Dancing on Fine Lines

This month in Bali will see two excellent art exhibitions involving paintings of strictly vertical and horizontal lines, idiosyncratic jewellery pieces, and fine photography of senior Balinese master dancers.

It’s not that we don’t like realism or that paintings of beautiful rice paddies done in meticulous details are naff. It’s just that we like new things. Living in Bali, you can’t help feeling overwhelmed by the amount of arts available. And after a lot of visits to various galleries, you can’t help but notice the ubiquity of certain types of arts. Balinese-style statues are normally good, intricately done and often flawless. But when you see hundreds of the same Garuda Wisnu Kencana statues displayed next to each other and then again at the art shop next door, you stop appreciating their beauty.

Paintings here are going through quite similar treatment too. After looking at too many of them, you wonder if they are actually done by one person and then photocopied around. Standouts are few, which is quite ironic for an island known for its artistic realm. It’s perhaps because a city like Jakarta, for instance, has better and stricter survival control. It’s much harder there to call yourself an artist, let alone getting your works displayed. So, the works you see out are of a higher quality. Whereas probably on this island, everyone is an artist or reckons they should be one. Or maybe because Bali is simply selling the purity of Bali, which has obviously worked for decades, so why change now?

Indeed, a more thorough research should be done to find out why this phenomenon takes place and put an end to the on going debate. But in the mean time, fresh variety is always welcomed. And this month, it’s in the form of paintings of strictly vertical and horizontal lines, idiosyncratic jewellery pieces, and fine photography of senior Balinese master dancers.

Bandung-born Adrian Palar is, to borrow the words of the exhibition curator, Bruce Carpenter, “a mature master not seeking glory or fame but a pure expression of personal joy”. He admits to be fascinated by the horizontal and vertical lines and inevitably his works have strongly been influenced by post-modern Cubism. Imagine vertical and horizontal lines meeting each other, making squares and rectangles, fill the divided spaces with colours and you get highly contemplative paintings.

A designer by day, Adrian always manages to find time to paint (this is on top of running his wife’s jewellery line, Runa Jewellery). And for this exhibition, he has invited his wife, Runi (one of Indonesia’s top draw jewellery designers), to put together pieces and complement his thought-provoking canvasses.

The woman who started to venture with silverwork in the early ‘70s was a pioneer because then, such artistry was the exclusive domain of men. However, her radicalism and hard work paid off. By the ‘80s, she was an acknowledged designer who has a distinctively beautiful style in working with silver and gemstones.

The husband and wife’s joint exhibition has been given the title “Timeless Change” and will be held at Ganesha Gallery, Four Seasons Jimbaran from November 5 – December 7. The curator, Bruce, describes the exhibition as “a map of both their individual and shared aesthetics, set against the subtle background of their interpersonal relationship”. Their styles are quite contrasting indeed, but the connection is exactly in the juxtaposition.

In 2001, the couple, years after relocating to Ubud, set up a small, but charming museum. Runa Museum documents Runi’s career throughout the years by storing her masterpieces, but this month, this museum will also be adorned by excellent works of photography of the senior masters of Balinese dancers.

Before “Dancing With Time”, Doddy Obenk has had at least four photography exhibitions since his first one entitled “Movement” in Jakarta, which was also about dance photography. Specialising in portraits, Doddy’s works shown in this exhibition have managed to capture the mysterious mystical energy exudes by each dancers when they are performing, packaged in both black and white and stylised coloured prints. Throughout the exhibition, there will also be dance performances by the Balinese dance masters shown in the photos. And done in an intimate space, you are given the chance to see these masters at work, in close up, which according to Doddy, is how Balinese dances should be enjoyed.

Timeless Change
November 5 – December 7,
Ganesha Gallery,
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay,
T: 0361 701 010

Dancing With Time
November 6 – December 7,
Runa Museum Bali,
Banjar Abian Semal, Lodtunduh, Ubud,
T: 0361 981 0710