Haris Purnomo: Beyond the Mirror Stage by MiFA gallery

HARIS PURNOMO BEYOND THE MIRROR STAGE

H A R I S PURNOMO

BEYOND THE MIRROR STAGE

CONTENT H A R I S PURNOMO

BEYOND THE MIRROR STAGE

INTRODUCTION BEYOND THE MIRROR STAGE Level 1, 278 Collins St,

By Farah Wardani

Melbourne, 3000

Edited by: Mara Sison

Victoria, Australia

WORKS

w w w.mifa.com.au +61 3 9663 3304

Director: Bryan Collie

Flying Baby

Construction

Rolling

Stone

Si Caplan

The Concert

PR Officer: Torey Karlin

Three Dog Night

Design: Plug2Studio, Melbourne

Baby Burger

Pink rose

Black Rose

Two Dragon Child

Baby In Yellow

Daun - Daun Berguguran

Capturing the Course

WAITING FOR THE SIGNAL

HARRIS PURNOMO

Gallery Manager: Mara Sison

ISBN: 978-1-875311-35-4

Cover: Waiting for the Signal at MiFA

MERING

BIOGRAPHY © MiFA 2013 / © All images and text copyright of the artists and authors

It was a lovely afternoon during the Ramadhan month when I visited Haris Purnomo’s studio in July this year. The house is located in Cibubur, a suburb in East Jakarta which initially was not known for its art activity or communities. Haris turns his house into a studio and, to my surprise, a very adequate and well-designed art gallery, aptly named Roemah 9a. During that time, there was a small exhibition held by Haris and fellow artists of his generation, such as Hardi and Bonyong Munni Ardhi. I was struck not only by the art works or the loveliness of the space, but mainly by something so strong that built the atmosphere of the house: the energy that is still potent due to the long journey of these group of artists. And what a journey it has been. Haris Purnomo, born in 1956 at Delanggu, Central Java, is definitely not a new name in the Indonesian art scene. In fact, just like his compatriots who began their career from the 1970s, he is considered as one of the pioneer artists who consistently produces works,

Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Footsteps

Edited by: Mara Sison

By Farah Wardanig

BEYOND THE MIRROR STAGE And so it was that the Dutch often said “Happy are the ignorant, because they do ... And happy are the children who do not yet need the knowledge to be able to understand.”

Haris Purnomo: The Artist, The Past, The Present

GSRBI then inspired many other young artists’ movements. One of which is PIPA, an artist collective whose name means ‘pipe’ in Indonesia, but also serves as an abbreviation of ‘Kepribadian Apa’, meaning ‘what identity?’. Haris joined PIPA, along with other fellow members, namely, Ronald Manullang, Ris Purwana, Slamet Riyadhi, Iskandar Suryaputra, Dede Eri Supria, Edi M. Doeriat, Sapto Raharjo, Tulus Warsito, Bonyong Munny Ardhie, Redha Sorana, Gendut Riyanto, Wienardi,and Pudji Basuki. ‘Kepribadian Apa’ was the title of their first exhibition that declared their stance, at Seni Sono, Yogyakarta, in September 1977.

As noted by Hendro Wiyanto, a curator who was active in documenting and analyzing the PIPA movement and has curated most of Haris’ exhibitions, these formative years can be said as defining in Haris’ artistic journey. Haris’ involvement in GSRBI and PIPA indicated the basis of his art making which adhered to the zeitgeist of art of young artists at that time, a time of major political and socioeconomic change not long after 1965. It is impossible, however, to understand the context of GSBRI and PIPA without understanding the context of how modern art began. Visual art in the postcolonial era was an evolution of an ideology that began with the social realism legacy Sudjojono and his comrades initiated during the era of independence in the 1940s. It was then fused with the Indonesian version of the ‘Avant-garde’ as embraced by GSRBI and PIPA. This ideology viewed contemporary art had a social, political, and cultural “responsibility.” Particularly, in terms of its engagement with real problems within the society. It became a better agent of a means of change in society itself, through visual strategy, aesthetic exploration, and unlimited medium.

The art manifesto at that time was the visual expression of the artist’s individual consciousness, while still retaining its political stance through explorations of various medium, and a more ‘democratic’ approach of the art practice itself. The legacy that started from the birth of modern art evolved greatly during this period, underlining the position and artists’ role in the society that keeps reinventing itself. Visual arts played a significant role by juggling that tension between the sense of individuality while also still being engaged with the society in the name of collective spirit. Haris’ involvement continued until mid-1980s with his participation in two important exhibitions, initiated by his fellow members of GSRBI and PIPA, ‘Proses 85’ (1985), an exhibition about environmental awareness, and ‘Pasaraya Dunia Fantasi’ (1987) that marked another milestone of GSRBI development. When I asked him what triggered his choice to become an artist, Haris’ answer was simple. “Maybe simply because it’s my destiny. I did try to become something else or someone else. But I felt it wasn’t me and I got depressed. So here I am,” he

answers with a laugh. It’s a straightforward and genuine response, but then I also found another statement that he wrote for the ‘Proses 85’ catalogue, which describes very well the driving force of his artistic career. Haris wrote: “I am aware that the art works that I show here is not something extraordinary for many. But for myself and also for the society, I hope this could have a value, function and meaning in a mutual way. I try to communicate my art as a description of my ethical and esthetical stance. Esthetical in the way it is visualized artistically, and ethical in the way I deal with the realities that exist now in our surroundings; the environmental issues and the awareness of common responsibility as an individual who lives among the society.” It is obvious that such statement is what he has been adhering to until present. As he professed, Haris did try another profession and took a hiatus from the art scene for quite some time after the 1990s. But then his destiny called again, and the art scene welcomed his great comeback in 2006 with his solo exhibition ‘Under The Wings of Garuda’, at Nadi Gallery, Jakarta. He presented his subject-matter which

that are continually relevant to social issues in Indonesia. Haris was absorbed into the art world in the middle of the 1970s, joining a number of other artists such as FX Harsono, Jim Supangkat, Dadang Christanto, Hardi and others, who established the Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru Indonesia (The Indonesian New Art Movement/ GSRBI). The movement made several incursions against the aesthetics of visual art at the time, introducing various visual art approaches then regarded as anti-aesthetic and unconventional, such as installation and performance art.

growing up I experience a sense of losing [sic], I feel the strong drive to give more attention to children, including others’ children; that is what has been going on in me Being hopeful about my children and wanting to be more attentive to children in every aspect, I think these two things provide the basis of the central theme of my works.”

The evolution of the artistic stance and its relation to the babies as the subjectmatter, are the points of entry to understand the context of Haris Purnomo’s art and its significance in the Indonesian art history, and also its relevance to the art scene today. Haris explains to Hendro Wiyantoabout the discovery of his current subject-matter and the basis of his artistic drive:

Haris’ Babies: The Works, The Legacy, The Future

“Once we are faced with the necessity to make a choice or a stand, everything that makes up our backgrounds will play its part: time, age, economic, social and political considerations, idealism, behavior, creativity, et cetera. All these may alter, strengthen, undermine, or develop anything we believe, and the ‘Pipa’ artists are not exceptions in this. As a father seeing his children

Today, Haris’ tattooed babies have been known widely as his trademark, a continuous series that he has been consistently elaborating for the past 6 years.Though he has mentioned that it originated since the PIPA years. His major installation work, ‘Waiting for the Signal’ (2008-2009) is considered his milestone at this phase of his artistic career, presenting dozens of milk-white baby figures from resin with knives on their feet, wrapped in blankets and hanging in the air like specters. It is no wonder that the spectacle provides a very

disturbing feeling to the audience, especially Indonesians. Babies are widely regarded as sacred subjects in the society, signifiers of new hopes, purity, innocence, beauty and blessings from God. Haris treats the babies with the same endearing respect yet also places them in bizarre, almost subversive situations – though never crossing the line. Using the babies as key figures in his works, he plays around with juxtapositions of signifiers of the grown-up world. He works with two issues that I want to elaborate as follows, gender and class. Wiyanto called Haris as a ‘Mother-Artist’, being the creator of the works that makes him the creator or mother of the babies. As he describes, “Haris Purnomo never gives any name to his objects of babies he composes into a huge installation. He is a mother-artist like Gandari of the Mahabharata epic, giving birth to a hundred male children known as the Kurawa. Yes, a motherartist experiencing most ironic happiness in seeing the birth of hundreds of his sexless and nameless babies with all their inborn unlikely identities.” It is intriguing to consider Hendro’s reading of Haris’

babies to be sexless and nameless, particularly for me since at the first time I saw Haris’ paintings for this exhibition. The most obvious sign that identify the baby from my perspective is the gender, indicated by their genitals. I find it highly interesting that Haris only depicts genitals of the baby boys, depicting them full frontal naked, and cover baby girls with blankets or others’ body parts and objects. When I asked him about this, Haris said that it actually just occurred to him and that he did it unconsciously. Haris also mentioned that gender issues do not play a major role in his subjectmatter. He treats the babies as equally and collectively important in conveying his messages. While I also regard that gender is not specifically a part of Haris’ critical content, I do find it an important factor in understanding Haris’ method of applying his artistic ideas. Haris taking the babies as his subjects is more like a ‘mirroring’ process, the term I borrow from Jacques Lacan’s theory of the mirror stage, which describes the formation of the Ego. At six months, the baby still lacks physical co-ordination. The child is able to recognize himself in a mirror prior to the attainment 11

cemented his way back to the art map: tattooed babies, and at that time with the deformed Garuda (Indonesian national symbol) icons. Haris has been unstoppable eversince, the exhibition was followed with three more exhibitions in three consecutive years, the biggest one at Center of Contemporary Art (COCA), Seattle, USA, titled ‘The Babies: Allegories of Disciplined Bodies’, 2009.

Haris ‘mirroring’ with the babies is a way of creating reflection or projection of his realities to the canvas. The babies as a representation of the society around him, and also himself – and most possibly, together with his Other or significant other (the feminine other, or the feminine version of himself) as the balance/equal. In a way, this also confirms Hendro’s term of Haris as the ‘mother-artist’, or ‘parentartist’, whose ideas procreate and give birth to the babies as an integrated projection of himself and how he sees the world around him today.

Another intriguing issue that can be read through Haris’ works is about (social) class. All the babies depicted in Haris’ paintings are seemingly healthy, in good shape, wellfed and nurtured, with clean skin and facial textures, all indicating the babies come from at least middle-class, urban or suburban backgrounds. I asked Haris about the family

backgrounds of his models and his answer most likely clarifies my point, the parents are mainly his colleagues or friends of friends, who are young professionals/ white collar professions, with only a few working as security guards of offices and factory labourers. Haris has been using more than 20 babies as models so far, and he also knows their names and parents well. This reflects his intimacy and affection with his subjects, with whom he can deeply relate to and then ‘use’ as representational figures. The works then led me to rethink about the issue of the middle-class positions and roles in Indonesia. The strata of the society (it is usually divided into multiple, multidimensional layers as well) that is privileged enough to have jobs, steady income, formal education and have access to resources. The middle-class is not necessarily the elite, but they are the ones who usually take charge and have the capacity in making movements, changes, and discuss social problems. This includes the artists, who are often considered in the periphery but are also seen as critical thinkers and creators who speak through their works. The portion of society who are

privileged and competent are at times, like the babies in Haris’ works, helpless with the growing issues and the rapid, uncontrollable changes of the world. It has been fourteen years since the reform of this country and many has happened and created in the world. Today, the issue of central/ marginal is not dominating the dynamics and studies of art and culture anymore, and the art infrastructure has become more complicated. The visual art market, on one side, opens the possibility of an “idealization” to create as a profession with high capital value. It is often “alleged” as the major cause that makes visual art creations to mostly become more “apolitical”. As I asked Haris about his opinion on today’s art world, “There are many developments in art now, many for the better, which is good, I think. The infrastructure is more established today. However, there is lack of critical or academic development, and the market itself is unstable. I began to make works in the 1970s, I entered the scene among the repressed political situations at that time, so my works serve as a response in the moment, as what I have always been doing with my art. Yet,

at that time, the role of the artists were felt more present, unlike now, where the horizons are broader, more random and diverse. Among so many channels, the market seems to be the centre that dominates the current art world. That’s my concern.” Unfortunately, the artists and practices of visual art are now working in increasingly complex social and political spheres.Currently, with all the internet and media euphoria, the space available in this beloved homeland has become a “no man’s land”, the land where disorientation between freedom of expression and opinion is facing many attempts of repression and violence from the various and unidentified “enemies”. Having seen the records described above, how can visual art be involved and speak out loudly in such situation? Is it possible? Or is it, eventually, as many art workers have said before—if not justification—it is only to “fill the gap/void”, “to offer another alternative”, and so forth. Will it really stop there, and no more? If it is true, then it would be simply accepted as a certain “dimension” that represents a niche of its own middle class. And next, to which extent that it will play its role and

of control over their bodily movements. The child sees his image as a whole that contrasts with the lack of co-ordination of his/her body, perceived as a fragmented body. Thus, the mirror image initiates the process of the formation of an integrated sense of self.

I think it is only appropriate to quote the British curator who has long studied visual art development in Indonesia, Charles Esche, in his public lecture in Yogyakarta, January 2011: “So I think for art and for artists, this is a new challenge. How to depict these invisible structures in visual forms? Can we make pictures of the market? Can we make pictures of the religious power? Not necessarily God, but the religious powers and how it operates in society. Can we structure it? How can we give up the avant-garde, the idea that there’s a (new art form) to come in the future? How can we give that up without simply giving up to the Market and to God.” (Charles Esche: 2011)

And this is what I believe Haris is trying to represent here, the Indonesian middle class men and women, depicted as little infants, juxtaposing them with icons and objects of today’s problems in the contemporary life, such as terrorism (babies with bombs), media wars (babies with microphone), commercialization and commodification (baby burger, mixed with pickles and lettuce), and of course,

the installation, ‘Waiting for the Signal’, newborn babies, pale white, scarred with tattoos, and knives on their feet. Above all, it is a representation of Haris as the parent, the artist, the man, the individual, the part of the people, speaking about his concerns of what was and what would be. And with these works, he invites us to do the same, reflect and mirror ourselves with the babies, and to think again about what we can do for the future children, the mankind of tomorrow. In comparison to his compatriots, Dadang Christanto and FX Harsono, Haris’ outlook is different in his approach. Harsono and Dadang often choose to dig back the past to relieve historical wounds, while Haris looks to the present and the future. All are, inevitably, grim. However, there is a common thread that binds them altogether, that is about legacy. Through art, he prepares a legacy to his children, a legacy to always learn from history and to always rethink of the present, and the legacy of the artists as part of the society who always see the world from different perspectives.

or a scar, but the sign of a legacy of individual stance. The present, or the future might never be ideal or pure, ever-imperfect. However, in the end such imperfections are what it takes to go through the ever-existing human quest: to make peace with the past, deal with the present and overcome fears of the future.

References: Catalog of PIPA Exhibition 1977, collection of Indonesian Visual Art Archive Catalog of ‘Proses ‘85’, 1985, collection of Indonesian Visual Art Archive Hendro Wiyanto, ‘Garuda and Infants of ‘What Personality’ Movement’ (Catalog: ‘Under The Wings of Garuda’, curatorial note, Nadi Gallery, 2006) Hendro Wiyanto, ‘Allegorical Babies and Violence in Haris Purnomo’s Works (Catalog: ‘The Babies: Allegory of Disciplined Bodies’, curatorial note, COCA, 2009) Charles Esche’s public lecture, ‘Decentralization of Biennales: The Changes of Geographies and Directions of Contemporary Art Post 2000s’, in Lembaga Indonesia-Perancis, Yogyakarta, 10 January 2011, transcript courtesy of Indonesian Visual Art Archive. Jacques Lacan, “Some Reflections on the Ego” in Écrits, New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 2002, transl. by Bruce Fink

From this outlook, the tattoos can be seen as not a stigma

develop? Is this position is also already clear?

145 x 145 cm

Flying Baby, 2012 Acrylic on canvas

Flying Baby

200 x 180 cm

Construction, 2012 Acrylic on canvas

Construction

145 x 145 cm

Rolling Stone, 2012 Acrylic on canvas

Rolling Stone

145 x 145 cm

Si Caplan, 2012 Acrylic on canvas

Si Caplan

145 x 145 cm

The Concert, 2012 Acrylic on canvas

The Concert

145 x 145 cm

Three Dog Night, 2012 Acrylic on canvas

Three Dog Night

145 x 145 cm

Baby Burger, 2012 Acrylic on canvas

Baby Burger

145 x 160 cm

Pink Rose 1, 2012 Acrylic on canvas

Pink Rose

145 x 145 cm

Black Rose, 2011 Acrylic on canvas

Black Rose

145 x 130 cm

Two Dragon Child, 2011 Acrylic on canvas

Two Dragon Child

145 x 130 cm

Baby In Yellow, 2012 Acrylic on canvas

Baby In Yellow

145 x 145 cm

Daun - Daun Berguguran, 2012 Acrylic on canvas

Daun - Daun Berguguran

180 x 200 cm

Capturing the Course, 2011 Acrylic on canvas

Capturing the Course

Waiting for the Signal

Waiting for the Signal, 2011

Mixed Media installation

Size variable

BIOGRAPHY

Selected Solo Exhibitions »»

2012 Babies In Transcendent Space, Primae Noctice Gallery, Lugano, Swiss. Babies In Transcendent Space, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy. 2009 The Babies : Allegory of Docile Bodies, COCA Museum Seattle USA. The Babies : Allegory of Docile Bodies, Bentara Budaya Jakarta 2008

Unbridgeable future, Vanessa Art Link, Beijing, China Burn Baby Burn, Hongkong International Art

Harris

2007

Purnamo 2007

Art Asia Miami 2008, Miami U.S.A. :

Art Paris – Abudhabi 2008, Abudhabi,

U.E.A. :

Art Taipei, 2008, Taipei, Taiwan.

ACAF, New York , U.S.A.

“Reflective Asia” 3rd Nanjing Trienalle,

Nanjing China. :

Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair 2008,

Shanghai, China.

Vis-à-vis Art Lab, 798, Beijing, China

CIGE 2008, Beijing, China.

Salamanca Collection, Hobart, Australia

Space/Spacing, Semarang Gallery, Semarang.

Long Gallery, Hobart, Australia

Manifesto, The National Gallery of

Alien:nation, The National Gallery of

Indonesia 1984 Proyek ‘Luka’, STSRI ‘Asri’ Campus,

Indonesia 1956.

Taiwan.

Canna Gallery, Jakarta.

2006 Di Bawah Sayap Garuda, Nadi Gallery, Jakarta,

Klaten (Central Java),

Allegorical Bodies, A Gallery, Taipei,

Indonesia, Jakarta

Born in Delanggu,

Yogyakarta

Fair, Hongkong

Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China

BORN

The Highlight, Yogya Nasional Museum,

Gampingan,Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Indonesia, Jakarta. 2007 ‘Kuota:Inbox 2007, The National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta. Art Singapore 2007, Singapore. Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, 2007, Shanghai, China. “Imagined Affandi”, Gedung Arsip Nasional, Jakarta.

»»

2012 ArtJog 13, 2012, Yogyakarta, 2009 Scope Art Basel 2009, Swisterland. Prague Biennale 2009, Praha. Hibridization, North Art Space, Jakarta Post - Tsunami Art, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Itali.

Art Bologna 2009 Dallas Art 2009 2008 Refleksi Ruang dan Waktu, V Art Gallery,

Yogyakarta.

2005 “Mata-Mata Jakarta”,The National Gallery of Indonesia, Jakarta. 1986 “Pasaraya Dunia Fantasi”, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta Art Centre, Jakarta. 1985 “Proses 85”, Galeri Pasar Seni Ancol Gallery, Jakarta. 1983 Environmental Art, Parang Tritis beach, Yogyakarta. 1979, 1977 “Kepribadian Apa” (Pipa)”, Senisono Art Gallery, Yogyakarta

Selected Group Exhibitions

2006 “Icon Yogyakarta”, Yogya Gallery, Yogyakarta

1980 “Seni Rupa Baru”, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta Art Centre, Jakarta. 1978 “Pelukis Indonesia Muda”, Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta Art Centre, Jakarta.

Performances »»

1983 Menonjok Kehidupan di Atas Ring, STSRI “Asri” Campus, Gampingan, Yogyakarta 1982 “Future Shock”, Malioboro street, Yogyakarta

Penghargaan »»

2007 The Schoeni Public Vote Prize, Sovereign Asian Art Prize. Pratitha Adhikarya (painting, illustration, ornament), Yogyakarta

mifa.com.au