•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

Since opening in 2003, Koi Kemang has successfully combined fine dining and fine art. A restaurant furnished with teak tables and chairs is located in the elevated part of the store, and serves European-Asian fusion cuisine. The other, larger section is a shop selling ethnic-style indoor and garden furniture and other decorations for the home. In addition, Koi Kemang serves as an art gallery, and the walls of the venue are covered with paintings.

It is an approach to art that seems quite clever, at least business-wise: instead of looking at paintings in a bare gallery, at Koi Kemang, art enthusiasts and, more important, potential buyers get an idea of how a certain painting would look if bought and hung in their own houses, above a bed, next to a wooden shelf or in the dining room.

Until Nov. 30, Koi Kemang is showcasing the work of two foreign artists — Rozi Turnbull from England and Tammie McDonald of the United States, who both currently live in Jakarta.

Many of the acrylic, oil and watercolor paintings incorporate the element of water. You can see powerful waves of the blue ocean breaking over rocks, a peaceful and tranquil sunset at a tropical beach, a fisherman floating across the water in his boat and several koi in orange, yellow and white swimming in a pond. Occasionally, the visitor comes across different motifs, like flowers and plants, and also several abstract paintings.

“My work is a continual attempt to understand the personality of a single brush stroke when it has life and movement, when it compromises and blends, where it is so purposefully placed that it rings true,” Turnbull says on her Web site. “I strive to achieve [a] certain freshness in my work, inviting the viewer to visually trace where each stroke leads, and where they can follow, adding their own connection and experiences.”

Originally from Surrey, England, Turnbull was encouraged by her family to pursue her artistic talent from an early age. Frequently moving from one country to the next with her husband and three children, she has not only exhibited her award-winning works in a number of galleries, but has helped to organize exhibitions around the world.

Turnbull has also held posts as president of the Alaska Watercolor Art Society and art director of the Houston Watercolor Art Society. In Indonesia, she is actively involved in the Indonesian Heritage Society.

“I find a visual moment captured in time creates a different memory for each viewer,” she said. “This invites them to search for their own meaning, as each person brings their own gender, social and economic background, and previous conceptions to the appreciation of art.”

McDonald, the second artist featured in this exhibition, grew up in Oklahoma and studied business, but has always been interested in art and eventually started painting, creating many commissioned portraits and other works. She has also volunteered as an art teacher for children’s community groups. Since McDonald moved to Indonesia with her family three years ago, she has shown her work in seven exhibitions.

“[McDonald] has found this place to be fertile soil for her artistic growth, through wonderful teachers and study groups to push her into new levels of understanding and appreciation for the art practices here,” according to a brochure accompanying the exhibition. “She loves to admire the works of other artists and tries to learn new ways of reshaping her own style in the process. Playing with more texture has been her latest theme and she enjoys the layering of tones.”

Water and Texture
Until Nov. 30, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Koi Kemang
Saberro House
Jl. Kemang Raya 10A, South Jakarta
Tel. 021 719 5707