1

by Stanislaus Yangni
 Flying Man

Ink on Paper
50 x 65 cm x 6 pcs
2006

Collected by
Artipoli Gallery,
The Netherlands
 Imago
Hominies
the image of a hole

o n Th e Dr a w i n g s of Agung Kurniawan
4

1/ portrait
 5

Looking at Agung’s drawings, I am left with scenes of silence.

The figures in his pictures seem unmoving. They are frozen,

cold, without expression, vessels of living corpses. Its not

only that, the figures themselves seem to contain mystery. It

i s h e l d i n t h e i r q u i e t , d u ll e y e s , t h e i r o d d p o s e s , s o m e t i m e s

cropped. But their presence piques our curiosity.

6 The pieta Agung has drawn is not and expressions are not often to
to be a pieta of grief, pain, sadness and be counted. Anatomy becomes
extraordinary longing. The figures of unimportant, so that the artist is no
Mary and Jesus seem flat; their faces, longer obsessed with drawing from life,
the expression in their eyes, and in as was Da Vinci, Artemisia, Picasso or
the shape of their bodies. In painting Van Gogh for example. Consequently,
though, the Pieta especially has long line and colour are born from what is
been the subject of parody, as has the in his mind, not what is outside of it.
Mona Lisa. If the Pieta was drawn ex-
pressively, perhaps it would seem out Agung’s equal thickness of line around
of touch with the times. the figure adds to its impression of
being frozen, flat, and clear. In short,
However the satire seems to give the the lines give the impression of con-
lack of expression a new position: trolling the shape, so that volume does
the picture can be seen as laden not appear, and chiaroscuro is no help.
with messages through its parody, The colour in his drawings tends to the

Pieta in an Ambulance Pieta in the Bus #2

Pastel, Conte, Pencil on Paper Ink on Paper
66 x 100 cm 33 x 45 cm
2001 2001
7
8
monochrome, with a different impres- 9
sion surfacing through the medium of
charcoal that seems truly dull.

That is Agung
‘Leak’ Kurniawan,
who has described
himself as faithful
to the line, and has
baptised drawing
as his “wife”.

Pieta, Maria, Child, and a Nudist

Pastel, Conte, Pencil on Paper
100 x 260 x 4 panels
2004
10 Although once he unconsciously tried
to speak as he had in the past – in the
1990s, when his drawings carried so-
cio-political messages, when he was
still involved in all kids of social activ-
ism. In his pictures, almost every figure
and scene has a meaning – a criticism
of the political conditions that so dam-
aged the majority of society. This went
on until the era of reformation in 1988
and beyond. Then, when the times
passed by idiomatic military hats, fat
suits, guns, knives, tanks, and warships
et cetera – incidentally often used as
the idioms representing the power and
violence of the New Order regime –

Your Underwear Shows

Your Personality
Paste, Conte, Pencil on Paper
70 x 100 cm x 5 pcs
2001
Agung became aware that “drawing” 11
social political criticisms with these
idioms had become popular, and was
quickly turning into a commodity. He
was mortified, and changed direction.
As if in retreat, he withdrew into him-
self, to try a different way of drawing.

This occurred around 2000.

Then his work took on a different nu-

ance, although not so different from
his earlier drawings: figures were al-
ways placed in a space, self-portraits
appeared as well as new idioms he had
never used before. However he hadn’t
12 “The penis image ap- fully mastered anatomical drawings of The penis image appears in almost
people, hence we could not discern all of Agung’s drawings, whether it is
pears in almost all
any expression or character in the fig- the tiny pinkies of children’s groins, or
of Agung’s drawings, ures, but we knew what he had drawn. rendered large, like a machine crank.
whether it is the tiny There is a boy who has been given
pinkies of children’s a dog lead, tying up his whole body; Now, what is left is merely to interpret.
there is a group of fishermen holding Drawings make us quietly contem-
groins, or rendered a plate of penises, ready to be served; plate their details, whilst also trying
large, like a machine there is Agung’s face with the body of to discern the story, but we fail. These
crank.” an ox, wearing a crucifix; there is a gi- days, the story is different. He seems
ant penis pulling a small child inside unable to tell a linear story as he did
it; there is a half-robot half-man mas- before. Of course there is a story, as-
turbating with the figure of another sembled with a different logic to that
person in the bathroom, and so on. which we consciously imagine.

Lick Me, Lick Me Please

(from Sex, Lies and Drawing series)
Pen on Paper
44,5 x 33 cm
2001
13
14

2/ automatic drawing
 15

H e c a ll s h i s n e w m e t h o d “ a u t o m a t i c d r a w i n g . ” F o r A g u n g , t h i s

is a kind of exercise in drawing without theme, plan or story

line with beginning and end – something he has been doing for

some time. On a sheet of white paper he draws directly, and

according to him, the drawing develops with out plan.

16 Semsar
Iron, Found Objects, Kinetics
Variable Dimension
2011
The expression “automatic Arp and Joan Miró, among others, from the chronological-linear to the 17
drawing” reminded me of “automatic used this method. non-chronological. In short, their
writing,” a special method used by interaction is not the sort that occurs
André Breton, Comte de Lautréamont In Agung’s drawings, “automatic” is in reality, even though objects rarely
also known as Isidore Ducasse best understood as something which seem likely to interact. It reminds me
and their colleagues – who later develops without planning. Because of Lautrémont who once spoke of the
called themselves surrealists – for of this, what appears is not wild and beauty of an umbrella encountering a
writing and painting. Freud called spontaneous lines. He is still tied to the sewing machine.
it free association – a method used shape. In Agung’s case, what is absent
to uncover the contents of the is not shape, but interaction between In Musa Paradisiaca, a series of small
unconscious, and subconscious, by the figure, the object and the drawing. drawings on paper, we see unusual
freeing the movement of the hand They have shifted from the narrative scenes in every part of the drawing:
from thought, so that the hand might to the non-narrative (not ‘without half of the body of a dismembered
move spontaneously without any narrative’, but ‘unplanned narrative’, man (his top half is on the roof of a
dictation whatsoever. The result: free a different kind of ‘narrative’ behind house), two beds with white sheets like
marks or scribble. Andre Mason, Jean the narrative of common sense), those of a hospital bed, a bucket full

Hahan Agus Suwage

Iron, Found Objects, Kinetics Iron, Found Objects, Kinetics
Variable Dimension Variable Dimension
2011 2011
18 of red liquid, a man with the body of a There are spaces that seem cropped
deer and wings, a space supported by and occupy a fractured picture place,
tree trunks with a bucket underneath, sometimes appearing with a thicker
an amputated hand with a wheel, and framing outline although the picture
so on. The pictures “don’t add up” beside it is connected to the same
with what is placed beside them, but space, for instance in Becoming Dutch
the comic book-like panels invite our (2008) and Healing Room (2004).
imagination.
In this way automatism provides
The comic book style panels, which opportunity, not just for Agung –
usually function to convey a message, although he consciously tries to free
here enable non-narrative exploration. himself from consciousness – but also

Healing Room
Pastel, Conte, Pencil on Paper
Variable Dimension
2007
Collected by Syakieb Sungkar
for we viewers to free ourselves from 19
the story schemes that are the result
of conscious thinking.

Through
automatism, here,
Agung faces
himself.

Detail from Dutch Daydreaming

Drawing and Installation
Variable Dimension, 2008
Collected by Van Abbe Museum,
The Netherlands
20 Pieta in the Bus Here we find Agung’s own figure born yet to use it as a metaphor for power,
Conte, Pencil on Paper
67 x 103 cm x 2 panels out of the records of time: before greed, violence and invective as it is in
2005 the penis suddenly became taboo, The Dictionary of Sexuality and Politics
given “a legal status, when the penis (2003-2004).
was still something close to our self
and could be played with whenever In his pictures it seems as if there has
without shame. See how Agung has been a shift of events from the nuance
drawn penises everywhere as with no of the penis, which is still felt as some-
pretension, still “childish” as in Pieta thing intimate, to something that is
Dalam Bus (Pieta in the Bus) (2001), strange for him and perhaps gives rise
also in Pieta dalam Ambulan (Pieta in to feelings of guilt when is reminded of
an Ambulance) (2001). There it is as if it, let alone when he plays with it. He
the penis has become imaginary, with is suddenly at a distance from his own
‘maternal’ nuances for Agung’s figure. penis. Agung enters the world of law,
In other words, the penis there is yet language, and the symbolic, to borrow
to become “law” and language. He has a phrase from Lacan. These symp-

Maria at the First Aid

Ink on Paper, 33 x 45 cm, 2001
Collected by Artipoli Gallery,
The Netherlands
The Holy Lamb toms appear in Sex Lies and Drawing In this period, the matter of space oc- 21
(from Sex, Lies and Drawing series)
Pen on Paper (2001). There, the penis seems di- cupies an important position. Private
44,5 x 33 cm rectly, even inherently, connected to spaces almost always appear in his
2001
the sacred, in this case Catholicism drawings; bedrooms or bathrooms.
and all its forms of discipline; in Holy These private spaces seem closed, al-
Lamb (2001), Agung has the body of though there always seems to be inter-
a sheep, restrained by ropes, chained vention from “another”, for instance in
by the neck, isolated and ‘geeky’ in a one of the panels of Healing Room. A
room; and when he becomes a wit- pair of eyes emerges next to a vent.
ness or is simultaneously witnessed, If we don’t look closely, another fig-
even accused, when masturbating in ure there seems to be “incidental”,
the bathroom (the figure of a ‘giant’ or even without relation to similar fig-
perhaps “Father” is behind the mastur- ures there, just passing, even though
bating figure) it is not merely a matter its presence impresses as being very
of biology, but perhaps also that he is significant.
angry at his own penis.
22 This figure is intriguing. It is not Agung hands, or on another face that is drawn mini-penises atop an adult man in the
as a small child, but also not Agung precisely in the side of the picture drawing series Budiman in Wonderland
now, but both within each. In short, plane, so that it seems cut out from the (2005-2006).
they are a series of self portraits of Sex Lies and Drawing series. Its pres-
Agung. The past and the present meet ence seems ambivalent: between con- Aside from the figure there are “spac-
in one figure. It is as if they echoing structing and deconstructing a story. es within spaces” in Agung’s pictures.
each other, becoming what Proust There are even figures that confront The series Sex Lies and Drawing is an
called an involuntary memory. each other or have direct physical rela- example. Almost all of the figures are
tions for instance in Sex Lies and Draw- inside rooms, interacting. In almost all
The ‘incidental figure’ also emerges ing in the panel where a man copulates of the rooms pictured there is a hole
in Pontius Pilatus and His Dog (2000). with another man who has the head in the wall – other than the vents – a
There appears a figure wearing dark of an animal, with electrical charges kind of a small door leading to another
glasses behind a large (central ) figure controlling his movements, and when room, whether it is basement, attic or
of Pontius Pilatus who is washing his seated children are penetrated by “another world” that has receded, or

David and Goliath

Detail from Budiman (from Sex, Lies and Drawing series)
in Wonderland Pen on Paper
Pencil, Conte on Canvas 44,5 x 33 cm
2005 2001
23
24

Details from The Dictionary of Sex and Politics, Drawing and Installation, Variable Dimension, 2004, Collected by Nadi Gallery

been forgotten, as if it is a zone out- pay attention, in Sex Lies and Drawing At this point is seems the repression
side of human consciousness. the small hole in the wall is filled with of the New Order encounters a “new”
wood woven to form a kind of prie- idiom: an idiom related to the “record-
Holes or other small spaces, which dieu or prayer kneeler from a church. ing of the ages” of Agung. The result
sometimes lead to larger spaces seem In Budiman in Wonderland, the “other is no longer objects of violence and
to be uncountable on the picture plane. space” (inside a penis) is like a hallway power to speak of social political situ-
But Agung draws them in detail. If we further explored by Agung. ations, but bodies, spaces and Agung’s
personal experiences. Bodies being figures that actually seem to be one So here, “automatic
punished, jailed, surveilled, and so – I penetrate myself – in Becoming
on. Because now, the biggest enemy Dutch. I come in and out of my own drawing” for Agung
is ourselves, and aggression amongst body. Is not masturbation really being
people is suddenly explained through oneself and someone else at the same is a kind of auto
their relation to themselves, to their time?
bodies; even the masturbation of two criticism.
26

3/ imaginary drawing
 27

A large part of Agung’s work is drawing that tends to the

“imaginary” rather than the empirical. Because of this he

never rests on what is in front of his eyes, but on what is in

h i s t h o u g h t s . T h u s w h a t e m e r g e s a r e ‘ e s t a bl i s h e d ’ f i g u r e s , i n

t h e s e n s e o f l i n e s a n d f o r m s t h a t a p p e a r i ll u s t r a t i v e , i m a g o :

a picture that seems patent, whole, imaginary; a mirror image

is the phrase from psychoanalyst Lacan.

28 This impression of the imaginary,
apart from being in Agung’s lines, also
appears in in the light and dark ren-
dered with cross hatching that fulfils
technical drawing standards, emerg-
ing from the form of the object itself:
the body’s curves, cloth, the walls of
rooms, the texture of wood and so
on, which appear as we know them in
our mind, not as we experience them
every day. Agung creates chiaroscuro
from his knowledge of forms, not from
long studies from life.

In drawing, the most basic element is

line. And when Agung says that he is a
devotee of line, I feel we should take 29
a journey through the history of line
in art.

The Renaissance is not only a turn-

ing point in history, but also the birth
of disegno, rinascitá del disegno, says
Vasari (Italian for design, drawing). In
the past drawing was associated with
“treating the contour” so that the line
has a main role in creating form. So it
was in Florence in the 14th to 15th cen-
turies. At the time, artists practiced
moving their hands whilst facing the
object, on the spot. In this send, draw-
ing bases itself on a concrete object, it

The Guardian Angel

(from the Golden Boy of the Family series)
Pastel, Conte, Pencil on Paper
100 x 70 cm
2011
30 is the ability of the hand to “imitate” drawings, all kinds of posters, comics Visiting Zagreb (1996), Swasembada
the object through line and shading. and other graphic media were com- Beras (Self-Sufficient Rice) (1996) and
mon at the time, in the 1990s, and the Very Happy Victim (1996). There were
social political situation was simmer- also sole figures in one picture frame,
Since then ing. He became active in drawing with in the Bidadari (Angel) series (1996).
his community in Bulaksumur, UGM. They are stories of violence that is in-
drawing has served This situation influenced his first ternalised inside people, so that they
works, Pseudo History (1996), and The are no longer aware of it, and Agung
tangible forms. East Timor Series (1996), which were wanted to dismantle the violence that
full of figures, anonymous masses, had been approved by our society.
But in Agung’s case it is different. When overlapping compositions and idioms
he made social criticisms through his of militarism like those in Soeharto

Pseudo History
Charcoal, Conte on Paper
240 x 80 cm
1995
“They are stories 31

of violence that is
internalised inside
people, so that they
are no longer aware
of it, and Agung
wanted to dismantle
the violence that had
been approved by our
society.”

LEFT
Angel Facing a Mirror
Etching, Aquatint on Paper
25 x 60 cm
1996

RIGHT
Bath Up
Etching, Aquatint on Paper
25 x 60 cm
1996
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4/ growing pictures
 33

Later, from 2004-2009 there emerged a “robotic side” to Agung’s

drawings: people that destroyed each other with machines and

technology: electric-humans, human-robots, human-rockets,

h u m a n - h o t - a i r b a ll o o n s , a n d s o f o r t h , c o m b i n e d w i t h p o l i t i c a l

issues. Here Agung returned to social political themes, for

i n s t a n c e i n h i s f u ll - c o l o u r w o r k s o n c a n v a s , a m o n g t h e m T h e

B i r t h o f t h e A r t i s t ( 2 0 0 4 ) t h a t w a s s t i ll v i s u a ll y l a d e n w i t h

religious icons: stilted houses that have in their centre a

holy water font that Catholics dip their hand into before

entering a church.
34 There are also themes around the pictures “grow,” he continues to make
artist’s relationship to himself, Self Por- connections with stories, ceaseless con-
trait as a Super Consumer (2007); artist nections with figures when Agung ob-
and curator, as in Art is Constructed Ma- serves and then begins again. Because
chine (2009), Seniman dan Kurator (Art- of this, there is a visual predisposition
ist and Curator) 2009 that remind us of that is almost the same and is repeated
the art market boom in Indonesia from in every period; the labyrinthine hallway,
2007-2009. In 2010-2011, Agung re- the penis, bubbles, ropes, rear-view mir-
turned to memory: he tried to remem- rors, rockets, electrical currents, ampu-
ber. The Golden Boy (2010) and Guard- tated figures and so on, as in his comic
ian Angel (2011) among others that are Sperm Park (2006), Flying Man (2006),
loaded with stories and the “gloomy” and Mesin Hasrat (Desire Machine)
nuances typical of Agung’s work. (2006). In these last two Agung seems to
be trying to free drawing from a defini-
There is one more phrase from Agung tive form, as though saying that man is a
for his pictures; “growing pictures.” His machine (of desire).

The Golden Boy

Pastel, Acrylic on Canvas
Ukuran berapa?
2010
Tanya Leo kolektornya
 “His pictures 35

“grow,” he contin-
ues to make connec-
tions with stories,
ceaseless connec-
tions with figures
when Agung ob-
serves and then be-
gins again.”

Artist is Constructed Machine Artist and Curator

Pastel on Canvas Pastel on Canvas
2009 2009
36
Here we see that drawings grow not rather than thematically. Behind the 37
because of lines, but because of ideas “ political and Catholic idioms, there is
that are narrative, associative: every a long conversation about the aggres-
time he returns and sees his drawings, Humans are siveness, narcissism and obsessive-
something else emerges that he wants merely holes – that ness of humans. He seems to remind
to draw. It is as though here is where us that whatever we are sure is form is
the automatism is – perhaps that is in themselves are no more that a hole from the construc-
what Agung was conscious of when tion of “becoming human” through
it became his methodology in his “au-
already sure of language. Humans are merely holes
tomatic drawing” era: automatism is their volume – they – that in themselves are already sure
there between the moments of growth of their volume – they are none other
in drawing.
are none other than than (mere) imago. ---
(mere) imago.
Here, it seems more relevant to see
Agung’s drawing in an aesthetic sense, ”
38
Stanislaus Yangni
or Sius, the more familiar name, is well-known as art critics and journalist, lived and works
in Yogyakarta. Aesthetics and art research is her main interest. She graduated from Sanata
Dharma University, faculty of Psychology (2000-2004) with the undergraduate thesis titled
Representation of Homosexuality Discourse in Transsexuals Language. She has been studied in
Driyarkara School of Philosophy (2006-2010), works as a journalist in Visual Art Magazine
(2007-2009), and columnist for “Inspiration” section in Indoart & Lifestyle (2009-2010). In the
mid of 2010, she went back to Yogyakarta, studied in postgraduate program at Indonesian
Art Institute. She also writes essays published in some exhibition catalogues, and newspa-
pers, like Koran Tempo, Suara Pembaruan, The Jakarta Post, and local magazine like Mata
Jendela. In 2012, she published a book titled Dari Khaos ke Khaosmos, Estetika Seni Rupa.
Born in Lampung, 1982, she loves travelling, photography, and painting. She is one of the
founder of ERUPSI – Academia of Psychoanalysis, Arts and Politics, based on Yogyakarta.
39
40

“
Humans are
merely holes –
that in themselves
are already sure
of their volume
– they are none
other than (mere)
imago.

”
St a n i s l a us Yangni, 2014