Text By Doddi Ahmad Fauji
The morale in Sura Ardana’s realist paintings, becomes a warning of the disturbance happen to the concept of Trihita Karana.
In the art world realism has been having its own place for centuries. The realist style and realism in the art, survived the booming of photography and graphics art which technically surpassed the manual ability of human being to make art.
It was the peak of the art world when the social realism was in its hey day. It raises the emergence of the Fluxus and Dadaism, as the intention of the artists of the time to look at the social reality which was destroyed by the realism of the first and the second World War which took the lives of millions of people.
For certain artists, choosing the realist theme and style is not only about
showing their ability to draw an object with high precision and accuracy, but behind it lies a certain restlessness in looking at the social reality. For several artists, dealing with the social reality is their calling. They took it as their duty to carry the message through realism. This is the background of Sura Ardana’s comeback to the art world with his message of realism. It is a comeback because he had had a stagnation period in making his work. Also, he had tried to experiment with other forms such as abstract expressionist or figurative. But eventually he comes back to realism.
“I stopped (making realist works) before. But since 2006, I started to paint again. My background was realist. I explore other styles, but my soul is not there. I come back, again and again to the realist and realism, because making a work with other style for me is like lying to my self,” said the Tabanan born artist.
He gave the interview by the end of 2009 in his home studio. Ardana’s realist paintings have two main themes. First, it is an expression of his admiration to the hard and diligent workers. Second, it is a form of criticism towards the social condition of Bali which at the moment is being tested by changing world.
Ardana, a lecturer in Undiksa Singaraja who is currently undergoing his studies to get a master’s degree in ISI Yogyakarta, express his amazement to the hard workers who never complains. He was amazed seeing an old lady who still works as a porter in the tradition market of Yogya. All the burden that she had to carry on her back made it crooked, yet she still work as hard. Ardana was amazed in seeing the broken fingers on her feet caused by hard work. He holds deep admiration for his father who work until the break of dawn picking up sea shells to make chalks.
This admiration is depicted through his work Verisimilitude (very alive), with a subtle details, and an accurate precision. His technique might be called hyperrealist or photo realistic, but the meaning of the painting does not lies merely in the technical level, but also in the theme. The painting was trying to say to its viewer: don’t give up to easily.
The second theme in Ardana’s painting is the social problem of Balinese people who is undergoing great changes. Could the Balinese keep their tradition of Trihita Karana (three elements as basic to create harmony in nature)? Or would their tradition diminish, as a side effect of the tourism industry?
“The concrete example, not too long ago there was a Ngaben ceremony for brahmanas. Went the ashes was about to be spread on the beach, the procession must passed through a wall of certain inn. The procession must first ask for permission to go through there. It is odd, since the beach belongs to nature, why must we ask for permission to go back to nature. This is in my opinion is a social degradation,” said Ardana.
It is not unusual, if the figure of an old farmer is found in his painting. He is trying to remind us, how the farms which is one of the element of Trihita Karana, has become a life service to fulfill the need of the tourism industry. Farming is no longer a form of honoring nature, but artificially done to please the tourists.
Realist paintings like Ardana’s would always have its own admirer. It is not rare that the realist painter become the best painter of their times. Rembrandt for example, was considered a master because of his ability to tell a tale on canvas. He is the master of realism in his time, and some even considered him as the best of all painters. What will Ardana reach?
Technically, his ability is out of the question. What he needs is an exploration of the social themes. Locally, he needs something that touches the social problems of the Balinese people, and globally he needs something that touches the global society.
READMORE Realism Will Never Dies
The morale in Sura Ardana’s realist paintings, becomes a warning of the disturbance happen to the concept of Trihita Karana.
In the art world realism has been having its own place for centuries. The realist style and realism in the art, survived the booming of photography and graphics art which technically surpassed the manual ability of human being to make art.
It was the peak of the art world when the social realism was in its hey day. It raises the emergence of the Fluxus and Dadaism, as the intention of the artists of the time to look at the social reality which was destroyed by the realism of the first and the second World War which took the lives of millions of people.
For certain artists, choosing the realist theme and style is not only about
showing their ability to draw an object with high precision and accuracy, but behind it lies a certain restlessness in looking at the social reality. For several artists, dealing with the social reality is their calling. They took it as their duty to carry the message through realism. This is the background of Sura Ardana’s comeback to the art world with his message of realism. It is a comeback because he had had a stagnation period in making his work. Also, he had tried to experiment with other forms such as abstract expressionist or figurative. But eventually he comes back to realism.
“I stopped (making realist works) before. But since 2006, I started to paint again. My background was realist. I explore other styles, but my soul is not there. I come back, again and again to the realist and realism, because making a work with other style for me is like lying to my self,” said the Tabanan born artist.
He gave the interview by the end of 2009 in his home studio. Ardana’s realist paintings have two main themes. First, it is an expression of his admiration to the hard and diligent workers. Second, it is a form of criticism towards the social condition of Bali which at the moment is being tested by changing world.
Ardana, a lecturer in Undiksa Singaraja who is currently undergoing his studies to get a master’s degree in ISI Yogyakarta, express his amazement to the hard workers who never complains. He was amazed seeing an old lady who still works as a porter in the tradition market of Yogya. All the burden that she had to carry on her back made it crooked, yet she still work as hard. Ardana was amazed in seeing the broken fingers on her feet caused by hard work. He holds deep admiration for his father who work until the break of dawn picking up sea shells to make chalks.
This admiration is depicted through his work Verisimilitude (very alive), with a subtle details, and an accurate precision. His technique might be called hyperrealist or photo realistic, but the meaning of the painting does not lies merely in the technical level, but also in the theme. The painting was trying to say to its viewer: don’t give up to easily.
The second theme in Ardana’s painting is the social problem of Balinese people who is undergoing great changes. Could the Balinese keep their tradition of Trihita Karana (three elements as basic to create harmony in nature)? Or would their tradition diminish, as a side effect of the tourism industry?
“The concrete example, not too long ago there was a Ngaben ceremony for brahmanas. Went the ashes was about to be spread on the beach, the procession must passed through a wall of certain inn. The procession must first ask for permission to go through there. It is odd, since the beach belongs to nature, why must we ask for permission to go back to nature. This is in my opinion is a social degradation,” said Ardana.
It is not unusual, if the figure of an old farmer is found in his painting. He is trying to remind us, how the farms which is one of the element of Trihita Karana, has become a life service to fulfill the need of the tourism industry. Farming is no longer a form of honoring nature, but artificially done to please the tourists.
Realist paintings like Ardana’s would always have its own admirer. It is not rare that the realist painter become the best painter of their times. Rembrandt for example, was considered a master because of his ability to tell a tale on canvas. He is the master of realism in his time, and some even considered him as the best of all painters. What will Ardana reach?
Technically, his ability is out of the question. What he needs is an exploration of the social themes. Locally, he needs something that touches the social problems of the Balinese people, and globally he needs something that touches the global society.
