The Career Journey and Creative Process of Zam Kamil

Art is moreover available in bareness, imperfection or being tucked in kerfs. It sometimes needs to be reborn to discover its fate.
(Multazam Kamil)

Career Journey
MULTAZAM (Zam) Kamil was born on August 5, 1969 in Makassar, South Sulawesi. He is an alumnus of 1990 Faculty of Art, Indonesian Art Institute (Institut Seni Indonesia) in Yogyakarta. He lives with a wife and two daughters in Wirosaban, Yogyakarta. Unlike his colleagues at ISI Yogyakarta who mainly adopt expressionism, Zam Kamil’s works are categorized into Impressionism.

Zam Kamil was very active in student activities at his alma mater. He was always involved in the exhibitions "Spirit 90". The Spirit 90 is the name of a group of students of the Faculty of Fine Arts 1990. In the beginning of 1994, The Spirit 90 held a five-day exhibition (5-10 February 1994) in Purna Budaya,Yogyakarta. In this event, all the paintings on show were sold out like hotcakes. Some people believe that that event was the first explosion of ' Art Bomb ' in Yogyakarta. After the successful exhibition in 1994, the Spirit 90 continued to exhibit their works about a dozen times until 2005.

Although his classmates were enjoying the newly acquired success, Zam Kamil preferred not to follow the flow and instead left his social environment. He did not believe the new reality that he experienced. He then traveled to various places. Commencing from 1994 to 1999, he traveled to Bali, Mataram, Toraja, Bandung, Jakarta and various other places that appealed to him. In these places, he immersed himself into the world of junkies, street women's groups, street children communities, the freebooters and even groups of preachers in the mosques. A world in which for a majority of people had nothing to do with his activities as an artist. He calls what he did as a 'journey of observation'.

Still in the same time frame, Zam Kamil still worked to simply comply with the exhibition invitations that were initiated by his companions in the Spirit 90. He even had time to do some research on prehistoric cave wall paintings at the Leangleang site in South Sulawesi. The study was a part of his preparation for his thesis in order to achieve his Bachelor’s degree. Interestingly, during the process Zam Kamil got guidance from Masters because the weight of his research is generally considered to be beyond the capacity of the prospective undergraduate degree (S-1).

Entering 2001, he held his solo exhibition at Leangleang Art Studio, Yogyakarta. Six years later, precisely in 2007 Zam Kamil made a big leap in the history of his painting career. He was invited to establish a solo exhibition at The Aryaseni Art Gallery, Singapore.  He sent about 20 paintings to Singapore. Up to now, The Aryaseni Gallery continues to mediate an auction of Zam Kamil’s works of painting over Borobudur Auction and Masterpiece Auction; two most prestigious auction forums in Singapore.

In the mid of 2008, CG Gallery Jakarta was opened. In the beginning, CG Gallery occupied Plaza Indonesia Building Level 3 # 56, Jl. MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta. And to complement the soft opening, Zam Kamil was invited to hold his solo exhibition there. Perhaps the moment is the most monumental opening gallery in the history of both Zam Kamil and the management of the CG Gallery. Just imagine, an exhibition event that 'only' lasted for ten days (6 to 15 May 2008) successfully sold nearly all the works on display, which is roughly about 30 works of painting. Fantastic. Such a glorious history that is difficult to reoccur. CG Gallery documentation regarding this single exhibition can be seen below.

Creative Process
The editor of the Asian Art News magazine, Ian Findlay, linked an admirer of Picasso and Vincent Willem van Gogh, Zam Kamil with Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne. Not only Ian, even Wang Zineng, a Singapore-based curator and Cosmas D. Gozali of The Aryan Management had a similar opinion. Perhaps indeed there are similarities in the spirit forms of the figures of these two artists of different eras.

There are four fundamental things that Zam Kamil processed through his works, namely: 1. Figure; 2. Text; 3 Composition; 4. Process.

1. Figure
Figure is an integral part of the narrative works of Zam Kamil. The figures were intentionally lost in details. Nude, incomplete faces, unclear expression, unclear identity, some have indistinct gender and have no attributes as well. The audience is given the widest possible space for the imagination to fill that emptiness. However, later some of these figures wear clothes and even accessories. So what exactly is he trying to convey through these unclear figures?

Zam Kamil is apparently very interested in the gesture. Physical cues are all that he wants to convey through these figures. He often jokes, “When words could no longer be put into mouth as they become more and more accumulated and oppressive, it is the body that will spontaneously speak, shout, be furious and even continues to writhe, and at its peak becomes silent”.

Wang Zineng in his review on a solo exhibition entitled A (') postrophe asserted that the abstract and simple figures à la Zam Kamil recalls the fauvist manifesto at the beginning of the 20th century as echoed by Andre Derain and Henri Mattise whose whole works raised the expressive potential through colors and artistic freedom of academic realism.

2. Text
During his 'contemplative journey' and research on the cave of Leangleang, South Sulawesi, Zam Kamil found literature that later turned out to influence his creative process. The texts that seem to be pasted haphazardly, if further investigated, many quote the script of I La Galigo, a Bugis longest epic in the world. Some figures 'without gender' which sometimes appear in some of Zam Kamil’s paintings are also an evidence of his association with ancient Greek mythology and the Bissu phenomenon which until now is still a part of Makassar society.

In fact, this text could have been there long before the painting itself was born because so many works of Zam Kamil painting inspired by the poems he had written himself and the fruit of the hands of others. On the one hand, there are times when these texts were only the artist’s jabber. Its value is no longer meaning but turned into shape. The visible forms of the text were finally blended as contour and color. Furthermore, these texts, for Zam Kamil is like a string of prayer beads when remembrance echoed in his inner self. Or like the dialogue (read: prayer) a mother (read: Zam Kamil) who is pregnant, says to her future ‘child’.

3. Composition
In the case of Zam Kamil, Jules O Bawole, a curator alumnus of the Jakarta Arts Institute (Institut Kesenian Jakarta) once said that in addition to gestures, composition (contours and color) is Zam Kamil’s ultimate weapon to build rhythm and intonation into a poetic visual expression in his every work.

Ian Findlay then continues that Zam Kamil’s courage to indulge in colors like blue and green to contrast colors like red and yellow is precisely his special ability to bring the situation in his creation alive.

In later days, mature colors like red, green, blue, yellow are more frequently used. This is not surprising because of the choice of colors and composition, Zam Kamil clearly asserts that he is a fauvism follower.

4. Process
The process is, of course, has a relationship with the artist's inner experience. Perhaps to trace the creative process can be started from the development of Zam Kamil’s thematic works from 1990 when he first started his painting career up to now. He began with series such as “the wild thing”, “solitary”, “junkies”, journey, red and white, poetry, starting reinforcements, the lights to the last one is serial go green. So what is interesting about the subject of this thematic?

Zam Kamil’s observation journey is already described in the previous section. Of course, 'artistic behavior' gradually will crystallize and turn into inner experience over time. This inner experience is very unique and will never be the same between artists from each other - the impetus of the creative process itself. And are unique works not be born by individuals who are unique?

The themes of Zam Kamil’s paintings never stop. Even he does not have the clarity of time at all. It could be overlapped. This also means the figures in Zam Kamil’s paintings are still going to continue to explore shapes. He still will continue to be. The works that already exist need to be squeezed back into new works. Only he is to find his own essence (destiny).

Primadona, 1995

Primadona, 1999

This problem of the 'process' can be proved in the work entitled Kutunggu di Jakarta that was 'never finished' in 2006 but re-signed by the artist in 2010. Or have a look at the work of Primadona, which was originally signed in 1995, but then squeezed into the essence, 'simplified' and finally signed back in 1999. The naked forms will be returned to nudity.

Generasi yang Hilang, 2002

Generasi yang Hilang, 2002

It is not enough to stop there, for Zam Kamil the perfection of new works created precisely when there have been 'disturbances' attached. Conspicuous Graffiti. It may be because Zam Kamil did not believe that there is real perfection under the sun.

The birth of Zam Kamil‘s best paintings has gone such a long process and ins and outs of travel. And unfortunately a very valuable creative process is almost impossible to read in pieces the artist's curriculum vitae. It took a bit longer to trace the quality of a work because work is intact, strong and long lasting was ever born of the artist's strong personal as well, simply accept the blows life has been pretty well absorbed and other issues beyond the issue itself. So that's what this writing, namely to express what is implied.

Yogyakarta, October 2010
Dedi Yuniarto

Perjalanan Karier dan Proses Kreatif Multazam Kamil

Art is moreover available in bareness, imperfection or being tucked in kerfs. It sometimes needs to be reborn to discover its fate.
(Multazam Kamil)

Perjalanan Karier
MULTAZAM (Zam) Kamil lahir pada tanggal 05 Agustus 1969 di Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan. Ia adalah alumni angkatan tahun 1990 Fakultas Seni Rupa, Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta. Kini dengan seorang istri dan dua orang putrinya tinggal di Wirosaban, Yogyakarta. Tidak sebagaimana para sejawatnya di ISI Yogyakarta yang rata-rata bergaya ekspressionis, karya-karya Zam Kamil digolongkan ke dalam genre impressionis.

Semasa kuliah Zam Kamil aktif dalam kegiatan kemahasiswaan di almamaternya. Dan yang terutama ia pun selalu terlibat mengikuti pameran-pameran “Spirit 90”. Adapun Spirit 90 adalah nama bagi kelompok mahasiswa Fakultas Seni Rupa angkatan 1990. Awal tahun 1994, Spirit 90 melangsungkan pameran selama lima hari (5-10 Februari 1994) di Purna Budaya, Yogyakarta. Dalam event ini semua lukisan yang dipamerkan ludes terjual bak kacang goreng. Beberapa orang meyakini peristiwa itu merupakan ledakan ‘bom seni lukis’ di Yogyakarta yang pertama. Setelah sukses pameran tahun 1994 itu, Spirit 90 masih terus berpameran sekitar dua belas kali hingga tahun 2005.

Kendati teman-teman sekelasnya yang lain tengah menikmati gelimang sukses yang baru didapat itu, Zam Kamil lebih memilih tidak mengikuti arus dan malah meninggalkan lingkungan pergaulannya. Ia tidak percaya dengan kenyataan baru yang dialaminya. Ia lalu berkelana ke berbagai tempat. Terhitung sejak tahun 1994 hingga 1999 ia melanglang buana ke Bali, Mataram, Toraja, Bandung, Jakarta serta berbagai tempat lain yang menarik hatinya. Di sana ia berputar haluan memasuki dunia para junkies, kelompok perempuan jalanan, komunitas anak-anak jalanan, para bromocorah bahkan kelompok dakwah di masjid-masjid. Sebuah dunia yang bagi awam tak ada sangkut-paut sama sekali dengan aktivitasnya sebagai seorang seniman lukis. Ia menyebut apa yang dilakoninya itu sebagai ‘perjalanan observasif’.

Masih dalam rentang waktu yang sama Zam Kamil pun masih tetap berkarya untuk sekadar memenuhi undangan pameran bersama yang digagas oleh para sahabatnya di Spirit 90. Ia bahkan masih sempat melakukan penelitian lukisan dinding situs prasejarah gua Leangleang di Sulawesi Selatan. Penelitian ini adalah dalam rangka penyusunan skripsi strata satunya. Uniknya selama proses tersebut Zam Kamil harus mendapatkan bimbingan dari dosen strata dua (S-2) karena bobot penelitiannya dianggap melampaui kapasitas pada umumnya calon sarjana strata satu (S-1).

Memasuki tahun 2001 ia melangsungkan pameran tunggalnya di Leangleang Art Studio, Yogyakarta. Selang enam tahun kemudian, yakni tepatnya tahun 2007 Zam Kamil melakukan lompatan besar dalam sejarah karier melukisnya. Ia diundang untuk melangsungkan pameran tunggalnya di The Aryaseni Art Gallery, Singapura. Sekitar 20 karya lukis ia kirimkan ke Singapura. Hingga saat ini mediasi lelang karya-karya lukis Zam Kamil lainnya melalui Borobudur Auction dan Masterpiece Auction; dua forum lelang paling bergengsi di Singapura, masih terus dilakukan oleh para kolektornya.

Medio tahun 2008 CG Art Space Jakarta dibuka. Pada mulanya CG Art Space menempati Gedung Plaza Indonesia level 3 #56, Jl. MH Thamrin, Jakarta Pusat. Dan untuk melengkapi soft opening, Zam Kamil diundang berpameran tunggal di sana. Barangkali moment tersebut merupakan pembukaan galeri paling monumental dalam sejarah keduanya; Zam Kamil dan manajemen CG Gallery. Betapa tidak, acara pameran yang ‘hanya’ berlangsung sepuluh hari tersebut (6-15 Mei 2008) sukses menjual hampir seluruh karya yang dipajang, yakni kurang-lebih sekitar 30 karya lukis. Fantastis. Sungguh sejarah gemilang yang sulit terulang kembali. Dokumentasi CG Gallery mengenai pameran tunggal ini dapat disaksikan di bawah ini.

Proses Kreatif
Pengagum Picasso dan Vincent Willem van Gogh ini oleh redaktur Majalah Asian Art News, Ian Findlay, dihubung-hubungkan dengan Henri Matisse dan Paul Cezanne. Bukan hanya Ian, bahkan Wang Zineng, seorang kurator berwarga negara Singapura, dan Cosmas D. Gozali dari The Arya Management pun bernada serupa. Barangkali memang ada kemiripan semangat dalam bentuk-bentuk persona (figur) kedua seniman beda jaman itu.

Ada empat hal fundamental yang diolah Zam Kamil melalui karya-karyanya, yakni: 1. persona (figur); 2. teks; 3. komposisi; 4. proses.

1.    Persona
Persona adalah bagian tak terpisahkan dari narasi karya-karya Zam Kamil. Persona-persona itu sengaja kehilangan detail. Telanjang, tak lengkap wajahnya, tak jelas ekspresinya, tak jelas identitasnya, beberapa tak jelas gendernya dan tak memiliki atribut pula. Para audiens diberi ruang seluas-luasnya untuk berimajinasi mengisi kekosongan-kekosongan itu. Namun dikemudian hari beberapa diantara persona ini sudah mengenakan busana bahkan aksesori. Lalu apa yang hendak disampaikan melalui persona-persona yang serba ‘tak jelas’ itu?

Zam Kamil rupanya sangat tertarik dengan gestur. Isyarat badaniahlah yang hendak disampaikannya melalui persona-persona tersebut. Ia acap berkelakar, “Ketika kata-kata tak bisa lagi dibahasakan karena semakin menumpuk dan menyesakkan, tubuhlah yang akan spontan berbicara, berteriak, marah bahkan terus menggeliat, dan pada puncaknya adalah diam.”

Wang Zineng dalam kuratorialnya pada pameran tunggal bertajuk A(‘)postrophe menegaskan bahwa figur-figur sederhana dan abstraktif ala Zam Kamil mengingatkan kembali akan manifesto kaum fauvist pada awal abad ke-20 yang dikumandangkan oleh Andre Derain dan Henri Mattise yang keseluruhan karya mereka mengangkat potensi ekspresif melalui warna dan kebebasan artistik dari realisme akademis.

2.    Teks
Selama masa ‘perjalanan kontemplatif’ serta penelitiannya di gua Leangleang, Sulawesi Selatan, Zam Kamil menemukan literatur-literatur yang dikemudian hari ternyata memengaruhi proses kreatifnya. Teks-teks yang terkesan disisipkan sembarangan itu apabila diteliti lebih lanjut banyak mengutip kata-kata di dalam naskah I La Galigo, sebuah epos Bugis terpanjang di dunia. Persona ‘tanpa gender’ yang kadangkala muncul pada beberapa lukisan Zam Kamil juga merupakan bukti keterkaitannya dengan mitologi Yunani kuno dan fenomena para bissu yang hingga sekarang masih menjadi bagian masyarakat Makassar.

Bahkan teks ini bisa jadi sudah ada jauh sebelum karya lukis itu sendiri terlahir sebab banyak sekali karya-karya lukis Zam Kamil yang terinspirasi dari puisi-puisi yang ditulisnya sendiri maupun buah tangan orang lain. Di satu sisi adakalanya teks-teks ini pun hanya berupa racauan-racauan sang seniman. Nilainya bukan lagi makna namun berganti menjadi bentuk. Bentuk-bentuk teks yang terlihat itu pada akhirnya menyatu sebagai kontur dan warna. Lebih jauh lagi, teks-teks tersebut bagi Zam Kamil tak ubahnya untaian tasbih ketika zikir dikumandangkan di dalam bathinnya. Atau ibarat dialog (baca: doa) seorang ibu (baca: Zam Kamil) yang sedang mengandung, kepada calon ‘anak rohani’-nya.

3.    Komposisi
Dalam hal Zam Kamil, Jules O Bawole, seorang kurator alumni Institut Kesenian Jakarta (IKJ) pernah mengatakan bahwa selain gestur, komposisi (kontur dan warna) merupakan senjata pamungkas Zam Kamil untuk membangun irama dan intonasi ke dalam ungkapan visual yang puitik pada setiap karya-karyanya.

Ian Findlay kemudian melanjutkan bahwa keberanian Zam Kamil mengumbar warna-warna seperti biru dan hijau hingga warna-warna kontras seperti merah dan kuning justru merupakan kemampuan khususnya dalam hal menghidupkan situasi yang ia ciptakan. Dikemudian hari warna-warna matang seperti merah, hijau, biru, kuning tersebut makin sering digunakan. Hal ini tidak mengherankan sebab mengenai pilihan warna-warna serta komposisinya, Zam Kamil jelas-jelas menegaskan bahwa dirinya adalah penganut fauvist.

4.    Proses
Proses yang dimaksud tentu saja ada keterkaitan dengan pengalaman bathin sang seniman. Barangkali untuk merunut proses kreatif  ini dapat dimulai dari perkembangan tematik karya-karya Zam Kamil dari tahun 1990 ketika ia pertama kali memulai karier melukisnya hingga sekarang. Ia memulai dengan serial the wild thing, solitary, junkies, journey, merah putih, puisi, tolak bala, cahaya-cahaya hingga yang terakhir ialah serial go green. Lalu apa yang menarik mengenai perihal tematik ini?

Sudah diuraikan pada bagian sebelumnya mengenai perjalanan observasif yang pernah dilakukan Zam Kamil. Tentu saja dengan berjalannya waktu, lambat-laun ‘laku berkesenian’ itu akan mengkristal dan berubah menjadi pengalaman bathin. Pengalaman bathin ini sangat unik dan tidak akan pernah sama antara seniman satu dengan lainnya-merupakan cikal-bakal dari proses kreatif itu sendiri. Dan bukankah karya-karya unik hanya dilahirkan oleh pribadi-pribadi yang unik pula?

Syahdan, tema-tema karya lukis Zam Kamil tidak pernah berhenti. Bahkan ia tidak memiliki kejelasan waktu sama sekali. Bisa jadi saling tumpang tindih. Hal ini pula yang menyebabkan persona-persona dalam lukisan Zam Kamil juga masih akan terus mengalami eksplorasi bentuk. Ia masih akan terus menjadi. Karya-karya yang sudah ada perlu diperas kembali menjadi karya-karya baru, ialah untuk menemukan esensinya (takdirnya).

Primadona, 1995

Primadona, 1999

Persoalan ‘proses’ ini dapat dibuktikan pada karya berjudul Kutunggu di Jakarta yang ‘pernah selesai’ pada tahun 2006 namun ditandatangani ulang oleh sang seniman pada tahun 2010. Atau lihat saja karya Primadona yang semula ditandatangani tahun 1995, namun kemudian diperas menuju esensi, ‘disederhanakan’ dan akhirnya ditandatangani kembali tahun 1999. Bentuk-bentuk telanjang akan kembali kepada ketelanjangan.

Generasi yang Hilang, 2002

Generasi yang Hilang, 2002

 Bagi Zam Kamil kesempurnaan karya baru tercipta justru ketika telah menempel ‘gangguan-gangguan’ di sana. Coretan-coretan yang mencolok mata itu. Boleh jadi lantaran Zam Kamil tidak percaya di bawah matahari benar-benar ada kesempurnaan.

Demikianlah proses panjang dan lika-liku perjalanan seorang Zam Kamil dalam melahirkan karya-karya lukis terbaiknya. Namun malangnya proses kreatif yang sangat berharga ini nyaris tidak mungkin dibaca dalam lembar curriculum vitae sang seniman. Perlu waktu agak panjang untuk merunut kualitas sebuah karya sebab karya yang utuh, kuat dan long ever lasting hanyalah terlahir dari pribadi sang seniman yang kuat pula, cukup menerima pukulan-pukulan kehidupan dan telah cukup pula menyerap persoalan lain di luar persoalan dirinya  sendiri. Maka untuk itulah tulisan ini dibuat, yakni untuk mengungkapkan apa yang tersirat dari yang tersurat.

Yogyakarta, Oktober 2010
Dedi Yuniarto