J. Ariadhitya Pramuhendra, 1994, maybe…, 2009, Charcoal on Canvas

Ahmad Zakii Anwar and J. Ariadhitya Pramuhendra at NUS Museum

The similarities were uncanny – both artists employing charcoal as their weapon of choice and seeking to address issues of ‘self’ and ‘identity’. The juxtaposition of Ahmad Zakii’s latest series of works, Being and Pramuhendra’s Spacing Identities within the NUS Museum galleries whetted the appetites of art lovers and students alike as the university museum, under the stewardship of Ahmad Mashadi and his team of young curators,  continue to facilitate critical insights into Southeast Asian contemporary art.

A cursory look at the two exhibitions, one might be tempted to conclude that a comparison would be debatable. Ahmad Zakii has established himself in the Malaysian art circles as the foremost hyperrealist artist in the traditions of Edward Hopper and Eric Fischl. Born in 1955, Zakii carved out his career in as a commercial artist, providing illustrations and graphic design before switching to painting full time. His enigmatic Smokers series in the mid-nineties, consisting of ambiguous figures ‘masked’ by a cloud of cigarette smoke, launched him into the attentions of museums and art collectors.

For Pramuhendra, a recent graduate from the renowned Institute Technology of Bandung, Spacing Identities represents his second solo exhibition. Having also participated in numerous group exhibitions, Pramuhendra is quickly making a name for himself as a ‘hot, young star’ in the Indonesian contemporary art scene.

Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Being, Installation shot

In Zakii’s Being, he had worked with a new model, different from his previous works. Comprising of 5 ‘standing figures’ 3 ‘reclining figures’ and 2 ‘seated figures’, the charcoal drawings definitely displayed his mastery of drawing, as one would almost feel overawed upon entering the gallery. Encountering the life-sized charcoal works, one was able to see an artist having full control over his skills and it would be hard to fault him for his execution.

However, in retrospect, looking at the 10 charcoal works, one might feel a slight sense of convenience on the part of the artist. Zakii has more or less secured his position in Malaysia’s art history, with his signature realist style. Hence his latest series might seem a tad simplistic in terms of content, while barely elevating itself to the degree of sophistication of lines and forms, seen in the drawings of the Baroque era. Perhaps Zakii might have wanted ‘to go back to the basics’ as suggested in an interview with curator Ahmad Mashadi, “The Smokers and Meditations were heavy with symbolism and metaphors. They represented a search. With the charcoals and specifically with Being, the objective was some form of conclusion. I have focused solely on one human figure.”

While Zakii’s Being suggest the end of a spectrum, a hint of moving on to another phase, Pramuhendra’s Spacing Identities showed the vigour of a young artist fighting his personal battles. His mostly large-scale charcoal drawings looked like blown-up photographs of family portraits, group shots and individuals, rendered faceless due to the intentional blurring of the paintings. One would almost immediately be frustrated, trying to identify these faces in the ‘photographs’. A similar analogy would be offering sweets as bait to a child, only to withdraw it at the last minute when he/ she comes closer to grab them. Unanswered questions surrounded the exhibition environment. The barriers to viewing the artworks do not seem to fit the logic of the artist-audience dynamics.

The ‘blurred’ drawings suggest an intentional erasing of its recognisable features. By that action itself, Pramuhendra was manifesting physically, the act of forgetting selected ‘pieces of history’ – questionable and difficult moments that we sometimes choose to forget or rather be ‘freed’ from, in order to move on in life. In that vein, the young artist had made commendable incursions into the politics of memory, negotiating the treacherous divide between subjectivity and objectivity.

More than just representing his struggles with the formation of identity and the concept of memories, his charcoal works were scoffing at our perceived expectations of gaining access into his experiences. Rather than serving it on a platter, his invitation to read his ‘biography’ poses the question of “Who am I?” back to the viewer, just like the gaze of Ahmad Zakii’s figure in Being; both artists posing philosophical questions to viewers through the humble charcoal medium.

Being was co-organised by NUS Museum with Gajah Gallery and exhibited at the NUS Museum from 26^th April – 7^th June 2009. Spacing Identities was co-organised by NUS Museum with the Bandung Institute Technology and Gajah Gallery and was on from 10^th – 31^st May 2009.

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