LOT 58 I NYOMAN MASRIADI B. 1973 NEGOSIASI (NEGOTIATION) 600,000—800,000 HKD 200 by 300cm.; 78¾ by 118in. DESCRIPTION signed and dated 26 Dec 2008 lower middle; signed, titled Negosiasi and dated 2009 on the reverse acrylic on canvas CATALOGUE NOTE Drama, provocation, humour and riddles are characteristics that are inseparable from I Nyoman Masriadi's paintings. With its dramatic prologue and two wizened cowboys facing off in the middle of an arid semi-dessert setting, in which nothing is visible in the background aside from the crisp, blue, cloudless sky, Negosiasi (Negotiation) almost appears cinematic. Taking Masriadi's well-known love for films into consideration, this work seems to magnify the tension and austere subtlety pervasive in Western gems such as Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time in the West," which Masriadi had watched a number of years ago. Despite the serious undertone however, the scene brims with subversive humour that is imbued through texts in dialogue boxes: Prologue: The dry desert wind is like an omen saying that there can never be peace between the two of them Cowboy on the left (in a blue jacket): You think your idealism as a sheriff can help you here, huh? Cowboy on the right (Sherif in a khaki jacket): You're wrong, this is not about idealism, this is a matter of business and you? The choice of colloquial Indonesian words is well-considered and the figures' surreptitious glances and subtly charged stance convey a hidden narrative. Westerns often portray the confrontation between honour and injustice – a general understanding that the artist made full use of to communicate his vision. In this work, the Sheriff, a figure of authority who is customarily the embodiment of justice, has his idealism, and by association, righteousness, questioned. Are idealism and business truly ultimate opposites? The painting postulates that, like the diminishing moral codes of the Westerns, the line between black and white, life and death, right and wrong are becoming increasingly blurred. Idealism has become merely a badge with no value, something to speak of but not necessarily uphold. Masriadi is acknowledged as the master of word play and visual riddles. This is further reinforced by subtle details like the partially-obscured hand of the Sheriff and the physical proximity of the two duellists, who would ordinarily stand at a distance from one another, hint that not all is as it seems. Painted at the dawn of a new era that calls for a new code of conduct in methods of acquiring wealth, Masriadi observes the perception that idealism is not a matter of life and death and that honour may – or may not - be up for negotiation.