IO, Jakarta – REDRAW is an annual exhibition organized by Edwin’s Gallery as an effort to review the practice of drawing in the context of contemporary art in Indonesia. Instead of defining, REDRAW is more appropriate to be seen as a practice of gathering methods and techniques as a translation of what is known as drawing.
Drawing, does have a plural meaning. The understanding can be very broad, depending on who the audience is. The most basic and common idea that comes to your mind is an artistic process of working on a paper. Although of course, drawing can be interpreted as a work using the binary field by using basic elements such as lines, shapes, colors, and also space. However, we also use images as ways and tools to dream, record, design, and explain information in a universal language. Or it could be because the image is often face-to-face with Paintings and Colors, it is often interpreted as sketches, early work, or a collection of black and white lines. From here, we can guess how Drawing is synonymous with lines, in contrast to Paintings that are closer to the surface. Nevertheless, the basic principles of Drawing over lines and shapes can still be found in a form other than a line incision on paper. Through painting, screen printing, comics, photography, illustrations, even sculptures or its forms at least, we can try to find the essence of Drawing there.
Evolving from that understanding, the exhibition REDRAW III: UGAHARI is trying to see the essence of “simplicity” in the context of Drawing. The lines, shapes, and colors in its simplest expression as the main elements that appear in the practice of drawing, may provide a visual refreshment for our increasingly complex life. To what extent can we articulate complex issues in simple visual language. Using the name Ugahari / uga · ha · ri / contains the meaning medium; mid; or simple and also keugaharian / ke·u·ga·ha·ri·an / meaning simplicity; modesty.
“The main concept of REDRAW III: UGAHARI is to re-look at artists who make differentiated artworks and collected together in an Art Exhibition. In this art exhibition we are not grouping various artists based on their custom in processing a work of art. But, we put more emphasis on the idea of an artist who then translated in an Ugahari sentence where drawing is a simple and modest affair, “said Leonhard Bartolomeus as the curator.
In this case, Leonhard Bartolomeus also does not want to group artists based on their technical skills, various artists in different fields and also do different painting techniques to enliven this art exhibition which is located in Edwin Gallery, Kemang, South Jakarta.
The spirit of collecting artists with different skills is what makes REDRAW III: UGAHARI quite different from other artistic performances. If the performance of art is usually held because of the theme and ability of artists who are also the same then REDRAW III: UGAHARI this time is featuring exhibits that can be considered quite different from others, such as the expression made by the curator.
“With that we can easily find artists who use papercut media, illustrations, images, stencil, and also the use of aerosols in canvas and using cloth media for batik artwork. And it is very interesting to me that the translation of the sun, which is a simple thing close to them, becomes a very different and diverse work of art and does not seem monotonous, “said Leonhard Bartholomew.
In addition, Yogyakarta’s artists are currently performing movements in the arts field, which creates critical artwork in the social activism step that helps advocate farmers’ friends who are facing evictions in Kulon Progo. In other words, with this art exhibition that does not limit a work of art and also the skill of every artist can make a new thing about art in the homeland in Indonesia so that can be seen directly by the audience, especially citizens of the city and also citizens, what is actually in Indonesia that they do are not deeply aware of.
If you want to see these amazing works of art, you can visit Edwin Gallery which is located in Kemang, South Jakarta, the exhibition will be held till 5 August. It has many reference paintings with the diversity of media and also the philosophy that the artists raise to the audience with a pretty brilliant idea. (Aldo)