Suharmanto
Suharmanto a young artist born in 1976 in Bantul (Central Java) is an exceptionally talented artist, who is able to combine the visual aspect of surrealism within the context of realism.
His creative imagination coupled with his ability to transform the angles and perspective of everyday objects and images have resulted in him becoming one of Indonesia's most renowned and sought after contemporary artists
Suharmanto's dominant and distinctive subject matter has been influenced by his daily routine and surroundings. He often includes the Marketplace and parking areas as his settings and within these are women labourers, sellers, bicycles and motorcycles.
Originally Suharmanto used detailed images of the marketplace, parking spaces, and the streets as the prevailing feature in his work. But now he has changed the setting and uses it as part of his main focus- in the form of a reflection within an object or the background of his canvas.
His work clearly depicts his empathy and understanding of the reality of street life. By using a strong visualisation, in which the objects' details are achieved through a skilled realist technique, all his canvases are filled with objects originally taken with his camera. He then uses clean sharp brushstrokes and vivid colours to produce striking images of glistening light rebounding of a stainless steel surface.
His overflowing emotion and ability to emphasize with the lower economic class of Indonesian society has played a big role in his success. His work embodies the universal notion of poverty, friendship, loneliness, spirituality and love.
The structure of the colours in Suharmanto's work is an essential tool for understanding his personal thoughts. He uses the colours of red, blue, yellow and white to express his mood of restless, happy, or gloomy. The colour red does not only function to maximize the appearance of the main object but also to tie in the idea and its visual expression. Therefore both the subject matter and vibrant colours not only compliment each another but work together to tell the viewer a story.
