Narcissus, Narcissus in a new solo exhibit July 2, 2007
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Art enthusiasts in Jakarta, Indonesia, can be sure of one thing: there is nothing like the opening of a solo exhibition by F. Widayanto.
Such was again the case on Friday night, when the National Gallery in Central Jakarta was transformed into a garden of abundant narcissus flowers, re-creating the atmosphere of Greek mythology for the 39 images of Narcissus on display.
Widayanto had left nothing to chance. Everything was as meticulously prepared as he had with his ceramic sculptures, from the flowers named after the tragic Greek hero to the classical pillars of that time, and from the different mirror frames to the framed certificates for each purchase. Widayanto’s solo exhibition Narcissus Narcissus once more proves the enduring fascination with Greek mythology, with its gods and goddesses, demons, monsters and other supernatural creatures.
The myth of Narcissus has many variants. One story says that Narcissus had a twin sister. They looked alike and dressed alike, and he fell in love with her. When she died, Narcissus pined after her, gazing upon his own reflection in the water and pretending it was her. Another story says that Narcissus was exceedingly beautiful and was prophesied to live a long life, provided he never gazed upon his own features. He challenged the vengeance of the gods when he rejected the love of the nymph Echo and of his young male lover Ameinias. He fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water and died because of this obsession. It is also said that he was turned into a flower, thus named narcissus. The myth of Narcissus has been a constant source of inspiration among visual and literary artists for at least 2,000 years, according to Wikipedia.
But how remarkable that two exhibitions in Jakarta, held almost during the same period of time, were inspired by this same mythology. Hamad Khalaf and F. Widayanto, artists born in the Eastern hemisphere, both delving into the mythology of a people foreign to their own. While the Kuwait-born Khalaf seeks justice for all, drawing analogies between the greed, hatred and war raging in the mythological heavens and the same situation that is splitting the world of today, Indonesia’s Widayanto is drawn to the dramatic and the romantic.
In presenting the 39 sculptured images of Narcissus, he draws on the widely used term “narcissistic”, adorning his figures with jewelry, coquette poses and feminine clothing, as he says, the social tenor of male urbanites who love to beautify themselves as ladies of leisure do. Men today are in want of more attention, said Widayanto in an earlier interview.
His Narcissus sculptures in the ongoing exhibition are meant to reflect the male figure by taking on the air of the female, mostly through gestures, expressions and poses that recall the artist’s female sculptures of previous exhibitions.
Such duality is also noted in the execution of the exhibition, which re-creates the Greek environment with Widayanto and his team wearing headdresses from classical Greece, as well as in the Narcissus figures whose facial features take after classical Javanese art. The titles also include names or words that may be either Javanese or Sundanese.
As usual, Widayanto’s works are executed with meticulous craftsmanship, exposing his experience as a ceramist of over 15 years. Created at his studio in Tapos, Bogor, the clay used in these sculptures was taken from Sukabumi, West Java.
Born in 1953 in Jakarta, Widayanto graduated in 1981 from the Ceramics Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design at the Bandung Institute of Technology. This is his twelfth solo exhibition since 1987.
Narcissus Narcissus, A solo exhibition of ceramic sculptures, Through July 5, Galeri Nasional, Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur 14, Central Jakarta, Indonesia.
