Popo Iskandar (Indonesian, 1927-2000)


Cahaya di Celah Kabut Pagi (Dawn Peeking from behind the Morning Fog), 1976 signed, titled, dated and inscribed 'Cahaya di Celah Kabut Pagi dari Popo Indonesia 1976' and dated and inscribed again 'Jakarta 76', on the reverse.oil on canvas70 x 60 cm. (27 1/2 x 23 5/8 in.)
|波波‧依斯干達 晨霧中的黎明 油彩畫布 一九七六年作Provenance:Private Collection, IndonesiaPolemics and Positions: Post-War Indonesian ArtA new generation of Indonesian modern artists – amongst them Umi Dachlan, Popo Iskandar, Fadjar Sidik, Nashar and Zaini – emerged during the tumultuous post-independence period in the country. This group of artists came from two cities with distinctly different characters: Bandung (Dachlan and Iskandar) and Yogyakarta (Sidik, Nashar and Zaini). Bandung being a former Dutch colony base and Yogyakarta a city under the Javanese monarch and the former capital city of Indonesia, the political dynamics in the two cities was the main factor that bifurcated their respective art communitiesIn its early years, the Bandung group was labelled derogatorily as pengabdi laboratorium Barat (Western laboratory advocates) due to the Western-centric pedagogy of its academic institution - Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) (Bandung Institute of Technology). On the other hand, the Yogyakarta group from the Akademi Seni Rupa Indonesia (ASRI) (Indonesia Fine Art Academy) or those artists who were part of artist collectives such as Seniman Indonesia Muda (SIM) (Young Indonesian Artists) were fueled with a raging sense of nationalism and instead sought to articulate estetika nasional (national aesthetic) in their works.As the nation progressed and stabilized, such dichotomous relationship between the two artist communities subsided due to the shift in discourse towards a uniting discussion of national innovation and re-invention. Progress and stability were also marked by the establishment of the capital city to Jakarta in which Balai Budaya Jakarta (Jakarta Culture Hall) was established to make the new capital city a new cultural hub. Many artists from Bandung and Yogyakarta rode the waves of change by moving and settling in Jakarta to pursue their own artistic development. Zaini and Nashar, who were originally from West Sumatra and migrated to Yogyakarta, were among this group of artists. Dachlan, Iskandar and Sidik, on the other hand, felt a stronger sense of attachment to their respective adopted cities due to their formal education experience in ITB and ASRI and decided to stay put. In these three art capitals, these artists developed their own visual vocabularies and reached maturity in their artistic developments: Dachlan by looking towards the spiritual realm; Iskandar, Nashar and Zaini by reinterpreting nature, and Sidik with the play of rhythm and indigenous semiotics. Despite the differing pedagogies instilled in the artists in their respective schools, the Indonesian post-war climate challenged this new generation of artists to reinterpret history and most importantly, forge their own individual identities as artists.探索與位置：戰後印尼藝術在印尼動盪的後獨立時期，造就一批印尼現代藝術家的興起 - 包括烏米‧達赫蘭 (Umi Dachlan) 、波波‧依斯干達(Popo Iskandar) 、法賈希迪(Fadjar Sidik) 、納沙(Nashar) 及載尼(Zaini)。這批藝術家來自兩座截然不同的城市：萬隆（達赫蘭和依斯干達）和日惹（希迪、納沙和載尼）。萬隆曾為荷蘭殖民地中心，日惹則是爪哇君主和印尼前首都，兩座城市的政治氛圍也形塑各自獨特的藝術群體。在早期，萬隆畫派被認為是西方美學的倡導者，主要源於主要學術機構印尼萬隆理工學院(ITB)以西方中心的教學風格。另一方面，印尼美術學院（Akademi Seni Rupa）的日惹團體，或是如印尼年輕藝術家團體（Seniman Indonesia Muda），卻是大肆宣揚民族主義，在作品中大量論述民族美學。隨著國家的進步和穩定，兩個藝術家群體的二元關係也逐漸轉換及融合，形成一個關於國家創新和再造的論述。雅加達設立雅加達文化廳，使新首都成為文化中心，標誌著進步和穩定。萬隆和日惹的許多藝術家乘著這波革新的浪潮，移居至雅加達以追求個人的藝術發展。來自西蘇門答臘島並移居至日惹的載尼(Zaini)和納沙(Nashar)，便是此時代影響下的代表。另一方面，達赫蘭 (Umi Dachlan) 、依斯干達(Popo Iskandar) 和法賈希迪(Fadjar Sidik)因在印尼萬隆理工學院(ITB)和日惹美術學校(ASRI)受過正規教育，對各自城市有強烈的認同和歸屬感，選擇留下。在這3座不同城市中，這些藝術家發展出個人的獨特視覺語彙，並在其藝術發展中達到成熟：達赫蘭 (Umi Dachlan)對精神的追求; 依斯干達(Popo Iskandar) 、納沙(Nashar) 及載尼(Zaini)對自然的重新詮釋，法賈希迪(Fadjar Sidik)對韻律及符號的延伸和論述。儘管這些藝術家們在各自學院中受到不同的教育，但印尼戰後的氛圍促使新一代藝術家挑戰自我，他們開始重新詮釋歷史，更重塑身為藝術家的個人身份。