Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

While the invention of the camera was once feared to cause the imminent demise of realism on canvas as photography would sufficiently portray objects in precise form,today's new technology in cameras and digital equipment has turned out to offer painters even more alternatives.

Livi, 31, gazed in wonder at Dikdik Sayahdikumullah's work Red ad Hoc, depicting cars stuck at the traffic lights in the rain. The lights from the headlights refract through the water droplets on the windscreen, creating a gorgeous scene, quite different perhaps from the reality of being stuck in a traffic jam caused by torrential rain.

An employee of Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, Livi was further rendered dumbfounded when a gallery attendant explained the artist had based his painting on a real photograph. The photo was taken amid a traffic jam from the backseat of a car. It was then retouched to the taste of the artist and printed on a transparent plastic sheet.

The image was later transferred to a prepared canvas by means of an overhead projector, allowing the artist to make a direct copy of the original in oil paint. ""That's why it looks so lifelike,"" Livi said.

Red ad Hoc is one of the 19 works presented in the Errata-optika exhibition at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space on Jl. Bukit Pakar Timur 100, Bandung. Curator Agung Hujatnikajennong said seven young artists had displayed their paintings from Aug. 24 to Sept. 14.

The seven painters -- Dikdik, Willy Himawan, J. Ariadhitya Pramuhendra, Iman Sapari, Dadan Setiawan, Harry Cahaya and the only female Beatrix Hendriani Kaswara -- do not aim merely to make copies of photographs but to convincingly capture the essence of a scene.

The were selected because they demonstrate the new orientation currently in vogue among Bandung artists in processing and presenting their realist pictures. ""Their approach is different from the general trend of photorealism. There is no hint of forced photorealism in their work. They have made a stylistic progression, deepening the effect of photorealism,"" Agung said.

Nearly all the paintings in the show defy the importance of optical clarity. The artists have even played with optical failures, errors and limitations. In the Park View series, for instance, Dadan Setiawan, who has been painting from photographs since 2005, purposely used cameras that took low-quality images.

Dadan enlarged blurry photos of parks so that the originally rich colors were broken down and distorted. Then he applied oil paint using a palette knife, pixel by pixel. He said he wanted to portray the current quick-fix society in which things are done too quickly with consistently poor results.

Agung acknowledged that not everyone was comfortable with the idea of integrating art and optical technology. Those upholding the concept of the artist as a genius tend to believe that a great painter should rely on creative perseverance and technical mastery without the aid of optical devices, he said.

""In this belief, a masterpiece can only be made by a gifted person and the paintings produced by copying or imitating images are considered low-level works,"" Agung said.

Trace, 24, a fine art graduate of the Bandung Institute of Technology, argued that the time had come to abandon the idea that conventional realist works using natural means of observation were superior to digital camera-aided pictures.

""There's no need to compare the new works with those of Bandung's great realist painter (the late) Barli Sasmitawinata. ""It's actually the same thing, as it concerns 'taking an object', much like photocopying. Despite the idea of capturing a moment in time, the artists' use of paint gives the paintings a vibrancy and character that goes beyond technical evaluation,"" Trace said.

Sunaryo said this was the second show by new realist artists he had curated. The first, Bandung New Emergence, was held in the same space in mid-2006. ""Though they apply modern techniques, they have a real passion and creativity,"" Sunaryo pointed out.

The artists' works have been catching the attention of art lovers and private collectors. For example, Dikdik's show at Nadi Gallery, Jakarta, about three months ago, completely sold out.

""People kept phoning up to ask about Dikdik's pictures even before the show opened,"" said Anggi Trisna from Selasar Sunaryo Arts Space.

Anggi declined to say how many works had been sold in Errata Optika but did say the show had stirred new interest in painting in Bandung.