IRFAN M
Muhamad Irfan is known for his large-scale depictions of man-made metal structures and modes of transportation like locomotives, planes, ships, bridges and buildings – symbols of technological progress and technology. He explores the emotions associated with departure, waiting, arrival and displacement. The metalwork is depicted as rusty, signifying the passing of time.
In his latest body of work, Irfan has turned his attention to the artistic accomplishments of antiquity, depicting statues from the ancient Greco-Roman world. The sculptures mostly represent figures taken from Greek mythology like Apollo, Artemis and Poseidon.
In some works, he ventures a step further through the history of art by painting iconic works of old masters, for example the famous ‘Mona Lisa’, which has already been a reference for modern artists like Rene Magritte, Marcel Duchamp and Salvador Dali, an indication to his penchant for surrealism.
To highlight the transience of materials, Irfan depicts faithfully the aging of the ancient sculptures throughout the millennia together with their antiquated looks. Stone - and metal in his previous works - were materials that were considered strong, long-lasting and enduring when used for their respective purposes. However, both have succumbed to the effect of time over the years. Rust marks pervade throughout his painterly depictions of metalwork and stone sculptures show signs of erosion – with many statues surviving as torsos or fragments only. The once powerful and fascinating creations of humans have been subjected to all kinds of processes of degradation – climate, corrosion, destruction by humans, wars and natural disasters.
Despite these, art has its own power to endure, to struggle against the time and oblivion – through metamorphosis, as the French novelist and art theorist André Malraux once explained. It is the re-actualization of an art style that exposes the sense of time, the temporality of art. While the artworks can still be celebrated, the meanings once given to them are gone and replaced with other perspectives in line with changing perceptions and needs. To illustrate this, Irfan juxtaposes his classical figures with contemporary elements like sinuous lines from abstract expressionism or repetitive dots and geometric shapes in bright pop colors thereby creating a conversation between the two distinct art periods and simultaneously contrasting and reconciliating one with the other. The vibrant overlay of shapes creates a new contextual dimension for the ancient figures while the subtle and elegant monochrome palette relates perfectly to the photographic reproductions of the sculptures in old art books referenced by the artist.
Irfan’s new paintings are a journey through the history of art, but on a deeper level, he sets up a dialectic within his work between his continuing theme on travel and departure, strength and fragility of materials and the paradigm shift resulting from the perception of art at different time in history.
M Irfan was born in 1972 in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia. He studied metal craft at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI), in Yogyakarta, Indonesia where he currently lives and works. Irfan was one of the founding member of the Jendela Art Group, known for their experimental work. He experimented with different styles including surrealism, optical art, modern realism and photorealism. Irfan has exhibited extensively locally including at the National Gallery of Indonesia (Jakarta) and internationally in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea, United Kingdom, France and the United States.
Muhamad Irfan以往的作品常以火車、飛機、船隻、橋樑和建築物等爲主題－象徵著技術及科技躍進的大型人工金屬結構及交通工具。當中抒發的情感關於離別、等待、抵達及移位，而生鏽的金屬也表示時間的流逝。
在Irfan最新的作品系列，他把主題轉向有歷史性的藝術作品，描繪了古希臘羅馬世界的雕像人物，如神話中的阿波羅、阿提密斯和波塞頓。另外，他也通過臨摹藝術大師的標誌性作品，包括曾被現代藝術家雷內·馬格利特、馬塞爾·杜尚和薩爾瓦多·達利參考的達芬奇著作《蒙娜麗莎》，進一步的去探討藝術歷史，及表達他自身對超現實主義的傾向。
石頭以及他作品常出現的金屬材料，都一般被認為是堅硬、持久及耐用的素材，但在時間的侵蝕下，它們的改變是無可避免。為了突出素材的脆弱性，Irfan忠實地描繪古代雕塑經歷過千年的老化導致今非昔比的容貌。生鏽的痕跡貫穿於他繪畫的金屬製品和石雕上－當中許多的雕塑也只剩下軀幹和碎片，並帶著被侵蝕的外觀。 意味著曾經偉大及嘆為觀止的人類創作，也無法抵禦各種退化過程－氣候、腐蝕、人為破壞、戰爭和自然災害。
儘管如此，藝術風格本身可以經受時間的考驗。正如法國小說家和藝術理論家安德烈馬爾羅所說，藝術往往通過轉變，能讓過去的藝術風格得以重現。雖然藝術品依在，但它們曾被賦予的意義已然消失，而取代之的是不同的觀念和詮釋角度。為了說明這一點，Irfan將古典人物與當代元素－如抽象表現主義的蜿蜒曲線，或是帶重覆性的圓點及明亮色彩的幾何圖形並置，從而建立兩種不同風格的對話，對比及調和。然而優雅的單色色調古代雕塑作品和充滿活力的重疊形狀微妙地結合成一個全新的內容空間。
Irfan的新作品是一個穿越時空的藝術之旅，但在更深的層次上，這也是一個關於旅行和離別、材料的永久性和脆弱，及不同時代的藝術風格產生轉變的辯證。
M Irfan 1972年生於印尼蘇門答臘的武吉丁宜，於印尼藝術學院（ISI）學習金屬工藝，現居及工作於印尼日惹。Irfan是Jendela Art Group的創始成員之一，以其實驗性作品聞名。他曾嘗試多種風格包括超現實主義、光學藝術、現代寫實主義及照片寫實主義。Irfan多次參加國內外的展覽，包括印尼國家美術館（雅加達）、新加坡、香港、中國、台灣、韓國、英國、法國和美國。