We have bodies; we may even be our bodies exclusively; but it is also the body that seems to separate us from something more essential than our own immediate existence. In order to find coherence in the world beyond it, we must first begin to describe this corporeal space: always finite, yet elusive as a whole, its limits delineated through pain and through pleasure. It is within this space that artists S. Teddy D. and Daniel Flanagan define their work, both individually and in concert, in an exhibition at Kendra Gallery, opening on Feb 6th. More than depictions of the body as a known entity, these new works seek to break apart the body image, and to leave behind stale and arbitrary pictorial and conceptual demarcations of the body.
S. Teddy and the young American artist Flanagan first collaborated on paintings over a year ago, and it was far from a seamless interaction, yet it is from these humble collaborations that the new work find its roots. Their styles were different, and seemed to "fight" with each other; yet something about these awkward first works stuck in the minds of both artists. Both were attempting to develop a figure through fragments; where Teddy would attempt to focus on specific parts (the head and visage), Daniel would pull the process towards his own direction (limbs and extremities), and the result was something neither one was satisfied with, but at the same time spoke a language that resonated in a way neither had anticipated.
In the new works, The artists sought to form a group of painting and sculpture that could possibly give a true impression, or gesture, of the whole of the figure, something which both artist express doubt is within there artistic ability as an individual. True to form S. Teddy provides his head motif as a generative starting point, while Flanagan's work steers into strange, even surreal distortion. Both artists work in styles that seem to change and shift, yet there is a certain and striking quality of the care taken in the process behind the making, in even the most expressive of the works. Fragments from these two exiting artistic minds are treated with such weight and clarity so that together they may interact in ways both meaningful authentic, and form a body of work, as a whole, that demands attention.
Transubstantiation by S. Teddy Darmawan and Daniel Flanagan.
February 6th 2009 through March 7th 2010
Opening on February 6th
Kendra Gallery
Jl. Drupadi no. 88B
Basangkasa, Seminyak
40294 Bali
T. +62361736628
E. enquiries@kendragallery.com
By Hendro Wiyanto
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