Curated By:
Wahyudin

Will Be officiated By:
Enin Supriyanto

“The main function of a face-painting,” said David Kunzle, pop art historian, “lies on its ability to touch individual’s sensibility and sets it as a unique feature that differentiate one person from another”.

Based on this quote, I would like to say that Dadang Rukmana’s paintings in this exhibition were discursively moving towards that direction, to the function of face-painting as described by David Kunzle.

However, it is important to know that the function will be understood depending on the knowledge of the viewers on the story, if not biography, of the people presented on his canvas. Without it, we can appreciate them just as beautiful visual artwork. This is because the one thing that Dadang Rukmana did not illustrate on his paintings this time was the controversy itself.

In other words, the meeting point between the viewers and his paintings lies in how well do they know about the controversy of these famous people. Bare in mind that what he actually tries to show is his paintings, not the stories, thus it is up to the viewers’ knowledge on these famous people that will reveal the hidden meanings behind his paintings.

In this way,  rest assured that the viewers will easily understand the controversy of,  for example,  the secret affair of Hannah Arendt who is Jewish with a Nazi-German Martin Heideger. The same goes with the controversy of the late Soeharto and his power and character, or the political controversy of Peace Nobel awardee Aung San Syu Ki, who, until now is still being held as a prisoner in his own home in Burma- Myanmar – in Dadang Rukmana’s painting was given a perfectly fit title  “Dishonour by Her Land”.

However, without any false pretenses on trying to understand their controversy, it is still possible for others to appreciate his paintings as very nice artwork that is delightful for the eyes because, based on Dadang’s understanding as implicitly described in the painting “I Don’t Know What to See”, the efforts to understand his paintings do not neglect the desires of the viewers to really enjoy them – get the pleasure of simply appreciating his paintings.

At this point, at least Dadang wants to greet people in an art exhibition where understanding and enjoyment, analysis and appreciation, are somehow interconnected.

Here is where I think Dadang’s paintings are considered as the ultimate artwork of this country’s contemporary artists in terms of setting appropriateness in the world’s famous artwork in the field of fine art, politic, and entertainment.

However, just like I said in the curatorial note for the exhibition “Interpretations on Self”, one thing that looks new in Dadang Rukmana’s paintings – definitely different from apropriateness-related paintings by Agus Suwage, Dipo Andi, Galam Zulkifli, or Ronald Manulang, is his simple but advanced ‘kerok’ technique that creates an authentic personal artwork with digital-print art impressions composed on canvas.

As a result, it can be stated that Dadang Rukmana has given a different touch – if not new – in the photo-realism painting genre or a new motif in appropriateness-related painting scene in the world of fine art in our country.

Jakarta, 6 May 2009
—Wahyudin