The Jakarta Post, 2 January 2008

High prices send shivers down spines
of critics, collectors, artists

I Wayan Juniartha

The most talked-about thing to happen in the Indonesian fine arts scene this year had nothing to do with the birth of an important art movement, nor with the unveiling of a profound piece of art that charted a new aesthetic course.

In fact it didn't even take place in Indonesia. The event unfolded late April in our neighboring city-state, at Singapore's Regent Hotel.

A painting titled Looking for Wings by Balinese artist Putu Sutawijaya was sold for SG$95,000 at a Sotheby's auction. It was ten times the estimated price noted in the auction catalog.

The amount, equal to Rp 560 million or US$59,574, was a staggering price to pay for an artwork created by a 36-year-old artist.

One month later in an auction held by Christies in Hong Kong, a work by another Balinese painter, Nyoman Masriadi, sold for HK$540,000 (approximately Rp 640 million).

Several other works by Indonesian artists were also sold for high prices at auctions in Singapore, including Agus Suwage's Holy Politician which went for SG$11,400, Rudi Mantofani's Green House SG$6,000 and Yunizar's Red Letter SG$7,800.

The last two are members of the emerging Yogyakarta-based artist community, Jendela (window).

The high prices fetched by Sutawijaya's and Masriadi's works sent shivers down the spines of numerous Indonesian critics, collectors and, of course, artists.

Firstly the prices were at a similar level or exceeded prices generally attributed to works of existing Indonesian master painters (some of whom had passed away years ago).

"The these young painters have surpassed the price of works by the 'Old Masters', like Affandi, S. Sudjojono and Hendra Gunawan.

"The fact that such young artists could achieve this is simply astonishing," an influential art writer, Bre Redana, said.

Secondly the prices soon triggered what many people heralded as a "booming" period for Indonesian painting.

All of sudden, the country's fine art centers -- Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Bali -- were invaded by hordes of collectors and brokers searching for new talent and fresh works.

In no time at all the market was flooded with works that bore so many similarities to Sutawijaya's, Masriadi's and Jendela artists' works, that they simply could not be seen as the fruit of creative minds. It seemed that many young painters were attempting to take a shortcut to the lucrative market.

The boom, Bre said, was likely to adversely affect the development of Indonesia's fine arts.

"I believe art can not be separated from its social and economic context. Art can only thrive in a supportive social and economic environment. When the art market grows, there is a high probability that art will also grow esthetically, provided the artists and other elements of the art community know how to understand and use the market wisely," he said.

This had not been the case in the Indonesian art community, he said.

First of all, many people forgot that the boom was a side-effect of the ongoing "booming" Chinese art market.

Works by Chinese artists -- including Fang Lijun, Yue Minjun, Yang Shiaobin, Zhang Xiaogang and Wang Guangyi -- had dominated the international market, commanding incessantly-increasing prices, so regional brokers and collectors began looking to artists from other regions, including Indonesia.

"The boom was not necessarily triggered by the increased quality of works or an increased appreciation of Indonesian artists.

"It was caused by an opportunistic market trying to capitalize on the global "booming" trend -- by investing in new territories," art critic Wayan Kun Adnyana said.

Bre recalled how one rich businessman bought a painting by a young artist without even seeing it, and didn't see it after the transaction either. The painting was to be kept in the house of an art dealer commissioned by the businessman to purchase the work, to be resold the moment its price began to climb.

"Many collectors (or should I say investors) use their ears not their eyes to assess works. When they hear this painter or that painting is good, they snap them up.

"Mind you, they have stopped referring to paintings as artworks. To them, paintings are just objects -- a commodity," Bre said.

Bre and Kun were of similar opinions, saying the phenomenon posed a grave threat to the development of Indonesian fine arts, particularly since Indonesian arts infrastructure was significantly weaker than the China's.

"In China, the mechanisms and relationship between artists and art market elements, such as art agents, dealers and galleries, has been so well established that artists are able to devote more time to aesthetic exploration, and do not have to worry about catering to market needs.

"They create the works and it is up to their agents and dealers how they the works are marketed," Bre said.

The case was the opposite in Indonesia, with galleries and dealers busy fighting each other, and artists were left on their own to be preyed upon by the cruel market. Naturally, many artists opted to do what the market told them to -- just to make a living.

"That's why I believe the Indonesian boom will be far shorter than the one enjoyed by the Chinese," Bre said.

With artists being placed at the mercy of the market, they also faced other dangers; having their aesthetic creativity put off, and being alienated from the real social development of their peers.

With works of Sutawijaya, Masriadi and Jendela members -- Jumaldi Alfi, Rudi Mantofani, Yunizar, Handiwirman, Yusra Martunus -- being labeled "contemporary", many young artists rushed to become the next sensation, and in so doing abandoned their own unique styles and aesthetic creativity.

"I have seen many painters trying to imitate the work of Jendela members.

"They failed miserably because they forget that Jendela members didn't make their style to cater for the market.

"Jendela members genuinely believe their unique styles are their way of expressing themselves.

"There is a strong ideology behind that, and strong integrity too," Bre said.

Strong ideology and integrity were the primary ingredients of a powerful artwork, Kun said.

"When an artist is busy serving a market's whims and needs, they automatically loses their grasp on the actual reality around them.

"Their work will cease to be about their personal expression and a reflection of the people and conditions around them.

"Their work will cease to be an honest impression of life," Kun said.

Whether a huge sum of money was a worthy trade-off for a genuine aesthetic exploration of life's most profound questions, Kun said, was a puzzle that must be solved by the country's artists themselves.