Lot 4: DADANG CHRISTANTO (b. Indonesia 1957)

Bunga (Flower)
signed, dated and inscribed 'Dadang Christanto/December 2004' (on the reverse)
acrylic on linen
53 1/2 x 43 5/8 in. (136 x 111 cm.)

From paintings to performance art, Dadang Christanto has used them all to relay his critique on socio-political issues. From the outset, Bunga (Flower) sounds and looks pretty until the viewer hits the root of the picture, bringing all niceties literally to a (decapitated) head. The artist's use of organic material in his works is not uncommon - he uses terracotta to shape the heads of some of his sculptural installations. In this instance, he paints a 'flower', albeit above a head, to suggest and retain the essence of life that his works continually fight for. Dadang is motivated by the political happenings of his native country and persists in making statements against the political cruelties that deal against the sanctity of life towards his fellow men. It can perhaps be suggested that the 'flower' in the work is in fact a parasite subsisting on the 'head', which is possibly the life and ideals of the individual man given up for a more selfish political direction. The relationship is seen to be that of the political entity taking the life of another to feed its growing power.
Dadang draws from his personal experience of having lost his father during the political instability of the 1960s in Indonesia. His emphatic compassion for the human state is echoed in his art. The artist is currently based in Darwin, Australia.