Kuala Lumpur - Boerhanoedin Affandi Koesoema. To the uninitiated, the name may not ring a bell.
But refer to the man as "Affandi" - the name international art aficionados are familiar with - it conjures visions of brilliant pieces of world-renowned expressionism through painting.
Such is the mystique and aura of the man whose works have earned him a reputation as one of the greatest 20th century painters. A legend in his own lifetime.
DAUGHTER CONTINUES FATHER`S LEGEND
During a recent interview with Bernama Kartika Affandi simply could not stop talking about her late father.
Kartika was in town to deliver a talk on her father and her own art works at the R A Fine Arts - The Gallery, at Jalan Damai, Off Jalan Tun Razak here.
Believe it or not, while most women would dread the impending death of their beloved, Kartika painted a series of more than 100 portraits of her father on his death bed. He is buried at his very own museum, Affandi Museum in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
"I feel honoured and blessed to be Affandi`s daughter. I want my father to be remembered not just for his genius in creating legendary art works but also by my grand-children and great-grand-children in the years to come," said the 73-year-old painter who is a highly respected figure in the world of arts.
Kartika is commemorating her father`s 100th birthday this year, by holding art exhibitions and talks throughout Indonesia and at the Singapore Art Museum.
Affandi was 83, when he died in 1993.
A BIOGRAPHY ON AFFANDI
Kartika said she had also launched a biography on Affandi at the Singapore Art Museum and planned to exhibit the legendary painter`s works in Kuala Lumpur, early next year.
Affandi was the first Indonesian painter to gain international acclaim for his individualistic and expressionist style. In the 1940`s, he was very much involved with the formation of artist communities in Yogyakarta.
In the 1950`s, Affandi travelled and exhibited his works in India and Europe, and became highly successful.
Later, his art changed radically. Wanting high-level realism, he abandoned the strong linear brush for his fingers, hands and palm.
This heralded the birth of Affandi`s unique high-level style of individual expression, which took the world of art by storm.
Affandi, who was part of the fight for Indonesia`s independence together with the late President Soekarno, Drs Mohammed Hatta and others, was responsible in coming up with various posters that burned the spirit of the Indonesian army to defeat the Dutch in the 1940`s.
KARTIKA FOLLOWS HER FATHER`S FOOTSTEPS
"I first learnt to paint as a child, watching my father and working with him.
"In 1957, I began with a brush but this dissociation from the canvas by a tool didn`t suit me and I soon worked straight from the tube, with my hands," she said.
Like her father`s, Kartika`s work is visceral, immediate and more than a little wild, like the woman herself.
Her response to the world through her paintings indicates she has no time for interruptions or refinements of techniques. It goes straight to canvas uncensored and its brilliance lies in its spontaneity and truth.
In her creative quest, Kartika always wants to find her own identity and not be shadowed by her father`s work. As people were always comparing her work with her father`s, she went to Paris to develop her own identity.
FATHER AND DAUGTHER IN DIFFERENT GENRE
She remembered that once when she and her father went to a market and they chose a cow as a subject to draw, the outcome was different.
"His version of the drawing showed a rebellious cow which wanted to be freed while mine depicted the animal as wanting to be nurtured with love. The outcome was drawn from a woman`s intuition," she added.
She also contributes to the advocacy of women`s rights in Indonesia through her paintings, and is planning to set up a women`s art museum dedicated exclusively for female artists.
Realising mid-life that it was necessary for her to study art conservation, Kartika in 1980, set off to study at the Vienna Academy of Fine Art and enjoyed great liberation studying with much younger counterparts.
KARTIKA NOW INTO SCULPTURE
In the last three years, Kartika ventured into another stream of arts, she took up sculpture.
"I enjoy sculpting and like to shock men into thinking differently with my works," she said.
Today, Kartika`s daughter, Helfi, is the director of the Affandi Museum and she is pleased with the way things have turned out.
The dedication of Affandi`s memory has been passed down the generation to ensure the future of the museum.
Source: www.bernama.com (20 November 2007)
