Sika Gallery

Anas Etan

June 3th – 25th 2006

_____________________________________

The Dark world ofAnas Etan

By: Arif Bagus Prasetyo

One day, Milan Kundera the novelist with his wife, and also filose Alexandre Alaric and Venezuelan painter, Ismail Mandarai, visiting to residency of Ernest Breleur in Martinique Caribbean. The host serve fourth of his guest lunch. There’s six place made available in dining table. Surprisingly, until they have finishing eaten the sixth chair remains to be empty. This oddity is answered when Ernest’s wife come from her activity, old later; then. “Now you understand about place mystery to six in dining table”, word Alexandre inbound from Breleur’s home, Ernest have Illusion that his wife is being with us.

Breleur’s paintings: bodies without head float on the air, Lump of human’s body which being dregs from balmy embrace of earth, shiver of hurt flesh thrown to the blankness. That’s shadow of black skin slave clan mischance which falls in dusky wallow of Caribbean colonialism. Body suffering, body suffered and hurts, body insulted with the torture and maltreat. From canvas to canvas, Breleur’s painting discloses the cruelty footstep an era which has ago but still strong scratches in memory: slavery epoch.

Experience meet the buttonhole and masterpiece of Ernest above, what is said by Milan Kundera in his essay, captivating about art after Caribbean colonialism, suddenly thought up in my marrow moment of getting acquainted with artist Anas Etan and its masterpieces. That day, for the first time, I visit the long-haired young actor in its residency at river periphery which has rapid current inarea of Banjar Lungsiakan, Ubud. He rent two damp rooms; chamber check and rather dirty, border on a number of other artist and also food merchant. One utility room; chamber as residence at the same time studio, while room; chamber in side as place warehouse saving the painting heap.

In our backtalk, in between thundering of river current in dale base, Anas said that he’s often experience of the trouble haunted dream. Latter even shall no longer as hard as first. This young guy who loves to collect underground’s music cassette (he confess can’t work without accompanied by the music of the settled condition rebel clan) also said frequently suffered by hallucination. When facing with an object. he often “watches” that object mixed with, or become, another horrible vision. These hallucinations sometimes looked so “real”, until he feels the fear without sensible reason.

Perhaps ail psychoanalyst experts will return about trouble of nightmare and Anas’s hallucination at person trauma which being repression in its subconscious nature, far in psychical deepness the artist But any its source, is self-explanatory presumably that experience knocked over by attack of that hallucination and nightmare is very strong reflected in Hashanah of Anas swan song aspect, and sketch until painting, since long time up to now.

Pattern of Abstraction or semi-abstract, Anas’s masterpiece carpet the dusky panorama unfold the surrealistic world which chaotic, dramatic and dibble. Anas fly absurdities as prirtciple orientinq its [his] creative exploration motion. Ghost like and mysterious imagines, horrible and anomalous, satanic and monstrous, is in concern presented by which tend to the theatrical. AI1 sort of neurotic idea smelling sadistic and masochistic over shadows the creative vision of Anas. Compared to pursuing the beauty, Anas’s esthetics more looks long for the subliminal: its masterpieces promote the duskiness, silence, smart, danger and dismay, Anas’s paint art is podium supposing which show the existential extreme experience at one particular boundary situation, when human being stand up tremble at the verge of deep ruination, craziness and death.

Anas’s Painting it is. true focus at image of human being body-both for depicted intact and also fragmentary,with the visual expression style of realistic or abstraction. But that’s body soared in maelstrom of oppressive energy that clutching it: darkness power nullifying each; every claim of excellence and human being dignity. On Anas’s canvas, image of human body like oppressed, unsolved even totally ruined , convolute waving current energy which shine from overlap of chromatic area, crisscross of line which glide unattended wild of conscious mind, also daze the slippery bizarre form and with animal character or monster.

See, how ironic it is, strong body like body building in a number of Anas’s painting: they tremble at the end of one’s rope castigated by a very heavily psychological burden, buried become in trouble object of irrational strength besieging lt. Not rarely human’s body being seldom seen into peace, divided, muddle up with difficult . identified of abstraction configuration. Attendance of human’s Body in Anas’s painting likely in form that human being , borrowing famous expression of Freud, “is not sir at own home “. On the contrary, human being is victim from allsorts of-blind mechanism andstructurewhichdo not fully can be controlled, tamed and mastering of.

Frequently also, human being imagine as horrible button hole hybrid, half-animal or half-monster. Anas likely enunciate that animal or monster kind is integral part from human being reality, What nice and lecherous, abnormal and normal, impolite and civilized -both side is both of the same inherent in human being essence.

By exploring dusky world across the lucidity,fine arts of Anas echo the view of Viktor Frankl that, as far as concerning human being, “possibilities .to become the dickens and also angel there is in their self.” This is art which jabbing an auto critic to claims of superiorities human being, which actually is not only yielding civilization progress, but also bear the nymph grief along side journey of mankind history.

_____________________________________