An inimitable figure in the development of Indonesian abstract painting, Fadjar Sidik presented a new aesthetic proposition in the age of urbanisation and industrialisation. The Surabaya-born artist is best known for simple compositions that evoke the vibrant pulse and movement of changing nature.
Titled after his ground-breaking body of work ‘Space Dynamics’ (Dinamika Keruangan), the exhibition presents 15 paintings that trace Sidik's mature period from the 1970s to the early 2000s.
“In the 1950s, what shook my feelings was the national revolution and humanism. So I fought vigorously and emotionally to portray people’s lives, and sought Indonesian forms. But in the last 30 years, there has been a new, more powerful dynamic that moved me, it is the melancholy that originates from industrialisation...”
- Fadjar Sidik
Synthesising the universal language of geometric shapes and traditional Indonesian aesthetics, Sidik's abstract canvases feature irregular patterns found in hand-drawn batik, script-like marks that recall Islamic calligraphy, as well as interlocking grids that resemble tikar weavings. While colour and form may vary across the series, negative space is a critical element in his paintings, with tension being maintained among floating shapes and formations.
As inventive explorations of space, these works emphasise a sense of rhythmic dynamism, a bedrock throughout the artist’s stylistic evolution. For him, the serial reconfiguration of basic shapes was a gesture towards the pursuit of harmony, at a time when modernisation was sweeping through the newly independent Indonesia.
Within the narrative of Indonesian modern art, Sidik was an anomaly that contradicted the Yogyakarta-Bandung polemic. Unlike his Yogyakarta peers who pursued in realism and nationalist subjects, Sidik defied expectations and shifted from expressive representation to a purely abstract idiom in the early 1960s. In response to the changing social environment, he turned inwards to create works that reflected his emotional impulses and inner thoughts. This unique process also sets Sidik apart from Bandung school contemporaries, who were predominantly driven by formalist questions and Western theory at that time.
As a forty year-long exploration, 'Space Dynamics' evidence Sidik's commitment to developing a unique visual language. For him, abstraction is not simply a reduction of observed reality, but rather a critical device to weave profound connections between non-objective painting, textile art, Islamic geometry and design principles. There is a universal quality in the graphic simplicity of his paintings, which share an affinity with avant-garde artists of the early 20th century. Through a sensitive infusion of Indonesian aesthetics and spirituality, Sidik made his intervention into this history.
'Space Dynamic in Yellow' is an example of his mature work from the groundbreaking series 'Dinamika Keruangan' (Space Dynamics). In this body of work, the influence of Indonesian craft and culture can be seen through formal qualities such as the irregular patterns found in hand-drawn batik, script-like marks that recall Islamic calligraphy, as well as interlocking grids that resemble tikar weavings. Negative space is a critical element in these paintings as tension is maintained among floating shapes and formations. Organic shapes and loose brushstrokes evoke a sense of rhythmic dynamism, that mirrored the state of flux experienced by Indonesian society during this period of modernisation. For the artist, abstraction is not simply a reduction of observed reality, but rather a critical device to weave profound connections between non-objective painting, textile art, Islamic geometry and design principles.
After more than two decades of working in an abstract mode, Sidik began remixing the forms and motifs from earlier paintings. 'Dinamika Banteng & Burung' is a work which feature the interlocking grids in his 'Metropole' paintings and the playful animal-like forms in his 'Fantasy' series. The influence of Indonesian craft, particularly batik, can be seen in the stylised pattern and sombre palette of earth tones. Negative space is a critical element in this painting as dynamic tension is maintained among floating shapes and formations. For the artist, abstraction as not simply a reduction of observed reality, but rather a critical device to weave profound connections between non-objective painting, textile art, Islamic geometry and design principles.
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After more than two decades of working in an abstract mode, Sidik began remixing the forms and motifs from earlier paintings. 'Metropole and Sangkala' features the interlocking grids in his 'Metropole' paintings and the starburst forms in his 'Sangkala' series. The influence of Indonesian craft, particularly tikar and batik, can be seen in the stylised pattern and rich palette of lush greens. Negative space is a critical element in this painting as dynamic tension is maintained among floating shapes and formations. For the artist, abstraction as not simply a reduction of observed reality, but rather a critical device to weave profound connections between non-objective painting, textile art, Islamic geometry and design principles.
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'Komposisi Bentuk' is an example of his mature work from the 1970s that feature irregular patterns found in hand-drawn batik, a traditional textile created using the wax-resist method. In Sidik's paintings, negative space is a critical element as tension is maintained among floating shapes and formations. Organic shapes and loose brushstrokes evoke a sense of rhythmic dynamism, that mirrored the state of flux experienced by Indonesian society during this period of modernisation. For the artist, abstraction is not simply a reduction of observed reality, but rather a critical device to weave profound connections between non-objective painting, textile art, Islamic geometry and design principles.
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