Exhibition continues through February 13, 2013
Jakarta, Indonesia – 2012-12-11 — /travelprnews.com/ — Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta is currently hosting an exhibition of paintings by talented artist Ken Pattern. During this exhibition, more than 80 original paintings are around the Hotel’s Lobby area. The exhibition continues through February 15, 2013.
Ken Pattern is a well known artist whose work has been shown in many solo and group exhibitions in Asia, Europe and North America. He requires little introduction in Indonesia, a country that has been his muse for many years. Ken was born in New Westminster, Canada. He studied sociology at Simon Fraser University and later attended the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver where he majored in printmaking. He works in a variety of media including drawing, painting and hand drawn lithography. Since his first visit to Indonesia in 1988, Ken has been inspired by the contrasts of Jakarta’s cityscape. He has produced a significant body of work over the years, which has received critical acclaim and his art is held in many public and private collections.
The artist records urban Jakarta in intricate and vivid detail and with an elegance that shows his empathy for city dwellers whose environment and the fate of urban development he unfolds. He knows and understands Jakarta intimately because he has walked it lane by lane and river by river. His work is full of rich complexities and nuances that show a deep appreciation of Indonesia’s contemporary history and age old traditions.
Growing up in British Columbia gave Ken a profound appreciation of trees, which have often been a focal point for his work. In this exhibition he shows a series of paintings and drawings inspired by the sacred banyan trees of Bali. He says he is mesmerized by the sheer volume of these trees whose tentacles reach back into the ground giving the impression that one tree is an entire forest.
“Bali provides a wealth of inspiration that will never be exhausted. I am impressed by, and have great respect for how the Balinese have been able to maintain their traditional, customary ways in spite of having been on the tourist map for so many years. Besieged by foreign values they have maintained their ceremonies and the harmonious lifestyle unique to this Island of the Gods,” he said.
The Moshe Safdie-designed Marina Bay complex in Singapore is also a current point of interest, and this unique landmark brings Ken back to his earlier surrealistic works. There is surely more to come.
About Lithography
The work lithography comes from Greek, meaning “to write or draw on stone.” Lithography is a planographic medium in which the image and non-image are on the same surface, not physically separated.
- Step 1: Drawing
A limestone block is prepared by grinding its surface to ensure the stone is flat and, unless the stone is new, to remove the previous image. In this way a lithography stone can be used over and over again for many years.
- Step 2: Creating the Image
This is the most creative part and the most interesting for the artist. An image is drawn or painted on the stone in mirror image (backwards) using grease pencil or grease solution.
- Step 3: Processing
Once the drawing is completed it must be “fixed” onto the stone and stabilized so that the image and non-image areas will receive and reject ink consistently.
- Step 4: Printing
Printing the image is washed out with solvent and a stain of the colour to be printed is rubbed into the image.
###
Hotel Press Contact
Marlene Danusutedjo
Director of Public Relations
Jalan H.R. Rasuna Said
Jakarta 12920, Indonesia
Email Marlene Danusutedjo
T. 62 (21) 252 3456