Window to The World

'There was a time, not so long ago when most foreign artists visited Bali in search of an exotic side of the tropical island. Now, however, some modern and contemporary artists have also made Bali their permanent home and their creations touch Bali in quite a different way'

One of the most interesting in the matter is Peter Dittmar. His latest exhibition at Tony Raka Gallery (Jl Raya Mas Ubud, T: 0361 781 6785) is a good occasion to ponder about the way Eastern philosophical concepts and meditative approaches have impacted on the 'abstract' conscience of resident artists from the West.

At first sight, Peter Dittmar's paintings might look like yet another kind of geometric abstraction, similar to Malevitch and the Bauhaus masters. But, looking closer one ponders - why are the color windows so regular, so judicially focused on an invisible centre, and why the tonal gradation of hues? This is not conventional abstraction. Or rather, it is of a peculiar kind of 'spiritual abstraction'. Here one should keep in mind that the fact a piece is abstract does not mean that it carries no message. The great pioneers of abstraction of the early 20th century (Kandinsky, Mondrian and Malevitch) were all enthralled by philosophical and mystical concerns, with theosophy as their lead. Abstraction, to those artists, was the visual formulation of a spiritual quest, exactly as it is to Peter Dittmar. Yet Peter Dittmar's spiritual quest is not rooted in theosophy, it is instead rooted in Hindu-Buddhist cosmology, with which the artist came into contact in the 1960s, as part of the Eastern ideology then entering the minds of Western youth in revolt.

In Hindu- Buddhist cosmology, the world or macrocosm is in perpetual motion, and man, as a microcosmic component of this world, can achieve release only by adapting his ethics and deeds to its cosmic rhythm. Art is construed as one of the mediums in which to do so. Two paths have traditionally been followed in this regard. One is to adapt expression of the cosmos, understood as an 'expanding whole', the other is to reduce it to 'a synthetic oneness-cum-void'. The first path, that of India and Southeast Asia, involves the translation of cosmic experience into a multiplicity of gods and symbols, and the second, that of Japanese Zen Buddhism and other similar Chinese and Korean traditions, involves its translation in a minimalist manner.

Peter Ditmaar's spiritual leanings took him to Japan, where he immersed himself in the philosophies of Zen Buddhism, but it is in Bali – with its over-flowering of symbols – that he eventually settled, to pursue, in a Zen inspired way, his quest for the 'Oneness-cum-Void'. For many years, Dittmar has produced calligraphic paintings, epitomized by a strong, swift thrust of the brush that withers into a tail. Capturing the abstract essence of the synthetic line that has long characterized Far Eastern calligraphy and painting, they aimed to visualize cosmic motion in its successively expanding and shrinking phases. In his new series of works, spontaneous expression has been replaced by geometric regularity; scarcity of colour by an exploration of tone. Yet, a closer look reveals continuity. The artist still aims to evoke concentration and synthesis, but he now achieves this through the stillness of careful tonal gradations of colour enclosed in regular geometric squares, instead of through the 'thrust and stop' energy that characterized the calligraphic line in his previous works. This stylistic shift corresponds to a new philosophical accent. Whereas his previous calligraphic works symbolized the cosmic energetic process as it surges and then comes to rest, his current abstract geometric paintings symbolize the encounter of the beholder with the absolute stillness of the cosmic Void. The squares, which the artist calls 'colour windows' also consciously evoke Hindu-Buddhist cosmological symbols. Hung individually, with their central points, or in groups of four, they conjure up the notion of the Mandala (world). As diptychs, they call to mind the idea of cosmic dualism and complementarities of opposites, and as triptychs, the same idea with its middle intermediary point included. In all these works, the viewer is led to the central focal point through a very learned application of geometric proportions (Peter Dittmar says he follows the golden section, also known as divine proportions) combined with a sophisticated play of tonal colouration that takes us ever deeper into the ultimate Stillness/Void. Peter Dittmar, a respected artist in his country of origin, Germany, and in Australia as well as in Bali, where he spends half of his time, shows us that abstraction is indeed alive and well. His work - meditative, introspective and evocative, illustrates a latter day meeting point of Eastern philosophies and Western cultural leanings.