Showcase of Bandung Art Offers a Different View

Jakarta Globe, Tasa Nugraza Barley, January 22, 2010

'The Way I See the Real’ by Guntur.

Veduta, the Italian word for “view,” is usually attributed to the genre of richly detailed cityscapes and vistas that first emerged from 16th century Flanders before Venetian painters became better-known for the style more than 200 years later.

For the exhibition “Bandung Initiative #5: Veduta,” currently running at Vanessa Art Link in South Jakarta, gallery owner Vanessa Sutanto said: “The exhibition tries to show a certain kind of window by collecting and showing various artistic expressions from different sources.”

The exhibition showcases the work of 25 artists from Bandung, and curator Rizki A Zaelani said they had created their own window frames as a way to find new values, connections and understandings that were previously unseen.

Rizki said the artists in the exhibition were attempting to communicate ideas through their paintings about cultural and social representations of society.

Among the artists exhibiting their work are Wastuwidyawan Paramaputra and Guntur Timur.

The 23-year-old Wastuwidyawan earned bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the Bandung Institute of Technology. He describes his work as a blend of illustration realism with high-contrast and dominant monochromatic colors.

His painting “A Desire to Play” shows a beautiful woman in a kimono-style dress and a face that appears cold and aggressive. Both hands are held like claws.

Guntur Timur, 29, on the other hand, often combines both painting and photography on one canvas.

But he relies only on paint for his work “The Way I See the Real,” which shows an object reminiscent of a shell painted onto a red background. The object is somewhat abstract, however, and could be anything, including a toilet lid. This gives Guntur’s audience the chance to interpret his work in different ways.

“Bandung Initative #5: Veduta” is the fifth in a series of exhibitions. The exhibition runs until Saturday (Jan. 23), but the works will remain available for viewing by potential buyers until the end of the month. 

Veduta

Vanessa Art Link
Jl. Darmawangsa X No. 76
South Jakarta
Phone: 021 724 3982

E-mail: vanessaarthouse@yahoo.com