Retrospective of Wayan Damika

SIKA Gallery at Ubud was very proud to exhibit a solo exhibition entitled “Legacy – a retrospective of Wayan Darmika starting from 24 December, 2004 – January 24, 2005. The exhibition was officially opened by Agung Rai of ARMA, accompanied by Suteja Neka of Neka Art Museum and Wayan Sika of SIKA Gallery. Prof. Bandem of the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI) Yogyakarta also came to the exhibition accompanied by his wife. At the opening ceremony, there were art lovers, artists and tourists coming to attend the event. Agung Rai of ARMA said that Darmika has spent a very long time in art, monumental and spiritual work. Darmika is a talented artist mastering space, a productive artist having the courage to present a solo exhibition. The artist takes pride in his career. “We must support these artists”, Agung Rai said before opening the exhibition.

He was born at Silakarang, the village of Singapadu Kaler, Sukawati, Gianyar on 24 February, 1960, lives and works at his own home studio in his own home village. During his career in art, Darmika has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Bali, Yogyakarta and Jakarta since 1982. Wayan Darmika is an academic Balinese Artist, graduating from the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI), Yogyakarta in 1988. His talent seems to have been adopted from his father, Nyoman Narsa (80 years old), a carver specializing in relief statuettes with thematic inspiration from the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Darmika is Balinese artist who since the rise of this millennium, consistently explored Balinese and Hindu icons through vivid and expressive techniques. Through his 25 year creative journey, Wayan Darmika has made evolutionary progress. One terrifying concern for many painters is to feel – even more to be accused of creative stagnation. Repetition that becomes non-expressive, both visual and conceptual, is the main adversary to creativity and the spirit of advant gardism.
In this case, Darmika is experiencing natural evolution. A state of progress following age maturity, as an empirical experience to strengthen the soul. The evolutionary progresses are visible in his art work. When Darmika was in his thirties, he felt surges of energy, mind, and body, and had the passion to fill the whole surface of the canvas. Now, as Darmika goes into his forties, a passion to fill the empty spaces with “empty bullets” emerges from the depth of his soul. He wants to communicate with emptiness, speaking through silence and talking symbolically.
(BTN/Lanus Sumatra)

Tranquillity at Maya Ubud

The Maya Ubud Resort & Spa in Gianyar regency frequently holds art exhibitions. A few years ago, a female artist at Seniwati Gallery, Kerry Pendergrast held a solo exhibition at the hotel. During the exhibition, the artist painted the on the spot beauty of the hotel building and landscape. Pranoto, the artist’s husband who is also a painter told Bali Travel News that his wife painted at the resort during her exhibition. “It is true”, said Kerry to Bali Travel News at Ubud. All collections at Maya Ubud by Kerry belong to a private collection at the resort.

In 2005, the Maya Ubud Resort and Spa published a desk calendar 2005. The resort, a haven of tranquility set amidst the verdant hills of Ubud published the calendar 2005 using the reproduction of Kerry Pendergrast’s painting on Maya Ubud. Before the X’mas celebration in December, the marketing communications manager, Martiasih gave a copy of the calendar to Bali Travel News. The calendar represents a year long solo exhibition. The artist, in calendar captures the hotel and surroundings namely : the swimming pool, verandahs, Spa, gardens, bed rooms, restaurant etc.
Kerry Pendergrast was born in Perth, Western Australia, studied at Curtin University, graduating with a bachelor arts degree, majoring in literature and theatre. After mastering the art of line drawing with a distinctive touch, she began painting and had her first exhibition in 1998. Since then she has had many solo and group exhibitions worked in acrylic, water colors and pastels.
Scenes and landscapes in contemporary style of Bali are the subjects of her pastels, all drawn outside, in nature. The medium of soft pastels on sand paper captures the joys of bright colors, fleeting light and exciting texture. This has become the focus and passion of her artistic life, to express exquisite scenes to be found everywhere.

(BTN/Lanus Sumatra)

Made Candra
Worries About Wayang Wong Coming to Extinction

In Bali, there are several kinds of wayang or puppet shadow plays; some of them are wayang kulit and wayang wong. In wayang kulit, the figures of wayang are made of cow’s skin, while in wayang wong, its figure or actors wear the costume of wayang.
Lately, wayang wong in Bali is growing rare and almost coming to extinction. On the contrary, Wayang Kulit is growing rapidly proven by the Festival of Wayang Kulit held by BaliTV recently. Many youngsters participated and became puppeteers of wayang kulit.
The wayang wong troupe of Blahkiuh Village, Abiansemal sub district, Badung Regency that has been active from 1960-1990 is now setting about to disappear. “When our troupe was celebrated, we were tired of arranging performance schedules all over Bali. We also made time to visit Jakarta in 1984,” said Made Candra (75) to Bali Travel News.
Made Candra is one of the players of wayang wong from Blahkiuh Village (some 15 km northward of Denpasar). Since he has a handsome and athletic posture, he often takes the role as Bhima in the Mahabharata epic. This powerful and muscular figure many a time becomes an idol for the younger group.
But the wayang wong of Blahkiuh has now faded. Some of its players have grown older and even died and the youngsters of local villages are not interested to follow the footsteps of Made Candra. “If this situation continues for another five years we really can not forecast the destiny of this art,” he said.
Nevertheless, Made Candra is cheerful enough as the Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) Denpasar has a wayang wong troupe. “Hopefully, through the students of ISI Denpasar, this art will revive,” he said while adding that wayang wong gives many moral messages and good things for human life.
(BTN/Yan Beryas)

Two Fine Art Exhibitions in Singaraja

Fine art exhibitions in Northern Bali, chiefly Singaraja city, occur rarely, regardless of the fact that Northern Bali is the resource of artists, either traditional or modern ones. Seemingly, the modernization current has resulted in breaking off the relationship between old and young artists, so impressed there was no regeneration. Consequently, traditional art that used to flourish lively and developed in Northern Bali is not now heard of any longer. In the meantime, the modern artists of Northern Bali-born prefer to work at places like Denpasar.

Thank God there is a Teacher’s Training College (IKIP) department of fine art education. Once in the blue moon, its students and lecturers make a fine art exhibition at several places in Singaraja. Since last January, students of fine art department, State Teacher’s Training College of Singaraja held an exhibition at its campus.
The first one was a photography exhibition attended by 8 students, Sudiartama, Kendi Paradika, Agus Darmaja Giri, Putu Darmayoga, Duwika Adiana, Budiatmika, Saliawan and Agung Adhi Purwanta. They exhibited more than 25 photo works in several techniques such as stop action, slow action, panning, silhouette, photo gram, light gram and the like.
Meanwhile, the next exhibition held between (10-20 January) was a painting exhibition participated by 10 students, Anggawasta, Ramli, Yudik, Kaldika, Rierlin, Sarantika, Suriada, Arya, Budiasih and Sadya. At each exhibition, a tendency was shown that they painted in the surrealism style, chiefly the works of Yudik and Ramli. They painted realistically but surrealistically. This tendency was also indicated by the works of Anggawasta, Sarantika, Suriada and Sadya, while others painted in symbolical styles like that shown in the works Budiasih, Rierlin, Arya and Kaldika.
As beginners, they have good talents. Success would be certainly be reached by them as professional painters if they remain to learn and perform practice in order that what they have made can establish a communication with the enjoyer well. This can be done by means of reading more books on fine art, frequent visits to similar exhibitions of other painters and perform more discussions on art problems.
(BTN/Gung Man)