Putu Wirantawan - The Structure Revealed
Putu Wirantawan is a visionary artist who uses drawing to reveal invisible structures at work in universes. In Wirantawan’s geometric cosmology, shapes are linked to one another, with complex elements of figurative construction. This has been said to be a reference to the Bhuana Agung – Macrocosm – and its infinite microcosmic duplicates, a recurring theme in Balinese mythological cosmology.
However, Putu's artistic practice is voluntarily oriented towards a unique and unrepeatable search, the search for vision manifested in creative activities and the spiritual power of everyday things: light, wind, ether, burning incense, ripples on water. For work, he prefers quiet and calm atmospheres to achieve deep concentration. When drawing, he describes ecstasy as a combination of pleasure and selflessness, a state of mind that takes pleasure in the noble qualities of the practice of life, trusting in the existence of divine powers that govern it.
This intense and sustained experience over many hours a day changes the experience of time as it passes: a day is as long as a week, each week can represent months. Wirantawan works constantly, but on large-scale pieces and complex installations he can spend several years making them. This contributes to the sense of timelessness in his designs: each scene happens where all times come together and resonate harmoniously, his style does not seem to respond to a particular period of history. It is contemporary and ancestral at the same time.
His drawing technique is marked by simplicity: purely hand-made, without rubbing, without using any white other than the surface of the paper, no erasures, no mistakes, he cultivates spontaneity but plans his structures at length. Everything is done dry.
Arte Marakame presents the work of Putu Wirantawan in Mexico with the aim of offering a glimpse into the visionary searches of artists in other parts of the world.
Profile
Putu Wirantawan (Negara, West Bali, Indonesia. 1972) learned to draw and paint from a young age, participating in exhibitions since 1993. In 2005 he graduated from the ISI Yogakarta School of Fine Arts of the Indonesian Institute of Arts. Until then, his pictorial work in oil, acrylic and watercolor oscillated between figuration (of the city, objects and landscape) and abstraction, showing his own artistic temperament but still attached to formal and academic tendencies, tempered.
He experienced a strong creative crisis around 2009 that did not allow him to work or enjoy himself. What emerged from that experience and the transformation he made in himself feeds his current production, often considered as “visionary art” with “otherworldly” qualities.
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In 2010 he won First Prize at the Jakarta Art Award and was a finalist at the 2008nd Print and Drawing Triennial in Bangkok in 12. He received an honorable mention at the 2006th International Print and Drawing Biennial (1985) in Taiwan. Between 1998 and XNUMX he received numerous awards at competitions such as the ISI Yogyakarta, Jambrana and Denpasar.