Zhou Chunya

One of China's most acclaimed contemporary artists Zhou Chunya


from http://www.chinesecontemporary.com/about.htm


>For over a decade Zhou Chunya has painted his dog, a dearly loved German Shepherd. He has always painted him green with a red belly andred tongue. These works show not only the deep understanding that existed between Zhou Chunya and his friend but the immense talent of the artist to convey every emotion and state of being, applicable to humans and animals alike, using the same model time and time again. When the dog died, most likely poisoned by neighbours, Zhou Chunya's grief and pain went directly onto the canvas with his wonderful green pal straight and stiff like a stick dog.

There is the big happy green dog, sitting there, taking up all the centre of the canvas, panting with his tongue hanging out. There is the sly green dog, painted in profile, just the head horizontally across the canvas with the nose extended and pointy, the eyes fixed on something ahead. There is the tiny green dog sitting and watching from the bottom corner of a huge empty canvas. There is the green dog on his back rolling in something unmentionable and enjoying it thoroughly. There is the dancing green dog, up on his hind legs his front paws flung across him as if in a fantastic version of a highland fling. The latest rendition of the green dog is in sculptural form with a magnificent coat of bright industrial car paint. He is big, slick and shiny, moving forward with a powerful, quiet stride. This dog doesn't roll around and certainly doesn't invite you to tickle his belly.>

Pekan Seni - show Independent Artists, Ubud, Bali

article written for Ubud Community News, January 2011

Huge Show of Independent Artists

On Pekan Seni, December 23 January 23 at Pengosekan

By Wanya F. Kruyer

Just a few steps down from Arma, Ubud’s well known art museum, you find the venue of the Community of Artists. This month, till January 23, it shows over a hundred Pekan Seni or Independent Artists.

These artists, local Balinese artists, and some local based Indonesian artists, are really independent. They make art for the sake of art, not ‘art’ for the tourists or, as one local artist called it: ‘painted postcards’. Here, at the huge compound of Dewa Nyoman Batuan, the generous host of this event, and himself an acclaimed artist, you will find what’s really going on in Ubud’s art world.

The artists, who show their works at Pekan Seni, are organised in a sanggar, an artist group of a specific banjar (neighbourhood), or organised around a specific artistic field like sculpture or photography.



The Nation by Agung Bajah



The sculpture section has strong statements of social concern as the money releasing water pump called Greedy by Ida Bagus Putu Gede Sutama. Strong is also the balancing act by Agung Bajah, symbolising the fragile state of the nation. It’s a delicate balanced block of plywood containing eight by eight square cubes, a reference to the famous toy cube. The artist turned away some of the cubes suggesting confusion within this balancing act. Painfully sharp is also the statement of Subandi Seniman Sampah on the recent eruption of the Merapi, a sculptured wood with a nailed red top of 165 by 80 cm.

The photography section, in the space next to the small bazaar, shows true contemporary photography. It’s the kind of photography which is so close to painting, you have to look at the caption of the works to see if it is acrylic on canvas, or the ink of the inkjet printer of the photographer. A classic Balinese image of a dancer, caught in full swing by I Kadek Puriartha in his Rejang Dewa, is such a paint-look-alike photo printed on a canvas. But it’s obviously a photo. Didik Aw’s work ‘Get well soon’ is intriguing semi-realistic, and if it would have been exposed in the painter’s section, nobody would have taken it for a photo.

One room is dedicated to the traditional Balinese painting. Some, like I Ketut Tirta, and Dewa Putu Anom, use tinta cina (Chinese dark ink), other images are made with ink and acrylic, or only acrylic, but all in this section witness how nowadays artists are super skilled in the traditional narrative painting style of Bali. 

The batik section is small, however very well visible at the entrance with strong batik tulis work by Tjok Agung Pemayun. In the sculptor room we see a lively bright piece by Ni Ketut Indrawati, called Terkotak Kotak (‘a square in a square’), hold together in a bamboo frame.

The section with contemporary paintings is the largest section of Pekan Seni, and split over three different rooms. These exhibition rooms have no theme, nor a common ground other than contemporary, so the viewer has to wander around to find his preferences. My eyes were caught by the two small round works on wood by Rio Saren, by the interesting contemporary twist of a traditional Balinese beauty by Gusti Ngurah Eko B.(see picture), and by the new paintings of I Made Sudana who is a master in the so-called ‘Yogja abstract style’, with works that fit every hotel or spacious living room if you go for abstract. Really surprising is the contribution of I Made Wiradana to this show. His mixed media piece of 150 x 185 frames 49 small paintings, each telling a story on the relation between human's and animals. This piece would also easily catch the eye at a prestigious international art show.

Around Pekan Seni, the independent artists have set an impressive side program with performances, lectures, music, and a creative day for children on December 26, 2010 (see photo left). The bazaar is daily open from 9 am on.

The full color catalogue has sixty pages. This could have been even more if the art biographies were printed in a larger font. Now we need a magnifier to read it. This is my only suggestion for this great show, with its complete side program.

By the way: all (catalogue, captions, the announcements) at Pekan Seni are in Behasa Indonesia, so no ‘easy does it’ for the tourists, but all are welcome till January 23, at the house of beneficiary Dewa Nyoman Batuan at Jalan Raya Pengosekan, banjar Kalah, Ubud.



Merapi Eruption by Subandi Seniman Sampah







I Wayan Sudarna Putra

on Unsung Hero


interview I Wayan Sudarna Putra
from press release Komaneka Fine Art Gallery, Ubud, Bali, December 2010

Seeking A Cure Inside 


Since returning home from Yogyakarta a few years ago, I Wayan Sudarna Putra seems to have rediscovered a fragment of his past that for a while had disappeared. At his art studio (or warehouse?) he has again become absorbed in pages from his life. A stone shrine—with a Balinese offering and a glass of plain black coffee—sits in the protective shade of a lush and silent bamboo grove. Red stick remnants and ashes of burned incense can be seen scattered around. A pair of turtle doves lands to try and scratch out a living, seeking out bits of rice from the offerings, and then flutters away, engulfed by the clouds like a trail of incense smoke billowing up towards the clear sky. 


My arrival that day had been looked forward to by Nano since morning. A pretty woman (who is his loving wife) appeared bringing for us two cups of sappuccino. Wayan goes by this nickname because he has an odd hobby, sweeping the yard of his studio at every spare moment. At the same time he is absorbed in singing an old‐fashioned song ‘Don’t Feel You Can Do It Alone”. Meanwhile his two children frolic with a cardboard box mask, their other friends play gamelan music the best they can for a children’s barong dance performing around the village during every Galungan holiday. 


“Lots of things need to be endured,” he reasons. Coming home, to Bali, keeps him busy with traditions, gives him thousands of questions to ponder over. Resist? Participate? Be honest? Deceive? Be good? Be bad? Leave? Or just paint at home? It’s almost twilight, and we have already finished gulping down the final cups of coffee over a basket full of laughter. “So how is your life nowadays? Have you found the answers to those questions?” While smiling he replies, “It’s like this. At last what is invisible from the outside sometimes has its own essence. Let it be. Clearly it can be nice. Let all of it become perfectly complete as is. This is how things are. No more. No less. All along I’ve only been seeking a cure within. I have to face the good and bad!” 


So he finishes. I shake his hand and hurry home. So now Komaneka Fine Art Gallery has the opportunity to become a part of the (long) journey of I Wayan Sudarna Putra in ‘taking an inner journey’ that we certainly feel very proud of. Let’s hope that many lowers bloom along the roadsides. 
Yan

Art Stage Singapore

Looking forward to Project Space
>Art Stage Singapore’s exciting new curated platform dedicated to young cutting edge artists and interesting galleries emerging on the Asia Pacific art scene. This project will create star opportunities for discovering the next big emerging artists and galleries.

among others the presentations of
Tie Ying(China)

by Fang Gallery - Jakarta

Takashi KURIBAYASHI (Japan)

Gallery TAGBOAT - Tokyo

Agan HARAHAP (Indonesia)

Vivi Yip Art Room - Jakarta

CAO Xiaodong (China)

LDX Contemporary Art Center - Beijing

and of course the work of Zhou Chunya (Beijing) - haven't found out yet who's presenting him. Anyone knows??

wanyafk@gmail.com

Art Stage Singapore

My trip to Singapore is set on January 12 till 17 to immerse myself into the first Art Stage Singapore.

Director Lorenzo Rudolf on the mission:

“Asia is on the way to become an important platform of the international art market.

No other continent has a comparable potential and comparable perspectives. Art Stage Singapore is the perfect response to its demands and needs. It is an international top event that supports and enables the connection of the rising art scenes of Asia, inclusive its galleries, collectors, art institutions and art fairs, with those worldwide and serves as an important cultural bridge between the Eastem and the Western hemispheres.”