"Pictures are halfway between objects and ideas."
- Anonymous

Charles Schuster is an educator, as well as being a working artist actively producing both paintings and sculptures. As a teacher, Schuster's interests cover all kinds of fields and idioms within the world of art: fine art, theater, film, computer graphics, as well as language and text. His career as an expert pedagogue, from 1976, has exposed him to experience the lifestyles of various cultures. In 1985-86 Schuster lived in China, and worked at Huanghe University. Since 1989, Charles Schuster has worked at the Jakarta International School in Indonesia.

In general, Schuster's works indicate his interest in cultural visual expressions that can be observed and which he views within the context of the universal. Schuster works by processing all of the primary visual elements: line, contour, basic forms, rhythmic composition, contrast, and repetition. Within the system of modern art education, these basic visual aspects are the essence of the basic design and material for the practice of core sensitivity to the recognition and comprehension of visual sensibility. Schuster's intensity in the production of his artworks drives these basic purposes within the territory of the observation of culture. According to Schuster, the current development of art is in the midst of being influenced by advances in the medium and idiom of photography in relation to the recording of the way of life of humankind. Therefore, the function of expression has shifted to become the stating of that which is not immediately apparent. When observing his works, we can see that Schuster's creations extend beyond the capacity of words to describe adequately, except, perhaps, in relation to the presentation of the basic elements discussed above.

It is interesting to delve into an understanding of Schuster's works within the analytical framework of universal cultural expression. His works exhibit the basic character of artistic expression that perhaps we could find in the various cultures existing all around the world. The processing of the various visual elements so carefully considered by Schuster gives the impression of overall unity. In light of this, it is interesting to note that in relation to the current conflicts and conditions of misunderstanding impacting the various civilizations of our world - the situation which Samuel P. Huntington noted as signs of the times in The Clash of Civilizations - Schuster confidently states his opinions in his works. Schuster's artistic creations persistently remind us that we are present within the situation of the simultaneous continuity and discontinuity of each and every one of the civilizations of man. Schuster notes: We surely will always be able to discover similarities and achieve mutual understanding in even widely varied situations. The basic visual elements that Schuster processes so harmoniously speak of this conviction.

Rizki A Zaelani

Born on April 27, 1955 in New Jersey, USA.
Studied at University of Hartford (BA; 1977) , Columbus University (MA; 2001).

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1999 Agora Gallery, Soho, New York City.
2003 Café F39, Jakarta, Indonesia.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1999 Montserrat Gallery, Soho, New York City.
2001 Ono Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia.

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