Art Stage Jakarta

CEBU, Philippines - The art world just got bigger and busier with the entry of a new event in its calendar: Art Stage Jakarta.

Rumors about Jakarta came floating around Manila, causing a buzz among galleries, artists and art lovers.  Lost in my usual ignorant fog, I thought that here was yet another of those art fairs that I would hear about but would never have a clue of.  But faster than a speeding electron on the web, serendipity happened.

My Indonesian gal pal, Svida the media mogul, emailed and asked whether I could come as her date on opening night.  And just like that, I was off to the airport in two minutes flat!

Midnight Thursday saw me deplaning at the Soekarno Hatta airport.  Fresh in my mind was the Dubai crash, which of course happened just the day before.  But thankfully, even though the ride was bumpy, the soothing voice of our female PAL pilot saw us landing safely in Jakarta.

We were all set.  Venue for the premier event was the Sheraton Grand hotel within Gandaria City (that's a mall).  As my stylish date and I walked into the venue, we encountered the usual crush of excited art afficionados, society butterflies and serious collectors that were mingling among the crowd.

Sculptures, sculptures and yet more sculptures.  This was the opening salvo fired by the organizers at the arriving patrons.

Indonesian artist Adi Gunawan cast alive his humorous take on four black pigs in suits, marching solemnly while carrying a pink porker on a bamboo pole. Another Indonesian artist showed winged and horned neon dragon-lizards guarding the doors (were they komodos?), and  Entang Wiharso crafted a neon yellow truck filled to the brim with Indo-citizens and stuck it to the wall, in a reference to the amazing ride that was in store for the excited viewers.

Very well. Message received and understood. On these cheery notes, we strode into the exhibition halls, and began to marvel.

Fifty galleries from all over had been chosen to show their best.  But what I was really interested in was to see the local artists.  After all, we've been hearing scads and loads about the affordable art in Ubud, and the much celebrated Yogyakarta art fairs, and yet I hadn't had the pleasure of encountering these talents in person.  As it happened, they did not disappoint.

Excitable young artist Uji Handoko was my first hilarious encounter as he came bouncing out of his one man stall full of energy and laughter. Uji had a flair for the boldly colorful, as his shock-a-block mixed media works demonstrated. He eagerly handed me his business card and promised to be my Facebook friend. (When later, I looked at the card which identified him as part of the Kaleidoskop collective, it gave his title as "Gold Digger".) Uji had exhibited in various parts of the world, but neither his demeanor nor, more importantly, his electrifying works, did not indicate ennui.  Far from it.

Young artist Oky Rey Montha gave us striking canvasses, and his War of Umbrellas was a good introduction.  (I took a detailed photo of one of the naif umbrella girls).  I could already imagine it paired with the wistful visual provided by Russian artist Zorikto in his work titled "Fiesta," a pig-tailed young girl in a red dress walking away with head semi-cocked to one side.

Naufal Absher had pop and irony written all over his canvasses. In one assemblage, his robot was accompanied by a wooden sign marking his conundrum as "Hectic Life." Taped to the robot's hand was an Intravenous fluid unit, ready to dispense… lubricating blood?  Another example was "Happy to have a business with you," a donkey snorting in laughter.  The donkey's jacket was emblazoned with Ha Ha's all over, perhaps an indicator as to how reputable this businessman was.

I had to take a picture of Ronald Manullang's eerie work entitled "The Gift," where two Asian ladies flanked a Clint Eastwood-ish gentleman.  The juxtaposition between east and west, male and female, black and white, floral and stark, is just simply jarring.  What exactly was the gift in this tableau?

Well, at least I now know that Art Stage could have a gift for everyone, given the sheer diversity of the works unveiled to the world.  Aside from representation coming from the capital, galleries from Bali and Yogyakarta featured strong works by contemporary artists. (FREEMAN)