Bayu Utomo Radjikin: May 2010

As a recognised figurative painter in Malaysia, Bayu Utomo Radjikin, reveals his ongoing passions for medium and subject in his latest solo exhibition, Unnamed at House of Matahati. Through a signature style of epic realism and the Malay male protagonist Bayu continues to showcase his own carefully painted sense of dramatic physical theatre. Practising as an artist for nearly 20 years his career has focused on a diverse range of subject matter from public and personal identity through to social commentary and international political tensions.

Nevertheless, such diversity has been consistently mediated through meticulously executed, highly emotive human subjects. Unnamed presents Bayu’s recent work in painting and charcoal. The exhibition focuses once more on the artist and his friend in elaborate poses that explore the spectacle of male identity. It is this mastery of figurative composition and draughtsmanship that set the stage for a necessary consideration of how the technical aspect of his practice facilitates this particular style of painted mythology and heroism.

Unnamed presents expressions of the male body through a mature sense of Figurative Realism, a style that praises strong composition and accurate form along with the intangible, emotional qualities of human life. The technical mastery of replication along with the desire to transform the real to profoundly ‘speak’ without words has driven many artists to the point of obsession. Bayu’s own passionate use of the body and hands in his work mimics the methods of communication as a painter who uses his hands and mind to create new versions of reality.

These needs to express form through paint and the compelling mythologies that artists produce can be visually hypnotic and seductively dramatic. The aura that surrounds Bayu’s subjects and his position as the artist ‘creator’ have all led to the subsequent popularity and respect for his practice that continues to be one of the driving forces of technically advanced Figurative Realism in Malaysia today.