Who is Hardi? Is he an artist, painter, humanist, writer, photographer, martial art guru, mpu, designer, or a politician? For many, he's a combination of two or three. But for those who followed his body of work spanning throughout 50 years, he is all of the above.
Born and raised in Gambar Village in Wonodadi, Blitar, East Java, Indonesia, young Hardi always has a knack for art. He would spent his time drawing wayang, horses, fishes or chicken on the cement floor with chalk. This is especially fascinating, since Gambar in Bahasa means Picture or Drawings. He is the 7th child of 8 childrens of R. Adimaryono - a village chief known for his charisma - and Sri Monah - a calm and strong headmaster. Both of them chose the name R. Suhardi for their 7th son because on the day that he was born, May 26th 1951, Mount Kelud is on the verge of errupting. Su - means good, Hardi - is mountain. This part of the story is essential to Hardi's upbringing. People know him for his charisma, strong will, his persistance and his presence in whatever he does. But they also know him as the artist with the fiery temper, just like the volcano that accompany his birth. All of this make Hardi the artist that he is today. And all the way from Gambar Village, he is ready to make his mark in Indonesia's art world.
ART EDUCATION
His first encounter with the art world began in the house of his English teacher in Junior High, Mrs. Tjip. Here, he first saw a book with Bung Karno's art Collection - and fell in love. So, after graduating High School in 1969, he left his house and leave for Ubud, Bali. He stayed there for six months, and emerse himself with the Ubud artistic vibes. He met Ubud's finest artist, Huang Fong, Sutan Chaidir, Anton Huang, Bambang Sugeng, Rusdi and Ida Bagus Made Poleng - the senior student of Bonnet. This is also where he met Pande Wayan Suteja Neka, was a small gallery owner in Ubud. Now he is one of the most respected name in Bali, and Indonesia's art scene. All of these figures left a mark in Hardi's foundation as an artist. They gave him the basic and the confident to pursue art in his life.
Hardi's first formal introduction to art was at Aksera (Surabaya Art Academy). He had six months before he could applied at ASRI (Indonesia's Art Academy) in Yogyakarta. Here, he met Daryono, Krisna Mustajab, Aman Rahman and many fellow students. Then in 1971 he went on and studied at ASRI. His teachers includes, Fajar Sidik, Widayat, Sudarmaji, and the assistants such as Nyoman Gunarsa, Eko Suprihadi, Suwaji, Aming Prayitno, Subroto and many more. He was living to his true potential. WIth Agus Dermawan T., his friend, he started writing for the People's Sovereignty Paper. He started a five-man group and held exhibitions. He was making his mark in all the right places.
After being expelled in December 1974 (See Black December...), he met Bert Hermens - a Cultural delegates from Holland. He believed in Hardi's potential and see the injustice in ASRI's case, thus he offered him a two-years art scholarship in De Jan Van Eyck Academie, Maastricht, Holland. Bert, and Holland socialist way of living, pushed Hardi even more. He created lots of graphic arts - Alles is Politiek, Sweet Dream, Bung Hatta, how much is your pension?, The Thinker Shitting, Monalisa, etc. In Dusseldorf, he was introduced to Post Card as a media. This leads to numerous art colaboration between Hardi and his friend, poet Rendra. He started the Contemporary Art Movement in Indonesia, but he really open his eyes to what it really is in Holland. This is where Hardi's claw started to take shapes.