Page 29 - 57 X 76 - Hanafi • Goenawan Mohamad

actually a matter of associations and metaphors, will ultimately destabilize each other’s identity of
which are often formulated from a poetic and
philosophical reflection. In some ways, the paintings
fulfill the principles of lyricism, especially in the way
Hanafi connects the realities he encounters with
visualization that leads to the most subjective and
idiosyncratic emotions and perceptions.
Human figures (such as clowns, laborers, veiled
women), animals (dogs, elephants, monkeys, deer),
objects (water taps, beer bottles, boats)—in the
works of Hanafi and GM in this exhibition we will find
dominant figurative tendencies. Some pieces clearly
relate to well-known figures (Stephen Hawking, Raden
Saleh, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, for example). Some
serial works are deliberately worked on by repeating
the initial reference form, to finally emphasize that the
aleatoric process that they run never actually results
in repetition. We certainly can guess which part is
worked by Hanafi or GM on a piece of canvas. But be
assured that guesses can easily miss, and this is not
the response that is hoped for in this project.
Two signatures on each piece of work in this
exhibition confirm the presence of two individual
artists. However, the work method they adopted
actually indicates that this collaboration project
authorship. Both Hanafi and GM as individuals no
longer have full authority to speak of the ‘meaning’
or intent of each work. The most recent series
of works they did, given the title vertical horizon ,
marked the interesting achievement of this project,
when they both decided to erase their identities or
characteristics, replacing representational idioms
with mere horizontal and vertical lines. Again, we can
guess who is working on horizontal lines, and who
the vertical. But, what is the importance of identifying
the character of the lines with one of the artists?
Enjoying the works in 57 x 76 is more like listening to
a counterpoint: the relationship between voices that
are harmonically interdependent yet independent in
rhythm and contour—or more simply, the result of
a juxtaposition of a series of tones of two or more
voices presented simultaneously.
Agung Hujatnikajennong
(Translated by Diana Darling)
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