Eroticism of Life: Bali

For more conservative art lovers, the painting would surely — and perhaps furiously — be nominated as the ultimate testament to the infantile shallowness and disturbing carnality of Balinese contemporary art.

The canvas, measuring 2 meters by 1.5 meters, is completely filled with over 200 figures of nude men and women. Nothing else adorns the medium but juxtaposed naked images of varying sizes. Details are minimal and only three colors are used in the painting: brown for men, white for woman, and black for their hair.

Moreover, each and every figure in the painting is busy doing something that might give any upstanding member of radical, right-wing groups a cardiac arrest: They are all thoroughly engaged in having sex with each other in every possible conceivable and imaginable position.

Last but definitely not least, the painting is titled Mekatuk, a vulgar and derogatory term in the Balinese language for having sex. The word does not convey any semiotic nuance of romantic love or sensuous yearning. Instead, the term is typically used to refer to sexual intercourse that has no meaning outside of mere physical gratification of libidinous urges.

Yet, for the creator of the painting, 21-year-old I Wayan Januriawan, the painting has much more to offer than just a heart attack. Here, intercourse is a symbol for the sanctity of life and its origins.

“Intercourse is about the unification of Nature’s two key elements: man and woman. Out of this unification, a baby is born and, in the philosophical sense, a new life is created.

“This new life will secure the continuation and the future existence of mankind,” he said.

Januriawan, or Donald to his friends, is one of four young painters who are currently exhibiting their work at Denpasar’s hottest alternative art space, the Danes Art Veranda. The other three are Rio Saren, Dewa Gede Agung and Putu Edy Asmara Putra.

Titled Nyawa Senyawa (Life, One Life), the exhibit features 16 works, including one installation piece, revolving around a single major theme: the birth of life.

Donald is not the only painter in the exhibit who focuses on the sexuality of birth. In a more subdued way, Putu Edy Asmara Putra presents his interpretation of the eroticism of human life.

Naturally, sexual intercourse, human genitalia and supple breasts appear in his artwork. But Asmara Putra has managed to partially conceal them behind layers of abstraction, symbolism and coloration.

In his paintings, the brightly colored and elaborately decorated worm-like central entity is a symbolic representation of perennial masculine energy, male genitalia and newborn life, all at the same time.

The young painters’ fixation with eroticism and the sexual nature of human life, according to noted art critic Putu Wiratha Dwikora, is neither a new nor a surprising phenomenon.

For centuries, seductive images, erotic symbols and sensual concepts have occupied an important position in the Balinese aesthetic landscape and religious consciousness.

“After all, the major part of the Balinese religious belief system was constructed and built upon the adoration of Lingga-Yoni which, literally, were the sculpted images of male and female genitalia,” Wiratha said.

“On a philosophical and later, religious level, the Lingga-Yoni stands for the union of life forces; of Bapa Akasa (Father Sky) and Ibu Pertiwi (Mother Earth) that eventually creates the air, water, plants and everything else that have made human life possible in this world,” he added.

The ability to present the erotic side of life on a philosophical level, Wiratha suggested, was precisely what these young painters hadn’t been able to acquire — yet.

“Consequently, there is a disturbing lack of depth in their works. Their works are interesting and provoking from the aesthetic and technical perspectives but, thematically and conceptually speaking, are still shallow,” he pointed out.

These young painters are still overwhelmed by the fascinating and seductive realm of erotic imagery that they have failed to build an intellectual raft to navigate their symbolism along the stream of contemporary problems.

“There are so many prevailing, provocative issues on birth and human life. For instance, why they didn’t tackle abortion, a problem that places birth side by side with the termination of birth. How about cloning, genetic engineering and DNA?” Wiratha asked.

The art critic believed that these young painters still had a long way to go before they would reach artistic and intellectual maturity. However, he was also convinced that they had made the first, important steps on that journey.

“They have already had the courage to display their works openly, in public view. This means that they are ready for any kind of criticism that will be launched at their artwork. That’s an obvious sign that they will be the island’s next generation of painters,” Wiratha said.

Nyawa Senyawa (through May 9)
Danes Art Veranda
Jl. Hayam Wuruk 159
Denpasar
Phone: (0361) 250037

I Wayan Juniartha