After displaying the works of Maestro Nyoman Gunarsa, now the Santrian Gallery in Sanur is exhibiting impressive works by the artist AA Ngurah Paramartha. This solo exhibition entitled Kadaut presents 15 paintings on canvas and three sculptures made of fiberglass and metal plates. More interestingly, the paintings of various sizes mainly depict puppet, both from the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics. The exhibition was opened by Popo Danes on Friday (Apr 7) and lasts until May 31, 2023.

In this third solo exhibition, Ngurah Paramartha presents puppet paintings in a figurative narrative style. In this fast-paced world, it is very necessary to display these puppets to remind the younger generation that they have a very unique culture and must be preserved. “The theme of puppet has existed since ancient times, and now we are studying, continuing and preserving it. By that way, we do not deviate from the values contained in the puppetry,” hoped the owner of the gallery on Jalan Trengguli, Tembau, Denpasar.

The title of the exhibition, namely Kadaut, in Balinese means ‘interest’ or ‘fascination.’ It is hoped that the exhibition will not only present his empirical experience in painting who is so Kadaut or get fascinated with color, but every work that Ngurah presents is able to convey fascinated feelings to the public who appreciate his works.

For Ngurah Paramartha, painting is an empirical activity. In painting work, all sensory and physical experiences are continuously explored which present artistic value. These experiences in searching for and discovering artistic value are accumulated into the structure of visual language of a painter. The works are the result of embodied experiences in artistic phenomena spread out on a sheet of canvas and on a sheet of fiber glass plate and metal plate as the medium of his works.

In some of his works, such as in the work entitled “Facing the Goddess of Fortune,” he depicts the figures of Shinta and Ravana. While the story of Bisma’s heroism and sacrifice in the Mahabharata epic, Ngurah describes it through the work entitled “The End of a Service.” Through both works spectators seem to be invited to see the interpretation of puppetry iconography which traditionally has an iconographic structure or is often referred to as norm, developed and combined with the naive visual style and overlapping colors in his works.

Works with the medium of glass fiber and metal plates are also very attractive. Unlike his paintings on canvas, they tend to be narrative with his choice of medium. This one displays more of a single object, such as a puppet with pieces in each figure. These works are read more as a representation of his self-esteem as a person. For example, it can be seen from the two works made of metal plates entitled “It’s Me” and “I Don’t Care” depicting a male figure that gestures on his waist in the work “It’s Me” and a man in the gesture covering his ears in the work “I Don’t Care.” These works shows the exploration and experimentation of materials and mediums that Ngurah tries to present apart from painting. (BTN/015)