The growing interest in art and the growth of venues led to art exhibitions being held in several big cities in Java. Art, especially painting, received wide recognition. Art audiences became larger than ever. Nevertheless, not all of this represented real progress. The explosion of the art market did not lead to real achievement in art practice. Noted Indonesian art critic, the late Sanento Yuliman, saw the art boom in Indonesia as a commodification of the art of painting, which resulted in sterility. Considering that Indonesian art had made a leap forward in the 1970s — when installation and multimedia were introduced in 1975 — Sanento saw the new domination of the art of painting as a backward step.