Balinese painter to hold expo in Tokyo

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Balinese painter I Ketut Budiana, 57, will display his works in a nine-day solo exhibition next April in Tokyo, Japan. The exhibit will showcase more than 70 of Budiana's latest works.

"It will run from April 1 to April 9, 2008," Ketut Budiana said as quoted by Antara on Thursday in his studio.

He said it would be his sixth exhibition in Japan, the last taking place at the Tokyo Station Gallery in July, 2003.

"I am really excited with this upcoming exhibition and I have worked very hard to ensure that it will reflect the best of my creativity," he said.

Born into a family of traditional artisans in Padangtegal, Ubud, Budiana studied Balinese traditional visual arts from the time he was a child.

He was fortunate to have the chance to study under Rudolf Bonnet, the Dutch painter who, along with the German painter Walter Spies, played a pivotal role in the birth of modern Balinese art. He later pursued his education at Denpasar's School of Fine Art.

The upcoming exhibit will give Japanese art lovers an opportunity to view Budiana's impressionistic and semi-naturalistic works.

Previously, Budiana conducted successful exhibitions in Australia (1977), the United States (1990, 1992 and 1995), Singapore (1994) and Spain (1998). His works have been collected by several prestigious institutions, including Amsterdam's Tropenmuseum and Japan's Fukuoka Art Museum.

Noted art-critic Jean Couteau praised Budiana as a painter whose works reflect the essence of the modern East.

"His works transcend various man-made borders, thus, they cease to be ordinary art works. His works have became a modern philosophical contemplation," he said.

Budiana, according to Jean Couteau, has managed to achieve that degree of modernity without shedding his traditional roots.

"Besides creating modern art works, Budiana continues to create traditional art pieces, particularly ones related to sacred religious rituals," he said.

In his home village, Budiana is known as a skilled temple sculptor and an accomplished undagi, a traditional architect responsible for designing and building sacred structures, such as wooden sarcophagi, or petulangan, and cremation towers, or bade.