Indonesians in Focus: Dyan Anggraini

By Barrie | May 10th, 2007 | No Comments

Masks are a typical object across cultures and traditions in the world. One need think only of the Balinese Barong and Javanese wayang wong performances, or the Venetian carnevale, the Greek theater, the Egyptian death masks and the German Fasching preceding Lent to recognize the universal existence of masks.

But closer to our personal lives are those masks that go beyond the visible: “masks” that have gradually become one with the face and the mind; masks that every person uses, changing them as the need arises.

These are the masks that are used to conceal the features of power, fear, hate and fragility, but also of malice, arrogance and many other complexes that obstruct people in revealing their innermost selves. In fact, masks are part of our behavior — sometimes personalities — in everyday life.

Such abstract notions come to mind when looking at the fascinating paintings of masked figures by Dyan Anggraini.

However, unlike the typical treatment of masks, here it is not she who wears the mask. Rather, Dyan describes the mask that we all wear in various situations.

What makes her works unique is the way her own voice comes through as a sharp commentary.

This was evident in the frightening masks at her 2005 solo exhibition Invisible at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which emanated a biting critique on the political and social situation of today.

Masks recur in her solo exhibition currently on display at the renovated Hadiprana gallery in Kemang, South Jakarta. However, unlike the earlier show, her paintings now carry an air of sweetness overlaying the harsh truths of the male persona.

Titled DecoraGent, the exhibition reveals the artist’s unrelenting struggle for the truth in her pieces that show smiling, seemingly affable men, who symbolize ambiguity and hypocrisy.

For example, Sweet features a male figure wearing a smiling mask while honey bees swarm near him, and Te-Collabo reveals smiling masked men in official jackets, shaking hands.

In her struggle against dishonesty and her search for the true nature behind appearances, Dyan leaves no part of society unnoted. Ikon Jogja depicts a masked bodybuilder gazing at a flower in a feminine pose — her way of saying that Cemek Supardi, an icon in the Yogya pantomime scene, emanates an unusual power and strength although physically he is small and directly contradicts the image of a bodybuilder.

Sneering at the snail’s pace of development, Dyan has created Lari Cepat di Tempat (Running fast in place), depicting bureaucrats in sport suits and ties, and Soliloquy, which depicts wishful thinking through a masked man holding a flower and an empty chair suspended from the ceiling.

Meanwhile, the optimism of the 1998 reformation is seen in Euphoria, in which several masks have been removed from the face and are floating in the air — but layers of masks still remain beneath. The commentary in Masih ada pemain (There’s still a player) is self-explanatory, as a fat man is shown in the act of fishing with just one tiny soldier in the background.

Noting with disdain the egocentricity of many men, Dyan ingeniously paints small male figures emerging from the petals of a pink lotus, as if to show their presence within the beautiful flower.

As Dyan makes her critical comments through the figures of masked men, it is the jasmine and the safety pin she uses as metaphors for women and their virtues, particularly in Kisah Peniti (Story of the safety pin).

The safety pin is an object that is traditionally associated with women and babies. In some traditions, it is even placed under the baby’s mattress as a sort of talisman to protect it. At the same time, a safety pin can prick deeply and cause profound consequences.

Dyan was born 1957 in Kediri, East Java, to a family of nationalist-oriented Tamansiswa educators, and grew up Javanese. In that culture, equilibrium is a major part of its philosophical thought.

During her student days at the Indonesian Fine Arts Institute (ISI) in Yogyakarta, she formed close bonds with artists groups that desired a creativity removed from the establishment. It appears that these aspects of her life have had an impact on the way she reveals her search for justice as well as explores equality between men and women and within hierarchical situations, while uncovering the truth behind the surface.

Both an artist of unique paintings and head of the Yogyakarta Culture Park — a government institution tasked with assisting in regional development of arts and culture — Dyan is instrumental in narrowing the gap between the institution and the artists.

DecoraGent, a solo exhibit
by Dyan Anggraini
May 3-13, 2007
Galeri Hadiprana
Mitra Hadiprana Building
Jl. Kemang Raya 30
South Jakarta

Carla Bianpoen