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Agus Suwage. 2012. Graphite, acrylic on magazine paper. (1) The DogFather. 26.5 x 20.5 cm. (2) Only A Fool Would Say That. 26.5 x 19.5 cm. (3) Untitled. 26.5 x 19.5 cm.

Cewek #1: Lo nonton Lawyers Club kemarin nggak?
Cewek #2: Mampus tuh FPI. Pinter banget si orang NU itu… Tapi mereka tetap nggak ngeh deh kayaknya…
Cewek #3: Eh, iya! Jahat banget banget kan si Suster Enny itu? Ih, nggak sabar deh, episode berikutnya!
—Percakapan didengar oleh cewek #4 yang ingin mendisiplinkan cewek #3 dari demam menonton sinetron. (Dimodifikasi dari ngupingjakarta.blogspot.com.)

“Sebenarnya dalam pameran ini aku pingin merevitalisasi soal gambar. Ini jadi perayaan gambar, lukisan—dua dimensional,” sebaris pesan singkat dikirimkan Agus Suwage. Lukisan cat air kecil-kecil yang sekarang jadi satu instalasi itu dikerjakan Suwage benar-benar selama 720 hari. Paling tidak ada tiga aspek yang segera menonjol dari karya itu; soal disiplin menggambar, kemampuan mengendalikan cat air, dan pilihan bekerja di atas kertas yang jelas bukan medium mudah dihadapi justru karena kerapuhannya.

“Kenapa, pak?” tanya saya. “Meditasi, tahu!” balasnya. Suwage menggunakan dirinya, kerjanya, praktik artistiknya, untuk bicara kedisiplinan seorang seniman. Bahan-bahan yang digunakannya jelas menarik untuk diperhatikan. Keputusannya menggunakan seng galvanis atau kardus bekas Indomie bukan manifestasi dari kebutuhan daur-ulang atau sebentuk kepedulian pada lingkungan, tetapi merupakan sebuah pernyataan bahwa semua bahan itu sama berharganya, sama bergunanya dalam praktik kesenian kita hari ini.

Pun ia menggunakan apa saja yang sudah ada—baik gambar maupun bahan—, selalu ada ‘cerita’ baru, ‘persoalan’ baru, ‘babak’ baru dalam pengamatannya atas kehidupan. Rasanya tidak perlu saya menjelas-jelaskan apa yang menjadi perihal dalam karya-karya ini. Justru karena perihal yang diangkat sesungguhnya adalah percakapan sehari-hari, Suwage kerap dianggap membicarakan konsep-konsep besar. Sesungguhnya hal-hal yang sama adalah rerasan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari kita. Soal cara pikir, dominasi agama tertentu, komentar sosial-politik, gaya hidup, dan apapun yang kita percakapkan di warung kopi. Sesuatu yang bisa kita dengar dari meja sebelah kita di restoran bintang lima sekalipun atau barisan yang duduk di belakang kita di bis kota.

Agus Suwage. Cakrawala Dvipantara. 2014. Oil on zinc. 180 x 450 cm.

Girl #1: Did you watch The Lawyers Club last night?
Girl #2: The NU guy was pretty clever.. But, I don’t think those FPI people understand anyway…
Girl #3: Ah right! That evil b*tch Nurse Enny! She was really mean, no? Ah, I can’t wait for the next episode!
—Overheard by Girl #4 who now wants to discipline Girl #3 from the soap opera fever. (Modified from ngupingjakarta.blogspot.com)

“Actually, through this exhibition, I want to revitalize drawings. This shall be the celebration of drawings, paintings—two dimensional works,” Agus Suwage’s short message said. Suwage really did worked for 720 days in completing those small watercolor paintings, which is now an installation work. Three things (at least) are clearly seen from this work: Drawing as a discipline, a matter of controlling watercolor and the decision to work with papers that due to its fragility is known as a difficult medium to deal with.

“Why?” I asked. “Meditation!” he replied. Suwage uses himself, his works, his artistic practice to talk about the discipline of an artist. The materials he uses surely become such an interesting aspect to observe. His decision to use galvanic zinc or instant noodle’s boxes is not a manifestation of the need to recycle nor a particular concern to the environment; it is a statement on upon the equality of all materials in terms of value and importance in the arts today.

Though he works with everything that has been used—be it images or materials—, there is always a new story, a new matter, or a new chapter within his observation of life. I don’t think there is a necessity in explaining the matters that Suwage brought within this exhibition. Suwage is often considered as an artist who delivers grand narratives precisely because his topics are our everyday conversation. Honestly speaking, those are our kind of daily chitchats. On ideology or thoughts, religion domination, social politic commentaries, lifestyle, and the kind of stuff we talk about in cafes and during lunch. The kind of things that we might overhear from the table next to us wherever, be it a five-stars restaurant or the seat behind us in the city bus.

Solo Show of Agus Suwage
Nadi Gallery, Jakarta
Opening on Thursday, December 18, 2014, 7.30pm
Show runs until January 12, 2015

 

For exhibition shots, click here.
For e-catalog, please wait 🙂

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/08/agus-suwage-goes-back-basics.html