Within the history of Balinese modern traditional art, beginning in the 1930s, it was the villages of Ubud, Batuan and Sanur that captured the majority of the limelight. However, Pengosekan village, just south of Ubud, has its own story, along with the distinction of producing some truly unique artists. One of these, who went on to become one of the icons of Balinese art, was Dewa Nyoman Batuan, born in Pengosekan in 1939.
For those who were lucky enough to encounter him, they surely have fond memories, for a meeting with him was always a joy. Batuan was gifted, an effervescent personality and a radiant smile that matched the twinkle in his eye. Batuan had a vision for his village, Pengosekan, that manifested into the Pengosekan Community of Artists in 1970.
Through his entrepreneurial endeavor, he was to help establish a market for the local paintings and thus he was able to help break the social and economic barriers for the welfare of the people in his neighborhood, getting many of them out of poverty and the hard labor of farming. Tragically, the popular artist, teacher, philosopher and visionary was abruptly taken from us on Feb. 14 2013.
At Ubud’s Museum Puri Lukisan, the Pengosekan painting exhibition titled “Dewa Batuan and the Community” opened on Feb. 14, commemorating a year since his passing and paying tribute to the legacy of Batuan. The exhibition continues through until April 10. In their foremost days, Pengosekan artists began painting in the two dimensional Balinese Wayang style, revealing stories from the Hindu sacred texts.
Post 1930s saw a boom in Balinese art and a “new” 3D format that gave tales from daily local village life, often characterized by vibrant market and ceremonial temple scenes, a new aesthetic verve. However, the signature style of paintings that evolved from Pengosekan in the 1980s was the flora and fauna style that depicted Balinese wildlife set in beautiful environmental scenes.
These works are often beautifully balanced compositions and the imagery of birds set in lush tropical foliage, for example, seems to flow effortlessly in front of the eye. “Dewa Batuan and the Community” includes more than 40 works, all painted by students of Batuan and his older brother, Dewa Putu Mokoh, both of whom were students of Pengosekan’s most celebrated artist, Gusti Ketut Kobot (1917 - 1999).
Batuan too made his own mark on the development of Balinese painting in the mid-1970s, when he adapted religious tales, along with personal narratives and daily life, into compositions that followed the symmetrical formats derived from the Buddhist mandala. The structure of the mandala was a perfect vehicle for Batuan, the award-winning artist who was internationally known, to express his important beliefs and the philosophies of his Balinese Hindu culture.
Two other Pengosekan artists who received great attention from art lovers, collectors, curators and critics were Mokoh and Murni. Mokoh’s quirky, yet highly intimate paintings were a complete departure from other known styles of painting at the time. His female student, Gusti Ayu Kadek Murniashi (1966-2006), was instrumental in forging new thematic grounds in Balinese art and bravely introduced taboo themes by exploring gender politics. Murni is renowned as Indonesia’s most important female artist.
Batuan’s son, Dewa Putu Putrayasa, keeps alive his father’s tradition of the mandala paintings and this exhibition features one large work by Putrayasa paying tribute to his father’s life.
source : bali daily
