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JUNI KUSUMANTO
Indonesian born Juni Kusumanto (º1957) has
lived in The Netherlands since the age of twelve. She attended the Academy of
Arts in Breda. Now, after many exhibitions throughout the country, she is
seeking a dialogue with contemporary art in Indonesia and in other Southeast
Asian countries.
Despite her Indonesian roots, Juni does not
let herself be restricted in this respect:. “If imposed by my Indonesian
background, my hand would be clumsily and unnaturally steered. If feeling free,
new or hidden elements –either Indonesian features or western elements- may
unfold and take shape. When drawing or painting, my hand is directed to draw
lines on blank material or on traces of previous lines and forms. The repetitive
wiping, redrawing and improving of lines is my learning process and game-like
labour –as in real life- in order to eventually present a balanced creation.”
In her works, forms and lines –some strong,
others subtler- are given shape in such a way that these become either
figurative or abstract in character. The artist mainly uses black and white.
Symbolically, white may project neutrality or sacredness. On the other hand, it
can represent an extreme atmosphere of brightness and heat. Black may symbolize
the negative (e.g. as in black magic) while in a positive way, black can mean
the unlimited or the untouchable. For her drawings and paintings the artist uses
acrylic paint, oil paint, pencil, crayon, stylus and ink on paper, canvas or
synthetic material.
Translation:
Yanti Kusumanto members.home.nl/mpattimahu/intro.html
DEES
GOOSEN
Dees
Goosen was born in Antwerp (Belgium) in 1958. She grew up in the Dutch town of
Bergen op Zoom and studied at the international Craftschool
for Gold-& Silversmithing, Clock-& Watchmaker, Jewellery and Glass Art
in Schoonhoven (The Netherlands).
Although
she uses several media, she turned out to be an artist with unique skills for
painting. Her work represents two worlds of impressions, feelings and
experiences: her Dutch as well as her Indonesian background. Especially the
latter leads to an ‘inner homeland’, more firmly so since the artist visited
Singapore and Indonesia.
The paintings, mainly produced with acryl, express a non-figurative realm,
consisting of powerful but nevertheless subtle forms. Many layers materialize
her feeling of living in the two mentioned worlds. Each work becomes the
imaginary map of a domain she is always trying to reach mentally. The bright
colors, mainly red, yellow and blue, want to give the viewer positive
impressions of how the world could be.
Dees
Goosen had exhibitions in The Netherlands (Amsterdam, The Hague, Delft, Utrecht,
Breda, Bergen op Zoom) and Belgium (Ghent) and organized workshops in these
countries as well as in France. At the moment she is also working, with
fellow-artists, on a project in Yogyakarta.
www.deesgoosen.nl
IVAN
SAGITO
Ivan
Sagito (º1957), who also operates under the alias Ivan Sagita, was born in
Malang (East Java). He studied painting at the Faculty of Art and Design (ISI)
in Yogyakarta (1979-1985) and earned a Fellowship Artists in Residence - Vermont
Studio Centre in the USA in 2003. He has skills in several artistic disciplines
but is known mostly for his painting and sculpture. His work distinguishes
itself with realistic reproduction, psychological charges and the quest for
what’s behind the scenes we think we observe. Often there is a tacit tension
between the individual and the group, between individual development and
conformism. In the words of Claire Wolf Krantz: “Sagito
depicts puppets and masks, humans and animals in landscape settings. His figures
are lonely but never alone; although seen in groups, they are separated from
each other and neither look at nor touch one another. The figures'
incompleteness and lack of stability imply a feeling of uprootedness: unlike
group identity, an emerging self has no fixed definitions.”
(from: ‘Report from Indonesia: On their own terms’). Ivan Sagito had solo
exhibitions in Australia, Indonesia, The Netherlands and the USA and joined
group exhibitions in China, Japan, Singapore and South Africa. He won the Award
Biennale Seni Lukis Jakarta twice, in 1987 and 1989, and was also rewarded with
a Silver Medal at the Osaka Triennale 1996 as well as with the Mainchi
Broadcasting System Prize 1998 for his sculpture, also in Japan.
EDITH
BONS
Edith Bons (º1952) was born in Merauke, New
Guinea, in eastern Indonesia. The family moved to Groningen, The Netherlands, in
1962. There she attended the Minerva Academy of Arts (1980-1985). After her
study she visited Indonesia regularly and also lived there for quite some time,
together with her Javanese husband, poet Winarko Boesrie. In 2010 Edith
celebrated her activities as an artist for 25 years with a special exhibition in
her new hometown Delft.
In her work eastern and western influences
are combined in order to examine her Dutch East Indian identity. Therefore it is
hardly surprising to see her work come into existence with palm leaf, grains of
rice, fragments of buffalo leather and pieces of batik fabric rather than paint.
These materials help to strengthen the relation between ritual and modern art.
The artist nevertheless makes sure her products don’t become too “exotic”.
Edith Bons also creates installations on a large scale, mainly built up with
rice, literally heaps of rice, as could be seen in the important exhibition in
Karta Pustaka (the Indonesian-Dutch Cultural Centre) in Yogyakarta. Her
fascination with rice is one of the reasons Albert Hagenaars invited her to join
the ’Palawija’ project.
Since 2003 the artist focuses on new themes.
Her relation with the country of origin has become less important but remains
embedded in what she calls “a more universal subject-matter”. Edith Bons had
exhibitions in The Netherlands and Indonesia. www.edithbons.nl
ENTANG
WIHARSO
Productive
artist Entang Wiharso (º 1967) was born in the town of Tegal, Central Java and
graduated in 1994 as Bachelor of Fine Art in painting at ISI (Institut Seni
Indonesia) in Yogyakarta. Watching wayang performances as a child motivated him
to become an artist.
Some
of his points of interest are: 1) structural boredom in the modern art world, 2)
visual language in communication, 3) tradition as rebellion and 4) symbols in
visual language as a hiding place.
In
the late nineties he experienced friction between the traditional and modern
world, one of the reasons to move to America, where he was confronted with
confusion once again. These experiences forced him to focus on themes like
identity, alienation and intercultural encounters. “Entang Wiharso’s
haunting images are hard to understand or explain. One has to come and see,
absorb and delve into the layers of the artist’s frustration, anger and
anxiety, but also into his ultimate resolve to keep hoping for our salvation
from the imminent danger of destruction.”
Carla Bianpoen in her critical review 'Entang Wiharso: Love me or
die', The Jakarta Post, 28-10-2010.
He
won many awards and had solo exhibitions in Indonesia, Hong Kong and the USA (where
he and his American wife sometimes live in Foster, Rhode Island). So far he
joined group exhibitions in China, Finland, Italy, The Netherlands, The
Philippines, Russia and Spain.
Entang
lives and works in his Black Goat Studio in Prambanan, Java.
ARFAN
SUNYONO
Arfan
Sunyono (º1990) was born in Tawangmangu, a town on the slopes of Mount Lawu,
near the kraton-city of Solo (Surakarta) in Central Java. His deceased father
was a skilled wayang kulit worker (wayang kulit refers to flat puppets cut out
of buffalo leather), his mother and two sisters sing and dance during
traditional performances.
After
high school, SMA, he studied one year at the Art Institute of Indonesia
Surakarta (the former STSI) until lack of money forced him to stop. Since then
he takes private lessons with painter Slamet Rohman and sculptor Sugeng Sumarmo
in exchange for all kinds of errands.
Although
his career just got underway, he already had a few exhibitions in Solo: in
restaurant Solo Mio, a local technical school and Galeri Monyet Biru. He prefers
painting and drawing but also uses other techniques, like stone carving and
photomontage. His works show a special interest in Islam but at the same time in
the old temples in the neighborhood, in the first place the mysterious Sukuh,
dating from the Majapahit era. He likes working with musicians and poets. In
this respect he designs stages for a gamelan orchestra in the neighborhood where
he lives at present.
Arfan
believes art should be both modern and respectful towards tradition. He
regularly quotes Paul Gauguin: “The
history of modern art is also the history of the progressive loss of art's
audience. Art has increasingly become the concern of the artist and the
bafflement of the public.”
JOHN IRONS
John Irons was born in the
English town of Harrogate in 1942. He studied modern languages at Cambridge,
before doing research in Dutch and completing his doctorate on The
development of Imagery in the Poetry of P.C. Boutens.
He moved to Scandinavia in
1968 and has lived most of the time since then in the Danish city of Odense, in
the middle of the quiet island of Fyn.
He has been active as a
translator of poetry for many years. His translations of Dutch poetry include
such writers as Hugo Claus, Albert Hagenaars, Gerrit Komrij, Rutger Kopland en
Victor Vroomkoning. He is a regular contributor to Poetry International in
Rotterdam.
John Irons also translates
from Danish, French, German, Norwegian and Swedish. He has
translated work by such authors
as Klaus Høeck (Denmark), Torild
Wardenær (Norway), Lars
Gustafsson (Sweden) and Friedrich Hebbel and Friedrich Hölderlin (Germany)
into English.
Besides poetry,
his translations specialise in art, philosophy and education. A complete
list of his activities can be found at:
http://johnirons.blogspot.com
In 2007 John Irons made his
debut as a poet, by publishing the collection ‘Pa’ in both English and Dutch
(translated by Eva Gerlach). Recently he
has also translated ‘Pa’ into Danish.
AGUNG
SOEMITRO
Agung
Soemitro was born in Indonesia’s second largest metropolis Surabaya in 1967.
Although he was interested in literature, he studied accountancy at Universitas
Narutama in the same city and worked with the bank BDNI for several years.
In the meantime he was active for AFS (American Field Service), an international, voluntary,
non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides intercultural learning
opportunities to help people develop the knowledge, skills and understanding
needed to create a more just and peaceful world. The activities are based on the
core values of dignity, respect for differences, harmony, sensitivity and
tolerance.
In
1997 he visited The Netherlands for the first time and decided to emigrate to
the country where he already had friends. Two years later he arrived again, this
time to stay. He took up residence in Bergen op Zoom and successfully studied
NT2 (Dutch as a Second Language), including Dutch culture.
He
worked unofficially as a translator for the foundation SCI-INN (Stichting
Sociaal Cultureel Instituut Indonesië-Nederland) in Rijsbergen, which focuses
on education and culture, scientific exchange, Indo-European heritage,
emancipation of women and travel consults.
After
his studies he preferred to work for international firms such as the Japanese
company Ricoh, which moved its European distribution centre to Bergen op Zoom,
and logistics enterprises like DHL and Mepavex.
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