(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Eloquently clear in concept, strikingly accurate with description and brutally honest with their expression, graffiti artists Vendy Methodos and Ismo Ismoyo are on a mission to highlight the issues around us through their thought-provoking works. The two Indonesians have left behind some masterpieces on the walls in Doha that would reverberate with the people here for a long time.
As keen observers, the artists take inspiration from real-life stories and put them out on the walls with materials mainly drawn from waste. Methodos and Ismoyo do not need a canvas or a brush to express their feelings. They see it, they feel it and they draw it on spaces where everyone can see it. And one cannot help but get influenced by the mastery in their work.
Coming from humble backgrounds from a remote town of Yogyakarta on Indonesia";s Java Island, both Methodos and Ismoyo picked up graffiti as a means of their expression to highlight social injustices and other issues they witness around them.
Possessing the extraordinary ability of conceiving ideas for their work from most complex of the issues and to express them in simple and striking yet comprehensible manner, the two friends have been creating remarkable art for years, bringing about change in the society with it.
If you passing by Education City one of these days, do drop in at the art gallery in Virginia Commonwealth University-Qatar (VCU-Q) to witness the evidence of their prowess. Nothing skips their eye.
Take propaganda, for instance. How is it spread through media and how it affects the society in particular were the issues in their hands when the two set out to draw huge murals on the walls of VCU-Q. 'One of my friends who is a television journalist in Indonesia once told me how he was asked to report something which was not true and when he refused he had to sacrifice his job. It struck me how misinformation spread mostly through the most reliable sources,” Methodos tells Community, in a chat at the opening of their exhibition in VCU-Q called Issue Isme.
Featuring two huge murals, one of them drawn live at the opening, the exhibition showcases art that challenges the forces of status quo with wherever in the world they are at work. 'For instance, whatever is shown on TV or is being reported in the media is not always true. The picture does not have to be always dark. There are, of course, brighter sides to a picture but they are not shown on the media sometimes,” says Methodos.
This, he says, creates anxiety among people which culminates in paranoia. 'You are scaring people needlessly. It is important that you show them the complete picture. We have been trying to tell through our work that people need to see the whole picture and not just partial truths,” chips in Ismoyo.
This artistic critique is only a small component of their larger idea, he says, that encompasses the bigger question of how faith is cunningly used to incite violence. Through their artworks in graffiti and other media, they intend to portray that such social and political issues are compounded by people through social media.
'Our work is mainly around the idea as to what is happening in relationship to the world in news and how the public responds to it,” says Ismoyo, pointing to the black-and-white mural on the VCU-Q gallery wall that he was busy creating alongside his ‘partner in crime";, Methodos.
'It deals with how most of the times what is happening on social media and on news is not the complete truth and sometimes twisted to incite paranoia and fear,” Methodos adds. They mostly do not draw any rough outline or sketch of their murals. The artists say they have ideas in their mind and they just go with the flow.
'As I draw more ideas for the sketches and how should I go about tackling an idea keep coming to my mind and I keep putting it on the wall. It is easy that way,” says Methodos.
Ismoyo is his senior who started the work, more specifically graffiti, at a very early age and by the time he was going to get university education, he was an established artist. Methodos has not been fortunate enough to attend university.
He is mostly self-taught. 'I do not have an academic degree in art or have not learnt it professionally from anywhere. I feel it was always inside me, I provided it with an outlet,” says Methodos. He never had a dearth of ideas as there were abundant in his surroundings when he was growing up.
So there was always some or the other inspiration to stand beside a wall, swish open a spray paint on to it going around the storylines already imprinted in his mind.
'We mostly work with spray paint but Ismoyo especially uses colours extracted from recycled materials that he finds from waste,” says Methodos. Despite their minimum academic credentials, they are not afraid of taking on the most complex of ideas and portray them perfectly, getting to the bottom of the issue.
The two artists are primarily graffiti artists but they do work in other mediums as well. Some of their works are on canvas and some on paper or screen print.Methodos also works on the fabric especially the traditional Indonesian batik. Through a mix of imagery and iconography, the artists reflect a mirror-like vision of some darker truths, or mis-truths, that exist within us all. Their exhibition at VCU-Q features a series of works by each artist in several mediums, combining fine art, stencil, and traditional batik techniques.
At a young age, they have attained such mastery that Ismoyo is now teaching art to students at university level. Methodos creates sketches for people to print them on shirts. He handed these shirts to audiences here free.
With their down-to-earth demeanour and their unique style, they have attracted audiences from outside Indonesia. 'We have travelled to some countries with our exhibitions. This was our first time in Doha and we have thoroughly enjoyed it here,” says Ismoyo.
Ismoyo has collaborated earlier on a Rota-sponsored programme, ‘Indoartamiks"; (Indonesia-art-batik-ceramics) initiated as a direct response to a group of craftswomen and students on how to innovate their products for the global market.
Ismoyo held the first graffiti-led workshop of the year with Indoartamiks called ‘Message in a Can";. The objective of this workshop was to create a story and innovative design solution regarding a social issue.
Methodos, on the other hand, is a prolific street artist who lives and works by his strong beliefs, something that distinguishes his work from the rest. Together, they continue to inspire.