28.11.17 — 15.12.17

SWEET (& SOUR!) SIXTY

Solo exhibition by Eddie Hara

In-Between Contingencies – In the Face of the Flowing Time

The year 2017 is a special one for Eddie Hara, at least for two reasons. The first one relates to his current status as an “immigrant”.

It is exactly twenty years ago that Hara decided to move to Europe; to live and work in Basel, Switzerland. It wasn’t an easy decision in his life. At that time his reputation in Indonesia was rising as a young artist who had begun to be involved in big exhibitions, both in the country and abroad. Several of his fellow artists questioned his decision. They believed that living abroad would risk the “cultural relevance” of his works to his homeland, as well as potentially harm his bright career.

Indeed, it was personal considerations that became the reasons behind his move, especially his marriage with Catherine Maeder, the mother of his two sons, Mimmo and Nestor. But more than that, it was also influenced by a more underlying outlook of life. Since early on, Hara was not an artist who naively believes in rigid ties between cultural values and one’s birth place or one’s national identity. His works have always been a clue. Instead of immersing himself in the various discourses of “Indonesian-ness” in the local art world, since the end of 1980s he has intentionally opened himself toward “outside” influences. Since those years, too, he has traveled abroad for exhibitions, residence programs, and academic studies. It was such experiences of being an itinerant artist that, I believe, crucially formed his flexible attitude in viewing cultural differences.

Observers discussed the emergence of Hara’s works as an important phenomenon in the Indonesian art in the beginning of 1990s. Together with his compatriot, Heri Dono, Hara appeared with works that deviated from the predominant trend. Since the end of 1980s, he has developed a visual style based on a detailed study over children’s drawings and popular comic characters. When his peers in campus were still grappling with “classic” approaches, especially surrealism and expressivism, in Yogyakarta, Hara came up with “naïve” styled paintings. He was already starting to present imaginary creatures or characters whose anatomy resembles mutation or transplantation rather than stylization of forms. Brushes of bright and merry colors have always appeared on his canvases. There were no mystical or local spiritual themes. Instead he presented actual, social daily issues.

The creatures in Hara’s paintings overall represent the ambiguity of human nature and social norms or values. Looking at a glance like fish or other nautical creatures, mammals, dolls, crowns, robots or cyborgs, they often come with open mouths; rows of teeth at the front as if laughing. But their hands often grip a weapon, a sort of blade, sword or gun. Their ambiguous expressions represent the ever-contradicting and paradoxical sides of humans. Luminous eyes alter laugh into sinister sneer. Angels and demons merge together in one physique. Lately Hara has also been presenting more and more icons identical to death or violence, such as skulls and fanged masks, with bright and cheerful colors. Another important element in Hara’s works is texts in-between the drawings. Sometimes those are amusing, random phrases, but at some other times they guide us to his real intention: to express comments, criticisms, satire, or mere traces of verbal expressions lashing out in anger.

Looking at those hybrid, distorted creatures’ anatomy in his paintings, once I asked whether such images were the result of Javanese wayang influence. Rather than instantly admitting it, Hara told me about the similarity of wayang characters and those of the cartoon world, such as Mickey Mouse, Alice in Alice in Wonderland, and Batman, who had been alive in his imagination during his teenage, far before he moved to Europe. This is an interesting statement in regard to the Indonesian art development that has long been under the shadow of fanaticism of “locality” or “Indonesian-ness”. Hara’s statement explains why his works merited a lot of talks in the early 1990s. He represents an emergence of Indonesian new artists who at that time refused to work according to the dictating, narrow “cultural chauvinism”. Not only absorbing stylistic influences of Dada, Fluxus and art brutart brut, Hara also admits being influenced by punk music, heavy metal music and street art (graffiti). He draws inspirations from a subcultural spirit that is still very much rebellious but expressed in far more casual ways.

Twenty years after he moved to Basel, we know how, as an artist, he still has an intact, flourishing reputation in Indonesia. His career as an Indonesian artist living in Europe seems to emphasize how connections between “cultural values” and a space or a place is basically contingent—arbitrary even. To be an “Indonesian artist”, for Eddie Hara, doesn’t mean to live and work in Indonesia.

Some might see that his career is part of a general phenomenon in step with the latest characteristics of the global contemporary art after 2000s in which art production, distribution and consumption (through exhibition, collection, auction etc) can easily cross geographical borders these days. However, I believe that, in fact, cosmopolitanism is something inherently natural in Hara’s life, which also shapes him as an artist.

The year 2017 is also special for him as it marks his sixtieth birthday—the title of this solo exhibition, SWEER (& sour) SIXTY!SWEER (& sour) SIXTY! indicates the significance of the moment to him. But this exhibition, of course, is not just a celebration of a painter’s birthday. Our attention to someone’s age is a testimony to how the life of modern humans is quantified by a chronological time unit (birth year – death year). Our perception often hinges too much on numbers used to quantify, instead of quality. We often forget that a birthday is basically a memento of what we do in life: What have we done as a mortal being in the face of the flowing time?

Learning about Eddie Hara practically from readings and talks in short meetings, I would like to nevertheless weave this short article from deep impressions about his works and figure. I wouldn’t hesitate to say that his charisma lies in his humbleness and sincere friendliness. He is always nonchalant and likely to amuse in daily interactions; never distances himself from anyone, including a much younger generation of artists. He never patronizes or acts in too formal ways as a deeply seasoned senior.

Looking up to his figure as an artist, I truly appreciate how he puts art as the way of life—especially painting. His spirit seems to be in contrast with his age. He maintains until today a painting method that rarely rests on a sketch or design. His painting process can be likened to an opening of a Pandora box, in which myriad images of objects, texts, planes, lines, dots, melts and brushes of colors seem to burst or spill over, filling an entire canvas. He does keep doodles of sketches in a drawing book that he carries whenever he goes. But, in his process, those sketches never transform themselves fully into paintings. He also differs from “expressionist” artists who rely on revelation before drawing, working with great discipline and spending several hours in studio every day as much as he can.

SWEET (& sour) SIXTY! does not reflect at all a typical, stagnant “old artist” generation’s exhibition. On the contrary, this exhibition might represent the golden age of Eddie Hara. For instance, this time he is presenting a number of paintings bigger in size than the ones he previously made. Look at, for example, Bobo-bobo Siang (2016-2017) and Its. Its my Baby (2015-2017) stretching more than 2 x 3 meters. Not only trying something new, he has also been exploiting the spacious exhibition hall at the Nadi Gallery, which he transformed to a temporary studio during his residence in Jakarta. In this exhibition, there are several works in embroideries, as well as three-dimensional objects from acrylic sheets that he created with the help of Biantoro Santoso. It is all an evidence of how Eddie Hara’s spirit of experimentation with new media and materials knows no halt.

This short note may not be the best present, but I would like to end it with a most sincere wish: Happy Birthday, Mas Eddie!

Agung Hujatnikajennong