Unlike many works by artists who were associated with LEKRA, which mainly focused on one object or scene, Semsar’s paintings are close with the practice of socialist realism which was present in Eastern Europe, which often connected many events into one pictorial field.

Semsar’s self-portrait appears in numerous forms, or becomes the central point in his paintings. In this work, the artist’s portrait appears in at least three figures; the crying figure who is crying and wearing a crown made from barbed wire; the painter who is carrying a ventriloquist doll; and in the scream of the inner conscience in the cloud of blue smoke.

he iron fence, with sharp edges, is a frequent image in Semsar’s oil paintings. There is possibly a connection with the metaphor of a “beautiful fenced garden” which he quotes as his creed. Is the ventriloquist doll a representation of the people, or of the artist, who is controlled by those in power?

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Semsar was not just an artist, but also an activist. In 1989, he established the Front for the Defense of Human Rights (INFIGHT). He was also often the field coordinator for a range of demonstrations. In 1994, while trying to protect his fellow-activist and friend Dita Indah Sari, Semsar was beaten so badly by the police that he had three bones in his leg broken. Semsar’s activism is reflected in his fiery paintings. In an untitled painting from the same year, we can see iron bars, hanging meat, a candle and a portrait of Marsinah, an activist from East Java who died after being raped and tortured on the 5th May 1993. In December 1993, Marsinah was posthumously awarded the Yap Thiam Human Rights Award and Semsar made the poster for the event.