.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Along with 5 fellow artists, Handiwirman formed Kelompok Seni Rupa Jendela (The Window Visual Art Group) whose exhibition Membuka Kemungkinan in 2000 suffered heavy criticism for their lack of aesthetic quality and energy in their works and for deviating from the norm of making works with a social bearing. This resistance to the ethic of creating artworks with its representational meaning is what makes Handiwirman's art interesting and appealing.
Handiwirman paints without a particular concept in mind, thereby removing any referential nuances. Instead he reacts and explores the work plainly through visualizing mentally. The form and shape of his subjects defy regular compositions and he experiments with positioning his subjects in a variety of appearances so that they stimulate different visual reactions.
The present work is part of the Apa-apanya Dong? (Something Appears Nothing) exhibition which is painted in 2004. The title of the exhibition is taken from a popular Indonesian song from the 80s. For the exhibition curator, Agung Hujatnikjennonh, the title of the exhibition "reflects a thought that came out from a complicated, long and scrupulous process." (Agung Hujatnikajennong, "The Spectre in a Painting" in Apa-apanya Dong?, Nadi Gallery, Jakarta 2004, exhibition catalogue, p. 26)
What preoccupies the artist is the concept of creating and the fundamental principles of aesthetics. "From the execution of these works, (paintings of the Apa-apanya Dong? exhibition). Handiwirman then found a substantial way of thinking in his process of creating, especially dealing with the mimetic purpose in realistic painting. According to him, the tradition of realist painting, as a matter of fact, has been strongly generated by an aesthetic interest that is not objective by any means. When a painter is asked to portray still-life objects on a canvas, he/she-consciously or not - is actually asked to follow the logic of two dimensional portrayal, which is strongly restricted by the scale and feature of painting as medium. Therefore, it could be said, the beauty shone from a landscape painting actually never reflects the beauty of a real landscape." (Ibid.)
Working with both the 2 and 3 dimensional, it is only natural for Handiwirman to ponder upon the spatial relations of the two. The choice of the subjects thence acquired an immediate importance in the expounding of his theory. "The greatest challenge faced by Handiwirman at this time lies on his personal demand to re-paint the objects made by his won, which is notably strange in people's understanding. The objects transformed on a flat image, which has no volume and depth, yet still shows a visual approach that stimulate certain mental perception." (Ibid.)
Perspective becomes a curious word in the composition of Handiwirman, in fact it became a subject itself, assuming an unprecedented role never before in any genre of work, as observed by Agung Hujatnikajennong "the perspective used in these paintng looks to be smart, unique, frontal, a bit radical, so that all objects appear with an enigmatic nuance." (Ibid.)
Specifically on the works from the Mental Series, the critic observed "he tended to go freely back and forth between 2 and 3 dimentsional worlds, namely painting and object, because there he also painted new objects which have been intentionally made for the painting. In this series, the objects look more to be absurd, strange, yet at the same time: arrogant and elegant, as if they refuse to be recognized. Viewers are being asked to look at these objects as something melting on the flat surface, without demanding to know them as a 3 dimensional object." (Ibid, p. 27).
Handiwirman paints without a particular concept in mind, thereby removing any referential nuances. Instead he reacts and explores the work plainly through visualizing mentally. The form and shape of his subjects defy regular compositions and he experiments with positioning his subjects in a variety of appearances so that they stimulate different visual reactions.
The present work is part of the Apa-apanya Dong? (Something Appears Nothing) exhibition which is painted in 2004. The title of the exhibition is taken from a popular Indonesian song from the 80s. For the exhibition curator, Agung Hujatnikjennonh, the title of the exhibition "reflects a thought that came out from a complicated, long and scrupulous process." (Agung Hujatnikajennong, "The Spectre in a Painting" in Apa-apanya Dong?, Nadi Gallery, Jakarta 2004, exhibition catalogue, p. 26)
What preoccupies the artist is the concept of creating and the fundamental principles of aesthetics. "From the execution of these works, (paintings of the Apa-apanya Dong? exhibition). Handiwirman then found a substantial way of thinking in his process of creating, especially dealing with the mimetic purpose in realistic painting. According to him, the tradition of realist painting, as a matter of fact, has been strongly generated by an aesthetic interest that is not objective by any means. When a painter is asked to portray still-life objects on a canvas, he/she-consciously or not - is actually asked to follow the logic of two dimensional portrayal, which is strongly restricted by the scale and feature of painting as medium. Therefore, it could be said, the beauty shone from a landscape painting actually never reflects the beauty of a real landscape." (Ibid.)
Working with both the 2 and 3 dimensional, it is only natural for Handiwirman to ponder upon the spatial relations of the two. The choice of the subjects thence acquired an immediate importance in the expounding of his theory. "The greatest challenge faced by Handiwirman at this time lies on his personal demand to re-paint the objects made by his won, which is notably strange in people's understanding. The objects transformed on a flat image, which has no volume and depth, yet still shows a visual approach that stimulate certain mental perception." (Ibid.)
Perspective becomes a curious word in the composition of Handiwirman, in fact it became a subject itself, assuming an unprecedented role never before in any genre of work, as observed by Agung Hujatnikajennong "the perspective used in these paintng looks to be smart, unique, frontal, a bit radical, so that all objects appear with an enigmatic nuance." (Ibid.)
Specifically on the works from the Mental Series, the critic observed "he tended to go freely back and forth between 2 and 3 dimentsional worlds, namely painting and object, because there he also painted new objects which have been intentionally made for the painting. In this series, the objects look more to be absurd, strange, yet at the same time: arrogant and elegant, as if they refuse to be recognized. Viewers are being asked to look at these objects as something melting on the flat surface, without demanding to know them as a 3 dimensional object." (Ibid, p. 27).