Surajiya is the youngest of our group. He was 'send' to us by Boudewijn Brandt, who suggested that we could be instrumental to help him finish his studies at ISI (Academy of fine arts), Yogyakarta. When he first visited us he brought some of his work and immediately 3 paintings were sold to guests we happened to have in our house at the time. Surajiya seems to think we paid for his studies and his livelyhood, but in fact he paid everything himself. We created a current account, with all of his sales on the credit side. By now, he finished his studies with honors and he is a very promising young artist. He uses many different techniques and is obsessed by painting and drawing. He litterally draws on everything available, even bus tickets. Very sellable items are the sketches, in ink, he made of Yogyakartan street scenes during his studies.Most of his more serious work has 'woman' for a theme, sometimes unrecognizable, sometimes very much so.

Surajiya tells us he wants to be the best. There's a very good chance he will. One of our 'customers', when coming to Indonesia, used to ask for a dinner invitation -alone, so he could select in all leisure from the new paintings by Surajiya we had received from him during his absence from Indonesia.

Click here for some of his paintings

 

S. Teddy D. is the most famous of the group. He has exhibited not only in Indonesia, but also in Japan, Singapore, Australia, Denmark, Germany and Amsterdam. There's one problem with Teddy, however: he doesn't like to sell his paintings. After we got to know him better we were allowed to buy some of them, but mostly under the condition that we were never to sell them to others. They were only for us.

In the meanwhile, however, his works did spread all over the world and can be found in galleries and musea in Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, the Netherlands, Japan and Aachen, Germany, where Teddy worked recently for 6 months on the invitation of the "Ludwig Forum fuer Intern'l Kunst". His work also has been sold with Christies.

 

Two subjects have haunted Teddy over the years: what goes on in mens' mind and the political situation in his country. As a matter of fact we were amazed in those days he was still a free man, because some of his work contained a very clear message to the former regime. Some of it is now on permanent display in ISI Yogyakarta: "The times they are achanging" (Bob Dylan).

 

Teddy doesn't only paint, he also created a considerable number of objects. They have been on display in many places and are included in many books, covering modern Indonesian Art, and rightly so. 

His work is not always 'nice' to look at, but it certainly carries a message, although the message is not always (almost never would be a better indication) a pleasant one. In his work and in his life Teddy is not a very happy person. He is worried. Worried for people and for the world he and we live in. As far as Indonesia is concerned he certainly has a point.

Have a look at some of his work here. For more information on Teddy and his work, please also visit:

http://www.universes-in-universe.de/asia/idn/awas/08/english.htm and http://www.javafred.com/wks1_teddy.htm to name just a few.

 

 

 

Beda Sudiman is the brother of Surajiya and he's not a painter. At least: he doesn't consider himself to be one. He considers himself to be a singer and the painting he does mainly to finance a carrier as a composer and singer. In the meanwhile, his work is very refreshing, from time to time clearly influenced by what his younger brother is doing at a given time. Sometimes he goes his own way.

 

The message in his paintings is love. Love between man and woman, love between mother and child, love in the family, love for nature and his environment, love for beauty. This makes his paintings a happy encounter every time. Beda lives in Karawang, West Java, together with his wife and son. No big surprise they form a happy family and a warm meeting point for painting friends.

 

On the suggestion of Anneke, Beda opened a small gallery in his house where he displays his work and that of his friends and is quite successful.

 

 

Herli Gaya lives with his wife and daughter in Yogya. He has a degree in law, but decided to find his happiness in a different carrier. Herli worries us sometimes. He is not very productive, shy, difficult to contact and hard to sell. He goes his own way, undisturbed by the occasional catastrophes that surround him. Herli is a sky-watcher. His paintings reflect the wonders of universe, which makes me wonder if his last name is not one he gave to himself. One look at his paintings and you will understand.

Herli paints just for the pleasure of creating visible immages of his thoughts and admiration for Gods creation. He is not in the least influenced by the work of others, just goes his own way. Perhaps that's the reason we have difficulties selling for him: his art is not about people and situations, but about the universe. It looks like people are a neglectible quantity for Herly and it shows in his paintings.