From an early age, Gebar showed a strong interest in drawing and form. He often made spontaneous marks on the ground, walls, or scraps of paper using whatever materials were available. This interest developed naturally, without formal art education or structured guidance. In his family environment, art was not seen as a profession but merely as a pastime. Yet it was precisely through these limitations that his visual sensitivity grew stronger, as he learned directly from lived reality, from the weary faces of farmers to the silent endurance of working bodies.
As he entered adolescence, Gebar’s life changed dramatically due to the national political turmoil of the mid-1960s. At around the age of fourteen, he was arrested and detained as a political prisoner without a clear legal process. His teenage years were abruptly cut short and replaced by life behind bars. This event became the most decisive turning point in his life, shaping not only his personal trajectory but also his artistic consciousness and ideological stance toward humanity and power.
During his years of imprisonment, including time spent in high-security facilities such as Nusa Kambangan, Gebar lived under harsh conditions marked by physical and psychological pressure. He witnessed the suffering of fellow detainees, systemic violence, and the denial of basic human rights. In this environment, art became a means of survival. Drawing and shaping forms allowed him to maintain his sanity, preserve memory, and express emotions that could not be spoken aloud.
The long experience of political imprisonment shaped the distinctive character of Gebar Sasmita’s art, which is honest, direct, and emotionally charged. He was not interested in decorative beauty, but in conveying the inner experience of human suffering and resilience. During this period, he became familiar with the works of Indonesian painters such as Hendra Gunawan, whose emphasis on social realism and expressive human figures influenced his artistic approach. Nevertheless, Gebar did not imitate these influences, instead transforming them through his own lived experience.
After his release in the late 1970s, Gebar returned to society carrying both trauma and a strong sense of personal conviction. He faced social stigma as a former political prisoner and had to rebuild his life from the beginning. Under difficult circumstances, he chose art as his path. Painting and sculpting became daily practices, serving not only as creative activities but also as a form of healing and reconciliation with the past.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Gebar worked more intensively and consistently. Themes of humanity, suffering, and historical memory became central to his artistic output. Human figures dominated his works, often depicted with distorted proportions, tense facial expressions, and gestures that suggested heavy emotional burdens. Strong colors and expressive brushstrokes were used not to beautify, but to intensify emotional meaning.
In addition to painting, Gebar also developed sculptural works and carvings. Three-dimensional media provided another space for exploring bodily experience and spatial presence. His sculptures are rough and minimally polished, deliberately rejecting refined aesthetics. These forms represent the human body as a site of wounds and memory, while also symbolizing endurance and survival.
Although he did not live in major Indonesian art centers such as Jakarta or Yogyakarta, Gebar remained committed to working from the regions. This geographical distance gave him freedom from market pressures and rapidly changing artistic trends. He worked at his own pace, remaining faithful to his life experiences and ethical values. In this sense, art for him was not a commodity, but a form of testimony.
With the advent of the Reformasi era, Gebar’s works began to receive wider recognition. Exhibitions were held at both local and regional levels. Curators, researchers, and art observers started to reframe his work as an important part of the narrative of Indonesian post-1965 art. Gebar came to be seen not only as an artist, but also as a survivor who carried voices from the margins of history.
One of the most significant milestones in his artistic journey was the solo exhibition titled Perjalanan Panjang or The Long Journey. This exhibition presented works that traced his life path from childhood through imprisonment and into old age. It functioned as a space of collective memory, inviting the public to revisit history through a personal and human-centered perspective.
In his later years, Gebar Sasmita has remained active in artistic practice. Physical limitations have not diminished his creative drive. He continues to paint and sculpt as a form of moral responsibility to the experiences he has lived through. For Gebar, art is a way of safeguarding memory from being erased, and a quiet yet persistent form of resistance.
In his more recent works, reflections on aging, mortality, and the meaning of life have become increasingly visible. Human figures no longer express suffering alone, but also silence and acceptance. A sense of calm gradually emerges, even as traces of past wounds remain present. This shift reflects an artistic maturity shaped by a long and difficult life journey.
To this day, Gebar Sasmita is remembered as an artist who remains faithful to his own lived experience. His biography is a story of endurance, remembrance, and expression through art. His works stand not only as personal expressions, but also as visual archives of history, suffering, and human dignity that continue to speak across generations.