Showcasing their unique art that takes on contemporary social issues, two Indonesian artists Vend Methodos and Ismu Ismoyo are in town, busy painting murals on the walls of Virginia Commonwealth University-Qatar (VCUQ).
The two graffiti artists will paint murals on the exterior and interior of the university campus during the week in the run up their exhibition, ISSUE ISME, which will open on September 7 with both artists live painting a mural together in front of the audience.
A collection of vibrant, colourful, and inciting works by Indonesian graffiti artists Vendy Methodos and Ismu Ismoyo the exhibition will portrays social and political issues that are compounded by the mass public through social media.
“In this exhibition, their works will be speaking primarily to what is happening in relationship to the world in news and how the public responds to it,” Melanie McClintock, the curator of the exhibition, tells Community.
“It will also deal with how often times what is happening on social media and on news it is not complete truth and sometimes twisted to incite paranoia and fear,” adds McClintock.
She says the two artists, who are primarily graffiti artists but they do work in other mediums as well, will be mixing different media for the exhibition. Some of their work will on canvas and some on paper or screen print. One of the artists is also working on the traditional Indonesian fabric, Batik.
Already in town, they are doing a mural on the exterior of the VCUQ campus building while preparing for an outline for the second on the interiors that they will be doing together live for the audience at the opening of the exhibition.
Through a menagerie of imagery and iconography, the artists reflect a mirror-like vision of some darker truths, or mis-truths, that exist within us all.
The exhibition will feature a series of works by each artist in several mediums, combining fine art, stencil, and traditional batik techniques. In addition, two wall-sized graffiti murals will be created collaboratively; one during their weeklong stay at VCUQatar, and a second “live” mural during the opening of the event.
Melanie McClintock, Assistant Professor at VCUQ, has previously collaborated with the artists on a two-year project, Indoartamiks, in Bayat, Indonesia, to inspire innovation in traditional crafts through graffiti.
“Indoartamiks” (Indonesia-art-batik-ceramics) was initiated as a direct response to a group of craftswomen and students from SMK1 Rota in Bayat, Klaten, who requested ideas how to innovate their products for the global market.
A collaborative project was suggested between the craftswomen, SMK1 Rota students, and a group of established graffiti artists from the thriving art scene in Jogjakarta. The goal was to infuse the traditional craft with the street art movement to inspire free experimentation and create an innovative hybrid product for a new market.
With this concept in mind, 15 SMK1 Rota students, 15 craftswomen from the ceramic community, and 5 graffiti artists from Jogyakarta agreed to participate in an experimental pilot project during June of 2011, which produced successful preliminary results and a national exhibition in Jakarta.
The programme spanning two years (July 2012 – June 2014) was conducted through workshops, experimentation, practice, critique, and exhibition. The aims were to create a sustainable educational and entrepreneurship model for SMK1 Bayat students, be an inspiration for the craft community, and increase global awareness to the local crafts.
The intent of the project was not to cause harm to the tradition of the craft, nor to replace existing products, but to preserve the techniques of the tradition while inspiring new interpretations. The integrity of the craft was retained through technique, while the style and imagery changed to reflect the ever-changing world around them.
Reach Out to Asia, Vodafone and VCUQatar continued to give support to the project, which was under the advisory of Titian Foundation, a non-profit organisation working directly with the community in Bayat.
Artist Ismu Ismoyo held the first graffiti-led workshop of the year with Indoartamiks called “Message in a Can.” The objective of this workshop was to create a story and innovative design solution regarding a social issue.
Using recycled spray paint cans as packaging, the students designed the exterior packaging as well as create a work of art or function (or both) that was sent out like messages in a bottle to select locations around the world.