Pamer Istri (Showing off Their Wives), 2000, oil on canvas, 160 x 160 cm.
Sukamto Dwi Susanto was born in Godean, a tiny village near Yogyakarta, in 1952. His home village consists of a few traditional Javanese houses built in the center of a sugar cane plantation. Godean appears isolated from the surrounding, increasingly modern civilization. Here old Javanese traditions rule, and mysticism inspires vivid imaginations, such as Sukamto’s. Even years of study at Yogyakarta’s Art Academy (ASRI) could not disconnect the artist from his magical village roots.
Sukamto is best known for works in pastels. More recently, he employs Western painting techniques on canvas, such as oil; however, all his works are reminiscent of the traditional Javanese glass paintings. The all-surrounding painted frame of Pamer Istri reminds of illuminated manuscripts, Persian miniatures as well as some Western styles. The theme depicts a Javanese tale of the dispute between two men about the quality of their respective wives. Each man claims that his wife is more beautiful and better than the other man’s wife. The imagery in the painting reflects both wayang kulit (leather shadow puppets) as well as wayang golek (full round wooden rod puppets). The men are painted as large-sized frontal figures in the foreground, their legs wide apart, their knees bent, each waving a wayang golek puppet over his head. Their stance repeats the performance stance of male characters in Beksa Golek Menak, and their heads in profile recall the outlines of shadow puppets. The two wives can be seen in the center background framed by their spouses’ outlines. The two wooden puppets held by the husbands bear resemblance with Semar, arguably the most popular and best known Javanese wayang character. He is part of Java’s prehistory and animist tradition, still being regarded as Java’s Guardian God by many. Semar acts as an ugly, fat clown-servant with the most astute brains who is frequently described as neither male nor female. He serves as a teacher, witty, gentle, subtle, and sometimes bawdy, offering Sukamto a stage for his own implied thoughts about bickering and boasting. The background and painted cloth patterns recall the colorful world of Indonesian fabric design.
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