations of dilemma, a
problem.
Contemporary art in the North has been intensively exploring
environmental issues based on a critical perception . But in the
process, the real meaning of the environment has been
clouded. Artistic expression about the environment has been
marked by blankness and gloominess.
Ecological disaster is no doubt also a part of the Southern
experience. Thus, there are many works in Southern contem
porary art which are similar to Northern expressions . The
objective of this kind of work is to build an awareness that
could help prevent a global catastrophe. Ecological disaster
has to be reevaluated .
However, artistic expressions related to the environment in
Southern contemporary art are not entirely linked to ecologi
cal problems. There are many expressions which still see the
environment through local traditional beliefs. Southern
societies, still retaining links with agricultural activity, perceive
the environment as a revelation of the space-land-mankind
relationship. In many traditions, space-land are identified as
containing the essential material of human life: air, earth and
water.
In contrast to works on environmental disaster, several works
of Southern contemporary art see the space-land-mankind
triad as an equilateral relationship. The environment is
represented in terms of the balance between man and nature.
Landscape painting has become one important tradition for
expressing this balance.
Kerusakan lingkungan menjadi salah satu isyu terpenting di
dunia, baik d i Utara maupun Selatan. Karena itu istilah
lingkungan sendiri mengandung berbagai konotasi, sebuah
masalah.
Seni rupa kontemporer di Utara secara intensif menjelajahi
masalah-masalah lingkungan berdasarkan persepsi kritis. Tapi
dalam proses itu, makna sesungguhnya dari lingkungan makin
samar. Ekspresi artistik tentang lingkungan ditandai
kekosongan dan kesuraman .
Kerusakan lingkungan jelas merupakan bagian dari
pengalaman Selatan. Karena itu banyak juga karya dalam
seni rupa kontemporer Selatan yang mirip dengan ekspresi
Utara. Tujuan dari jenis karya ini adalah membangun
kesadaran yang dapat membantu menghalangi bencana
global. Kerusakan lingkungan harus ditinjau kembali.
Namun, ekspresi artistik yang berhubungan dengan
lingkungan dalam seni rupa kontemporer Selatan tidak
sepenuhnya berhubungan dengan masalah ekologis. ada
banyak ekspresi yang tetap melihat lingkungan melalui
kepercayaan tradisi lokal. Masyarakat Selatan, tetap
mempertahankan ikatan dengan kegiatan pertanian, dan
melihat lingkungan sebaga i perwujudan hubungan ruang -
ta~ah - manusia . Da lam banyak tradisi, ruang - tanah
dianggap mengandung bahan yang sangat penting bagi
kehidupan manusia: udara, tanah dan air.
Bertolak belakang dengan karya yang menggambarkan
kerusakan lingkungan, sejumlah karya seni rupa kontemporer
The space-land-mankind relationship can also be considered
as a perception of the environment not as a factual reality but
as a mythological presence : seeing the environment as
inseparable from human kind. The ecological problem within
this perception is seen as a disintegration of the organic
relationship. In many works, the disintegration is expressed
as the power of nature to fight back. This way of thinking
leads artistic expression towards a representation of nature
as a power. Through the use of this metaphor, the belief can
be clearly discerned that man is not the center of life and
reality.
di Selatan melihat segitiga ruang - tanah - manusia sebagai
hubungan yang seimbang. lingkungan dihadirkan dalam arti
keseimbangan antara manusia dan alam. Lukisan
pemandangan adalah salah satu tradisi penting untuk
memperlihatkan keseimbangan ini.
Hubungan ruang - tanah - manusia dapat dianggap sebagai
persepsi tentang lingkungan yang tidak sebaga i kenyataan
tapi secara mitologis: yai tu melihat lingkungan sebagai
sesuatu yang tidak mungkin dipisah dari manusia. Masalah
lingkungan dalam persepsi ini dilihat sebagai disintegrasi
hubungan organik. Dalam banyak karya, disintegrasi
diekspresikan sebagai kekuatan alam yang memukul balik.
Cara pikir ini membawa ekspresi artistik melihat alam sebagai
kekuatan. Melalui penggunaan metafora ini, kepercayaan
yang terkandung di dalamnya dapat dilihat dengan jelas,
yaitu manusia bukanlah pusat kehidupan dan realitos.
The Beatiful World Series JAFAR ISLAH Painti ng 102 x 72 em KUWAIT
LIST C>F VVC>RI<S
>--
I--
..
1 Houmet Souk Pointing 80 x 99 em Abdel Majid Ben Massao Tunisia
2 Building a House (Membangun rumah) Installation 5 x 5 m Morintan Sirait Indonesia
3 Tradged Pointing 70 x 50 em Joe Mozola Zambia
4 Drifting 2 Pointing 114 x 84 em
Jerry Buhori Nigeria
5 MQdern Jungle Photograph
Mohamad Horanadi bin Haji Buntor Brunei Darussalam
6 Reaching the Horizon (Menjangkau Cakrawala) Pointing 91.5 x 137 em PG. Timbang bin PG. Hj. Tuah Brunei Darussalam
7 Social Presentation III (Presentasi Sosial III) Installation 244 x 122 x 122 em Bonyong Munny Ardie Indonesia
8 Gorgona 1995 Pointing 330 x 435 em Josip Vanista Croatia
9 The Beautiful World Series Pointing 102 x 72 em
Jafor Islah Kuwait
10 The Beautiful World Series Pointing 102 x 72 em
Jafor Islah Kuwait
11 The Beautiful World Series Pointing 102 x 72 em
Jafor Islah Kuwait
12 The Beautiful World Series Pointing 102 x 72 em
Jafar Islah Kuwait
13 From Stilt to Stilt Pointing 122 x 213.5 em PG. Timbang bin PG. Hj. Tuah Brunei Darussalam
14 Pollution is Mankind Drawing 43 x 64 em Suriya Tebsallra Thai land
15 River and Others- 122 Pointing 100 x 80 em Monsoor-UI-Karim Bangladesh
16 River and Others- 123 Pointing 100 x 80 em Monsoor-UI-Korim Bangladesh
17 The Perils of Pollution Drawing 43 x 64 em Suriya Tebsallra Thailand
18 Pollution is Catastrophe Drawing 43 x 64 em Suriya Tebsallra Thailand
19 Roma 1972 Pointing 35 x 45 em Viroj Chiam Chirawat Thailand
20 EI Miror the Observer1994 Pointing 94 x 110 em Efrain Vidal Peru
21 The Nile Pointing 80 x 120 em Pro!. Dr. Ahmed Abdel EI Koreem Egypt
22 Street on an Island Drawing 30 x 38 em Mai Anh Vietnam
23 Instinct Pointing 70 x 95 em Vu Thong Vietnam
24 Light in the Darkness-E Pointing 81 x53em Nasreen Begum Bangladesh
25 Light in the Darkness-B Pointing 81 x 53 em Nasreen Begum Bangladesh
26 -
Pointing
Razanakotoorison Moreel Madagaskar
27 Metamorphosis Pointing 100 x 70 em Prof. Dr. Mostala EI Razzos Egypt
28 Nature-63 Pointing 66 x 76 em K.M.A. Quayyum Bangladesh
29 Flight Pointing 127 x 180 em Rom Kumor Indio
30 Impending Storm Pointing 152.5 x 112 em
Jehangir Sabawala Indio
31 Trapped Lakes Pointing 150 x 170 em
Jehangir Sabowala Indio
32 Story of a Moonlight Night Episode-9 Pointing 94 x 96 em Syed Jahangir Bangladesh
33 Story of a Moonlight Night Episode-4 Pointing 95 x 96 em Syed Jahangir Bangladesh
34 Nature-62 Pointing 66 x 56 em K.M.A. Quayyum Bangladesh
Tsenan Ambanidia RANDRIANASOLO JUSTIN Painting 65 x 50 em MADAGASCAR
The Nile
Instinct VUTHANG Painting 70x 95 em VIETNAM
PROF. Dr. AHMED ABDEL EL KAREEM Painting 80 x 120 em EGYPT
LIST c»E "VVC>RI<S
<C
>-
<C
<C I--
<C
35 Bird and Flower Painting 80 x 100 em Bui Mai Hien Vietnam
36 Reflection Painting
Abdullah Nawawy Saudi Arabia
37 -
Relief
Ahmed Hamid Elarabi Sudan
38 A Market in the Mountains (Pasar di Pegunungan) Painting 145 x 145 em H. Widayat Indonesia
39 Spy (Mota-mota) Painting 150 x 150 em Lucia Hartini Indonesia
40 Lake on Mt. Paekdu Pointing 117 x 92 em Kim Chong Song North Korea
41 Snow Season Painting 57 x 100 em Ham Song Chol NorthKorea
42 Mangyongdae in April Painting 144 x 92 em li Bang Min NarthKorea
43 Evening of Hoeryong Chon Painting 55 x 81.5 em Li Gyong Nom Narth Karea
44 Alakamisy Ambohimanga Painting 80 x 70 em Ravelona Jean Andrianaivo Madagascar
45 Tsenan Ambanidia Painting 65 x 50 em Randrianasolo Justin Madagascar
46 -
Painting
Mohammad Ali Abdullah Qatar
47 -
Painting
Nasir AI Athiah Qatar
48 A Piece of Land for Sale (Sebidang Tanah Untuk Dijual) Installation 5 x 2.6 m Arahmaiani/ Rahmayani Indonesia
49 Tanzania Wildlife I Print 60 x 50 em Francis Lubas Imaniama Tanzania
50 Tanzania Wildlife II Print 60 x 50 em Francis Lubas Imaniama Tanzania
51 Sirene Painting 103 x 103 em Abdel Mapd Massaoud Tunisia
From Stilt to Stilt PG. TIMBANG BIN PG. HJ. TUAH Painting 122 x 213,5cm BRUNEI DARUSSAlAM
Fuerzas Agustinianas 1986 LlDYAAZOUT Sculpture 243 x 432 x 1 70 em COLUMBIA
•
ESS.A...'Y"S
I--
•
Cuba Las Artes plasticas en Cuba han experimentado un notable
auge en los ultimos anos. Un clima altamente creador para
el ejercicio de los diferentes " oficios" vinculados 01 arte, ha
servido de plataforma a todo el trabajo de artistas y talleres
con 10 transformaci6n del panorama social propiciado por el
proceso revulocionario, 10 renovaci6n del sistema de
ensenanza artistico, particularmente con 10 creaci6n del
Instituto Superior de Arte (1978) y 10 paulatina tendencia 01
debate an 10 esfera artistico cultural.
Varias generaciones confluyen en este auge, pues muchos de
los creadores que en 10 decada del sesenta se encontraban
e~ plena madurez artistica, se convirtieron a 10 vez en
profesores de las escuelas de arte.
EI panorama de los setenta estuvo conformado, en primer
lugar, por 10 consolidaci6n de 10 obra de un significativo
grupo de artistas cuya trayectoria se habia iniciado en
decadas anteriores y que se erigian yo en estos anos como
"maestros" con una gran incidencia en 10 producci6n
plastica nacional; por otra parte, irrumpia tambien en este
ambito, un amplio movimiento de j6venes creadores que se
forma ban 0 eran recien egresados de los centros de estudio
creados en 10 decada, como 10 Escuela Nacional de Arte. En
este contexto se insertan los artistas Roberto Fabelo y Nelson
Dominguez, quienes comenzaban a participar activamente
en Salones Nacionales y Juveniles de artes plasticas, eventos
encargados entonces, de promocionar y estimular 10
creaci6n de manera mas amplia y cuya realizaci6n
comenzaba a sistematizarce en aquellos anos.
La pintura, en particular, trat6 de refejar el clima de
transformaciones que se sucedian en el pais. EI prop6sito
encaminado a reflejar artisticamente 10 cotidianidad epica
de aquel proceso se conjugaba con un afan de busqueda de
nuevas soluciones formales, que constituian un manifiesto
intento de dotar a 10 creaci6n, de mayor dinamismo. Aunque
10 t6nica predominante aun quedaba atrapada dentro de los
limites de una visi6n romantica, edulcurada de esta realidad.
EI proceso de experimentaci6n formal de este periodo se
materializ6 con una concepci6n todavia limitada. EI
intercombio con el escenario artistico internacional era aun
asistematico, sobre todo en relaci6n a 10 participaci6n de los
artistas en eventos internacionales 0 el enfrentamiento con 10
critica foranea; el nivel de informaci6n de los creadores era,
por 10 tanto men os amplio, y el contacto con las Fuentes se
producia por vias indirectas fundamentalmente.
No obstante, 10 producci6n artistica fue sentando pautas
para 10 caracterizaci6n global de un periodo en el cual
confluyen tendencias tan disimiles como el informalismo,
influencias del op-art y otras vertientes de 10 abstracci6n, 10
neofiguraci6n de corte expresionista, el pop y el
fotorrealismo. Los recursos de tales lenguajes son asimilados
y "filtrados" en nuestro medio a portis del prop6sito de
reflejar 10 realidad propia en su multifacetica cotidianidad,
ampliando y reorientando paulatinamente, los patrones de
referencia en cuanto a informaci6n te6rica y visual , junto a
una formaci6n mas completa, desde el punto de vista tecnico
con un sentido tambien mas abierto e integrador.
La conjunci6n de todos estos factores salva a 10
experimentaci6n plastica del deslumbramiento y 10 imitaci6n
indiscriminada de tendencias cosmopolitas, para trascender
los dictados y "Iineas de modo" impuestos por el mercado de
arte internacional.
obra de Fabelo y Nelson Dominguez logr6 trascender 10
que se ha dado en lIamar 10 "etapa romantica" de 10 plastica
n Cuba, destacandose por su nivel de realizaci6n tecnica,
versotilidad y volumen . Ello explica 10 permanencia de estos
outores en el activo escenario del arte, nacional e
internacional. Ambos exhiben su capacidad para re-crear
los pasajes mas intimos de 10 vida de cualquier individuo,
revelar 10 esencia visionaria del creador, reflejar los
conflictos existenciales del hombre y descubrir un universo de
fabulaci6n, a partir de una iconografia personal que define
un estilo yo reconocible y reconocido.
Desde fines de los setenta y como resultado del propio
desarrollo de 10 sociedad y de sus transformaciones
graduales, el proceso de Institucionalizaci6n del pais, 10
creaci6n del Ministerio de Cultura, 10 labor de las
Instituciones de promoci6n del arte, el perfeccionamiento del
sistema de ensenanza artistica, se posibilita un acelerado
avance en 10 producci6n artistica en 10 decada del ochenta .
La voluntad de revolucionar concepciones en 10 creaci6n se
revierte de manera casi inmediata en 10 transformaci6n del
panorama artistico en 10 decada del ochenta .
Lo mas importante es tal vez el enfasis con que se plantea ,
esa voluntad de renovaci6n y ruptura dialectica: 10 avidez
por conocer, aprovechar y readecuar los recursos del
lenguaje artisco internacional yel interes por dar 01 proceso
de creaci6n de 10 obra de arte, una fundamentaci6n concep
tual mas s6lida .
La asimilaci6n critica y activo de las mas disimiles Fuentes no
es s610 10 continuidad de esa invariante de nuestra tradici6n
plastica manifesto desde 10 primera vanguardia de 10
decadas del viente y el treinta, sino una capacidad
fortalecida en estos anos por un sistema de ensenanza
superior, enriquecido con las nuevas concepciones sobre 10
creaci6n y 10 amplia funci6n del arte.
La plastica de los ochenta no hace otra coso que ponerse a
tono con las inquietudes y las exigencias de su propio
tiempo, sobre todo, porque las condiciones socio-culturales 10
hacen posible.
En terminos semanticos, las instalaciones, 10 audaz
incorporaci6n de materiales, procedimientos y expedientes
total mente nuevos 0 inusuales en 10 producci6n plastica
precedente, 10 asimilaci6n de diferentes tendencias, no
responden 01 simple afan de "estar 01 dia" ; motivaciones
cognoscitivas ocupan ahora un lugar mas relevante, 10
profunda fundamentaci6n conceptual de las obras exigen
una postura reflexiva y una actitud investigativa en el
proceso previo a 10 creacion y durante 10 creaci6n misma,
todo vez que se aspira a plasmar artisticamente los
resultados de esas motivaciones. La ruptura se produce sobre
todo frente a 10 diferenciaci6n entre las disciplinas, frente a
los contornos convenidos entre elias, apuntando hacia el
intercamblo que borra 10 fronteras entre las difersas
expresiones.
EI raflejo de los problemas de 10 realidad trasciende los
limites inmediatos de 10 observacion - contemplacion y
supera las preocupaciones "Iocalistas" . Nada mas afin a una
optica contemporanea que 10 profunda reflexion en torno a
los problemas internos y externos de 10 existencia humana, 10 ciencio, las preocupaciones filosoficas, y nod a mas fructifero
e inobjetalbemente valido que esas disquisiciones
intelectuales, cuando en modo alguno son ajenas 01 estudio y
a 10 revalorizacion de nuestras tradiciones, a 10 valoracion
de las expresiones populo res de nuestra cultura, aun
aquellas que han sido rechazadas por "incultas" 0
"antiartisticas" .
Jose Manuel Fors y Santiago Rdriguez pertenecen a este
grupo que representa tal ruptura estetica . EI primero , a
partir de una optica diferente 01 asumir 10 fotografia mas alia
de su acufiada funcion documental, pero tambien con un
cambio de "foco" a 10 hora de tomar 10 naturaleza como
pretexto tematico para transmitir sensaciones,que mas Ie
deben a 10 subjetividad que a 10 reproduccion de una
imagen . EI segundo, asume 10 exacta dimension del sistema
filosofico de 10 religion Yoruba y 10 inserta en un discurso
plastico extraordinariamente simbolico, creando su propia
iconografia que nada tiene que ver con 10 tendencia colorista
y superficial de representacion de diedades, que mucho
complace 01 "gusto turistico".
En esta linea, pero circunscripta 01 cuerpo mitologico de 10 Sociedad Secreta Abakua(expresion tambien de origen
sincretico} se encuentra 10 obra de Belkis Ayon, quien
representa a los artistas cubanos mas jovenes y cuyo
riguroso proceso tecnico y senti do revoluc ionario de 10 grafica, se reflejan en su obra yo madura.
En los ultimos anos de 10 decada del ochenta, muchos
artistas realizan u:na obra de aguda critica social y de
anal isis de determinadas situaciones y problematicas de 10 sociedad cubana . Esta produce ion de nitido caracter
circunstancial ,pronto do paso, en 10 decada del noventa, a
un arte que expresa las preocupaciones y reflexiones de los
artistas mas jovenes acerca del entorno social, con una
tonica diferente ala hora de "juzgar", re-crear 0 comentar
aspectos puntuales de 10 sociedad, y en 10 que se destacan
mas bien los valores "universales" de 10 condicion humana .
La intensa relacion con 10 realidad y con 10 que acontece
intercionalmente en el arte, los hace transitar
desprejuiciadamente dentro del actual contexto
"multicultural" . Ello Ie permite estabiecer una peculiar
armonia entre las esencias de nuestro cultura y 10 apropiacion de lenguajes contemporaneos "universales", en
una suerte de sintesis que se acomoda muy bien en medio
del dinamico pensamiento y los d iscursos fundamentales de
10 sociedad actual.
Si bien 10 muestra de 10 plastica cuban n sio Exposicion
del Arte Contemporaneo de los Poi N o A lin ados no
representa, ni con mucho, un resumen de las lineas presentes
en nuestro panorama artistico, 01 menos deja ver algunos
direcciones puntuales de 10 vasta produccion del momento.
Esta vez 10 alianza circunstancial de artistas disimiles resulta
una ace ion licita, para propiciar un acercamiento 01 fenomeno artistico en Cuba y constatar 10 "convivencia" de
varias generaciones que operon al unisono, trascendiendo
cualquier prejuicio critico que hiperbolice unas orientaciones
esteticas en detrimento de otras.
Un conjunto notable de estas obras y de estos artistas se
vincula con aspectos de nuestra realidad, yo sea a troves del
pri sma de las tradiciones, el entorno natural 0 el origen
sincretico de nuestro cultura .
Se trata de un arte coracterizado por 10 renovacion
constante, 10 voluntad investigativa, poseedor de una solido
estructura teorico-conceptual , que incorpora 10 valorativo; 10 cognoscitivo y 10 proplamente estetico, con un alto nivel.
Chi I e Engraving arnl Drawings
In Chile, for a long time, drawings and engravings served as
accompaniments to paintings and sculptures. Thus, the great
painters from the last period of XIX century and from the
beginning of XX century were eminent draughtsmen, but,
unfortunately, their drawings were never shown as serious
work. Engraving, which was taught at the School of Fine Arts
at the beginning of this century, had few adepts. Drawing, as
a secondary means of realizing paintings and sculpture, and
engraving were seen by many as handicraft production and
were like· poor stepchildren in artistic production until the
mid-1960s.
It took time for drawing to develop autonomy as creative and
met~phorical work because the language of line was
considered only a means to fix or stop images for a picture
or sculpture. Thus, drawing was understood as an aid, a
fixed tool which explored the different possibilities in the
transformation of the image for a great work: a painting or a
sculpture.
On the other hand, engraving may be related to the strate
gies of photogravure for illustrations in newspapers, books
and even in comics . However, their formats and their essence
were not understood by the public nor critics until the mid-
1960s. It was at this moment when a group of artists from
Concepcion, including Pedro Millar and Jaime Cruz, among
others, obstinately initiated the positioning of engraving as
an artistic genre in its own right among the visual arts in
Chile.
This small sampling of artists from Universidad Catolica de
Chile, at the invitation of this exhibition and the Culture
Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, has
not been chosen to tell us the history of these two artistic
genres. It is meant instead to point out the particular mystery
of the two languages of these genres, which are crossed and
boosted themselves, as revealed in the work of these five
artists (Jaime Cruz, Pedro Millar, Ignacio Villegas, Gonzalo
Cienfuegos and Veronica Barraza) who are today developing
these difficult disciplines.
From the 1960s until the present (the apogee of drawings
and engravings) it has been shown that drawing and engrav
ing, along with other forms of "graphics," are languages
able to produce a symbolic world penetrating and revealing
the individual and common events in our country, like, for
example drawings, sculpture or facilities . A number of great
exhibitions of drawing, engraving and mixed techniques on
paper from the beginning of the 1970s until today have
borne witness to this .
The artists on display here, as we said, are a small and an
important trial of what we could call the graphic spirit which
characterizes the work of artists of line and engravings.
To understand these art forms, we first have to talk about the
small format, and of that centered space where the artists
want to close and fix the eye of the spectator. Pedro Millar,
with his litographic images, denotative and precise, shows us
the ambiguous relation between the image and its name,
between the image and its function , but also the distance
between the resolution like a form and its referent. With
Millar, the small format becomes a vehicle of images that the
spectator may transform . The artist's work is presented as a
visual memory, a piece of information the spectator can
reconstruct using her or his imagination. The minimal struc
ture points to a concentration of perception and functioning
of memory.
In the work of Jaime Cruz, the format is a little wider, but in
here the complexity of small details and the screen lines
produced by the etching and the carborundum applied to the
metal and developing in its impression on paper, evidence
bad habits of its program "Los Mutantes", in which Cruz
developed the distortion of the human body. His engravings
also catch the eye, especially from the black side, working
with a multiplicity of reliefs which form a world of textures
that evoke human bodies cut into pieces and mutilated .
In his work, Cruz delicately crosses the residues of the
drawing with textures which talk about an informal far world
that comes from the paintings from the beginning of the
1960s : is the matter that reveals the being in its dimension of
finitude.
With Veronica Barraza, the precise denotation is also set out,
that is to say, the visual data involves directly the object or
thing that wants to be revealed . Her serigraphs also set up a
reference to the privacy of the sight with respect to images,
which have always been in the iconography of primitive arts,
but also it refers to some fossilization of real things. In it exists
an obsession to investigate the simpler things and reveal them
with charm and royalty.
If the engravers mentioned above use drawing as a mecha
nism for engraving, like a structure that marks and defines
the image, being a drawing covered and deleted by inks, for
Ignacio Villegas, drawing that uses coal is a gestural element,
a manual mechanism that arms and disarms the image again
and again to finally make the moving process of the drawing
be exposed as a work. His eye looks at the body from a
private perspective, that is to say, characters have been .
caught in a meditative moment, where the person has been
thrown towards himself, revealing the attitudes and expres
sions of his inner world. This simple thing of coal on wood is
now a definite work.
For Gonzalo Cienfuegos, on the other hand, graphics
techniques are the principal mechanism of creation. Drawing
is the strategy that supports both the line and the autonomous
work, a structure that classifies and backs up his pictures.
Cienfuegos' works are independent from the concept of the
picture and have with him a pure thematic relationship. The
investigation of the line, of the drawing line screen, of color
in the drawing and different graphic line screens that also
are printed in the engraving makes him a draughtsman who
makes this production system the principal foundation of his
work, as can be seen in the lithographs on display here.
Cienfuegos prolongs his themes in the stone, on which he will
explore, directly, a handmade drawing on the paper, its
different process of the graphic study. The character of the
line, its intensity, its fragmentation, its discontinuance in
broken lines, tell us about a direct and immediate work in
which the artist never comes back, because his corrections
belong to a definitive work.
Thus, characters, landscapes and things are the images that
form the adventure of the drawing as an instrument of
colorfulness.
GASPAR GALAZ C.
Ja~uary, 1995.
China Trend of Development in Traditional Chinese Painting
The 20th century saw two differing yet mutually supple
mentary movements in traditional Chinese painting. One, led
by Huang Binghong and Qi Baishi, drew on the ancient
Chinese tradition while the other, with Xu Bei'hong and Lin
Fengmian as leading exponents, looked beyond the border
for inspiration. As time went by, both movements gradually
turned from classical towards contemporary in form and style
which eventually led to the emergence in the 1980s of the so
called "folksy," "primitive," and "new literati" arts . A number
of artists fram both movements stood out with their fine works
produced by delving into real life and making innovations.
O n the art scene, the vigorous development of ink and wash
painting is most noticeable. Based on the traditional literati
painting but transformed along modern lines, the contempo
rary ink and wash draws inspiration , instead of retreating,
from real life. The artists broke away from the old rules
governing artistic creation and sought to establish new ones .
The seemingly grotesque look of their work is not wantonly
produced but contains a deeper rational meaning that reflects
a thorough grasp of the artistic tradition . They do not believe
in rebellion without rules to follow or destroying without
building . Working piously to raise their experiences of life to
a higher aesthetic level , they strive to lay bare the part of
human psyche that was previously covered up in the classical
art. Among them is Shi Lu , a well known artist from North
west China . Shi 's works are marked by strong individuality
and characteristics of an Oriental style of expressionism. In
his works, the traditional principles are deliberately violated
and his paintings were consequently sneered at as "savage",
"bewildering", "messy" or simply "black." Braving such
criticism, he tenaciously established a distinct style of his own
which, by the old yardstick, appears to be guided by no
rules . But the "no rule" system of his is in fact based on a set
of more sophisticated principles characterized by the so
called "rationally wild" and "aesthetically rugged" brush
work. His artistic achievement served as a connecting link
between the past tradition and future development of the ink
and wash painting .
Another representative artist of contemporary Chinese
painting in the 1980s is Gu Wenda, whose large ink and
wash works marked another turning point in the transforma
tion of literati painting . Breaking the natural order of time
and space in composition, Gu freely reorganized a variety of
symbols into a vast and mysterious mass. In terms of tech
niques, he shifted from the traditional literati painting which
attaches prior importance to delineation and created a new
style that emphasizes "wash." The "wash" style was carried
to the extreme.
It should be pointed out that the unique tradition of Chinese
painting contains many concepts found also in contemporary
art such as abstraction ism, composition, expression of
individuality and free choice of media . While being very
different from classical Western art, traditional Chinese
painting comes close in spirit to Western modernist ort,
especially that of the early period . How to carryon with the
reform, given the link between the traditional and the contem
porary ? Shi Lu and Gu Wenda provided important clues : by
.,
furthering the course of disintegration, new things will be
discovered and created . The new universe bears intrinsic links
with , but is completely transformed from , the old . The focus of
Shi and Gu's work was placed on exposing secrets hidden in
the depths of the human mind and soul.
The movement that advocated borrowing from Western art
took a different path . By first studying, then departing from
Western art, the movement sought to establish linkage
between Western art and contemporary Oriental art for the
final purpose of bringing to pass East-West interfusion . Lin
Fengmian and Wu Guanzhong are two representative figures
of this movement. In his ink and wash paintings, Lin adopted
th·e fluid , moist-looking and vigorous lines from murals and
ceramic art but was consequently pressured into relegating
those rebellious lines to a secondary place in his works. Wu
Guanzhong, regarded as Lin's successor, carried the "Lin-Wu
system" step by step and methodically to the edge of ab
stractionism. With a deeper understanding of contemporary
art, Wu boldly brought the "Lin Fengmian lines", with some
renovations of his own, from backstage to the fore. As a
result, the traditional cursive and freehand brushwork
assumed a radically changed form in his natural istic abstrac
tionist works. While Huang Binghong in his late years came
close to abstraction ism by reinforcing the traditional stan
dard, Wu approached the abstract as a rebel. His deep
understanding of the law governing the use of art media
enabled him to forge ahead against people's ridicule. He
believes that art media ought to be the focus of attention in
establ ishing new rules of the ink and wash painting . While a
fluid effect is difficult to produce in oil painting , it is quite
easy to bring forth that effect with the ink and wash . Yet the
traditional literati painting is governed by rules that restrict
the freedom of brush movement. Therefore, the question
regarding the fluidness of the ink and wash was studied as a
starting point in dealing with the disintegration and renewal
of the traditional system. The Wu system is yet to be estab
lished . The artist is continuing with his work to achieve a
higher standard .
Wu's work led to an important development. As artists awoke
to the centrality of art media by moving towards the abstract,
a number of experiments were carried out with various
materials such as water, ink, paper: and chemicals. Most of
these experiments, however, were done on a technical level,
still far from being guided by a higher awareness concerning
the art medium. A good grasp of abstraction ism is needed to
do the job. In this regard, a group of artist led by Zeng You
and Liu Guosong have carried out successful experiments.
Their works bear either optimistic and romantic fantasies or
aesthetically understated forms , tranquil scenes and light
colours. In their works, the subject was depicted not so much
as a purpose, but as a result of the application of the brush.
The media gained ascendancy over the form . In other
experiments, even the use of Xuan paper and the brush was
d iscarded . In their place, other materials were used to further
the reform of the ink and wash painting .
Apart from Zeng and Liu , some other artists a lso left their
marks on the new art scene, such as Xiao Huixiang who, by
W I king with thin ink and raw Xuan paper in his Ring Series
( Illtl I ri s, discovered a new spiritua l space un ique to the
l mbination; Jia Youfu whose graph like paintings are
nized as ha ving unusually powerful symbols; and Tian
I imin who casted away the so called "bone" method in
Ir ditiona l ink and wash painting and transplanted impres-
i nist forms, light and colours to his works, thus creating a
n w type of figure painting called the "boneless figures ."
After the founding of New China, with the support of the
Chinese government, artists associations and various re-
arch bodies devoted to Chinese painting were set up at
national , provincial and city levels across the country. A large
number of artist were trained and made remarkable achieve
ments, which bodes well for the future development of Chinese art.
TIAN FUHUI
Malaysia Contemporary Malaysian Art: From Version to Vision Sem I(ontemporer Malaysia: Dari Versi ke Visi There are many ways of representing local identity in
contemporary Malaysian art. In its short history, Malaysian
art has had its share of attempts made by the country's
modern artists to portray identity in their works. But appar
ently, representation (especially self-representation) is quite
different from recognition in the international art arena
overwhelmed by the "universality" of the Western aesthetic
paradi"gm. Past efforts to instill identity have been variously
labeled as provincial , characteristic (of the people), or just
plain local - all not quite assuming of an "identity." Identity in
modern art is not merely a matter of the self defining itself,
but also of the "other" recognizing that self.
As long as the "universality" of art is equated with the
"universality" of Western art, local identity, it seems, would
remain just "local", and recognized as a "local" derivation.
And that "Iocalness" is perceived in terms of local content,
locally derived techniques and local depictions.
Malaysian art from the 1930's until about the 1960's could
be approached in this way. With the exception of a few
artists who were quite totally converted to producing artworks
that mimicked Western examples explicitly, most artists
injected local content into their versions of Western art, in the
form of local landscapes, peoples and scenes of social life.
Stylistically the renditions ranged from figurative Western
Academic paintings to abstracted representation . These
representations of the local physical and social environments
Ada banyak cara untuk mempresentasikan identitas lakal di
dalam seni MalaYSia, seni Malaysia telah menerima bagian
dari usaha-usaha para seniman negara tersebut dalam
menggambarkan identitas tersebut dalam karya-karya mereka .
Tetapi, tampaknya representasi (terutama representas i diri)
sangat berbeda dari pengakuan dalam arena seni
internasional yang sudah dijejali oleh "keuniversalan" dari
paradigma estetik barat. Usaha-usaha di masa lampau dalam
menanamkan identitas telah diberi berbagai julukan
sepertibers ifat kedaerahan , bersifat khas masyarakat, atau
semata-mata lokal - semuanya tidak begitu memberi asumsi
mengenai "identitas". Identitas di dalam seni modern tidak soja
merupakan masalah mendefinisikan diri sendi ri, tetapi
mencakup pula bahwa yang "lain" juga mengakui diri tersebut.
Selama "keuniversalan" seni masih disamakan dengan
"keuniversalan" seni barat, tampaknya identitas lukal akan tetap
menjadi sekedar "lakal ", dan diakui sebagai derivasi "lakal ".
Dan "kelokalan" itu dipandang dalam kerangka berpikir isi
lokal, teknik-teknik yang diderivas i secara lakal dan
pengungkapan-pengungkapan lakal .
Dari tahun-tahun 1930-an sampai 1960-an , seni Malaysia
dapat didekali dengan cara ini. Dengan pengecualian
beberapa seniman yang sudah secara menyeluruh
mengkonversikan diri untuk menciptakan karya-karya seni yang
meniru contoh-contoh Barat secara terbuka , s~bag ian besar
seniman memasukkan isi lokal ke dalam karya-karya dalam
were not only essentially circumscribed by Western attitudes
about art, but also were coloured by stereotypical Western
views of the cultures of the non-Western "other" in the tropics
and south-seas. Mostly, these works were patronized by
westernized local elites, while regarded in a patronizing way
by Westerners. Not surprisingly, identity still eluded the artists
and nationalists alike.
In the 1960s, "batik painting" came into the Malaysian art
ne in a big way. "Batik" was seen as the possible answer
t the need to reconcile modernism in art (and in national
life) with the insistent 'search for identity.' The batik technique
not only offered the 'look' of modern art, but was also in
accord with the formalist canon of modernist painting .
(Evidently, in their practice, modern Malaysian artists strongly
emphasized techniques in ~rder to explore formalistic
aspects). Many artists combined the technique of batik with
the depiction of local scenes. In the "cracked" images, it
would seem that a more genuinely local character was given
to modern art in Malaysia . But unfortunately, this offering
came to be regarded as superficial attempts at practicing
modernist art -- batik paintings were viewed by some as
exercises in decoration, and hence quite at odds with the so
called serious aesthetic struggles of the "avant-garde." Batik
technique could give the character, but batik paintings were
doubted as modernist art, even as "serious" art. As long as
artists looked to developments in Western art in servitude and
awe, and as long as modern art was defined by the West,
bentuk pemandangan alam lakal, manusia dan pemandangan
kehidupan sosial lakal ke dalam versi-versi lokal dari seni
barat. Dalam hal gaya penafsiran tersebut mencakup dari
lukisan-Iukisan Akademi Barat sampa i representasi abstrak.
Representasi-representasi lingkungan fisik dan sosia l yang
bersifat lakal ini tidak hanya secara mendasar dibatasi oIeh
sikap-sikap barat mengenai seni , tetapi juga diwarnai oIeh
pandangan-pandangan Barat yang steroetip tentang
kebudayaan "lain" yang bukan Barat di daerah tropik dan lout
selatan . Kebanyakan karya-karya ini didukung oleh ka langan
elit lakal yang kebarat-baratan, dan secara diakui secara
meremehkan oleh orang Barat.Tidak mengherankan , identitas
masih menghindar dari seniman dan nasionalis.
Dalam tahun-tahun 1960-an "Iukisan batik" memasuki dunia
seni Malaysia secara besar-besaran. "Batik" dianggap sebaga i
jawaban yang mungkin bagi kebutuhan untuk memperba iki
hubungan antara modernisme dalam sen i (dan dalam
keh idupan nasional) dengan "pencarian jati-diri " yang terus
menerus. Tehnik batik tidak hanya menjanjikan "tampang" sen i
modern, tetapi juga sesuai dengan standar formalistis lukisan
modern. (Terbukti , dalam praktek mereka, seniman Malaysia
modern sangat menonjolkan tehnik-tehnik untuk menyelidiki
aspek-aspekformalistis). Banyak sen iman menggabungkan
tehnik batik dengan penggambaran adegan-adegan lakal. Di
dalam gambaran-gambaran "retak-retak" nampaknya kesenian
modern di Malaysia menunjukkan "sifat" lokal yang lebih murni.
CD
the search for identity at home became exercises of 'self
appropriation' .
But things were beginning to change on the Western horizon.
The dominating Modernist canon was beginning to be
questioned. Things were changing the world over. Memories
of oppressed and marginalised sociocultural groups were
reviving. The global rise in Islamic consciousness inspired a
similar resurgence in this country. It reinforced the decision of
the National Cultural Congress in 1971 that stipulated Malay
culture as the basis for the national culture. (In Malaysia,
M~lays are Muslims according to the Constitution) . "Islamic
ness" became a consideration in contemporary art produced
by Malay artists. And the apparent end of the Cold War
subsequently seemed to put to an end as well to the polarized
ideological choice between the symbolical freedom and
democracy of American abstract art and the "people's art" of
socialist realisms.
It was within this global socio-political ambience, and under
the conditions of global capitalism of the last 10 years, that
contemporary art practice in Malaysia began to exhibit a
certain amount of self-confidence. There seemed to be
optimism that there is light at the end of the identity tunnel.
Artists began to show works that revolved around social ,
political and cultural issues - cultural heritage, the environ
ment, AIDS, gender, urbanization, ethnic wars, etc . At the
same time, art of the formalistic persuasion seemed to be
Namun, sayang sekali , penawaran ini jadi dianggap sebagai
usaha yang dangkal untuk mempraktekkan kesenian yang
seolah-olah modern - lukisan batik o leh beberapa pihak
dianggap sebaga i latiha dekorasi , dan karena itu sangat
berlawanan dengan perjuangan kelompok "avant garde" yang
konon serius estetis. Tehnik batik dapat memberikan karakter,
namun lukisan batik diragukan sebagai seni modern, ataupun
sebagai seni yang "serius". Selama para seniman memandang
perkembanganseni Barat dengan perasaan rendah-diri dan
terpukau, pencarian jati-diri di negeri sendiri menjadi latihan
"menilai-diri" .
Akan tetapi, telah mulailah muncul perubahan di ufuk Barat.
Standar modern is yang diminan mulai dipertanyakan. Di
seluruh dunia terjadi perubahan. Kenangan mengenai
kelompok sosio-budaya yang dijajah dan disingkirkan
dihidupkan kembali. Kebangunan global dalam kesadaran
Islam membangkitkan gelombang yang serupa di negeri ini. Ini
memperkuat keputusan Kongres Budaya Nasional pada tahun
1971 yang menentukan budaya Melayu sebaga i dasar
budaya nasional. (Di Malaysia, arang Melayu adalah orang
Islam sesuai Undang-Undang Dasar). "Ke-Islaman" menjadi
sua tu pertimbangan di dalam seni kontemporer yang
dihasilkan oleh seniman Melayu. Dan nampaknya akhir
Perang Dingin selanjutnya mengakhiri pilihan ideologis yang
dipolarisasi antara kebebasan dan demokrasi simbol is dari
seni abstrak Amerika dan "seni rakyat" dari rasialisme sosialis.
Di dalam suasana sosio-politis global dan dalam persyaratan
kapitalisme global dari dasawarsa yang balu lalu , maka
111IIving still and becoming even stronger, motivated by the
I lUI oning market for "hotel and bank art". If for so long,
III u st for identity in art in Malaysia was oppressively
II (1m d by a versioning of modern art in Malaysia, perhaps
t d y, there is a clearer vision that Malaysian art ~ contem
I orary art.
ZAINOl ABIDIN AHMAD SHARIFF
Pusat Seni Universiti Sains Malaysia
praktek seni kontemporer di Malaysia mulai memperlihatkan
sedikit kepercayaan-diri. Para seniman mulai memamerkan
karya yang berputar mengenai isyu-isyu sosial, politik dan
budaya - warisan budaya, lingkungan hidup, AIDS, gender,
urbanisasi, peron etnis, dst.nya. Sekaligus, sen i persuasi
formalisis masih juga kelihatan berjalan terus dan bertambah
kuat didorong oIeh pasaran "seni hotel dan bank" yang mulai
berkembang. Kalau demikian lama pencarian jatidiri dalam
seni di Malaysia , barangkali masakini telah terdapat suatu visi
atau pandangan yang lebih jelas bahwa seni Malaysia
adalah seni kontemporer.
ZAINOL ABIDIN AHMAD SHARIFF
Pusat Seni Universiti Sains Malaysia