SRI LANKA CONTEMPORARY
NUWAN NALAKA b. 1981 Nuwan Nalaka holds a Masters of Fine Arts from the Rabindra Bharati University in Kolkata, India. In his work Nalaka confronts the subjects of nature, spirituality and psychology. His series of monotone landscapes on canvas marouflage rice paper depict typical scenes of the Central Province of the island combined with calligraphic poetry based on local fables. In addition, his work on paper, titled ‘Inner Self’, deals with the subjects of gender and politics, often with the woman or man’s torso painted from the back, waist upwards. Similar to his landscapes he works on detailed smaller imagery within the torso, playing with the contrast of space and symbols by leaving the background completely bare. Nalaka uses traditional techniques of painting to painstakingly work in minute detail on his narrative using symbols and script in combination with bold imagery on textured papers to enhance his imagery. Recent solo and group exhibitions include: Saskia Fernando Gallery (2017) | Temple Trees Auditorium (2017) | Paradise Road Gallery (2015) | Paradise Road Gallery (2014) | Birla Academy (2013) | ICCR Gallery (2013) | Lionel Wendt Art Gallery (2011) | Lalit Kala Academy India (2012), among others. He continues to focus on private and public commissioned works.
SUTRA XXXIII, 2019, Tempered on Handmade Paper on Canvas, 214cm x 214cm
SUTRA X, 2017, Tempera on Handmade Paper on Canvas, 152cm x 92cm
RAVANA, 2018, Tempera on Handmade Paper on Canvas, 45cm x 151cm
KINGSLEY GUNATILLAKE b. 1951 Kingsley Gunatillake is a painter, an installation artist and a book artist. His formal training includes a BFA from the Fine Art University of Colombo and a diploma in Environmental Education from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow in 1994. Gunatillake is currently a visiting lecturer on the faculty of Visual Arts of the University of Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo. He has had several solo exhibitions in Sri Lanka, the UK, the Philippines, Ireland, Scotland, and India. He has also participated in many group exhibitions and international artist camps both in Sri Lanka and abroad, most recently in France, the UK, Japan, Pakistan, India and at the Seongnam International Art Fair in Korea. Gunatillake has also been the recipient of a number of national awards since 1980 as well as international awards from both Czechoslovakia and Japan. Gunatillake’s painting, sculpture and installations can be found in many local collections, including the Sri Lankan Presidential Collection of Contemporary Art. Kingsley Gunatillake artist perceives abstraction as the most perfect mode of artistic expression. Despite his admiration, the artist identifies his grapple with the style as highly complex and challenging, regarding his creative process as a duty that must be fulfilled to the best of his ability. Gunatillake suggests his method as similar to that of a poet in his lyrical and carefully structured work, aligning ideas and experience with colour and form. Gunatillake’s objective is to maintain a quiet and clear, but strong, approach. He forgoes the easel, as the Abstract Expressionists, in particular his role models Jackson Pollock and H. A. Karunaratne, one of Sri Lanka’s most senior Sri Lankan abstract artists, preferring to spread paper on the floor and work from above. Currently Gunatillake uses rollers, sticks and even his hands – anything but a brush – to paint, dropping colours and letting them fall naturally, relinquishing conventional control over the process. Recent solo and group exhibitions include: Saskia Fernando Gallery (2019) | Lionel Wendt Gallery (2018) | JDA Perera Gallery (2018) | Saskia Fenando Gallery (2018) | Fugentei Gallery Japan (2017) | Paradise Road Gallery (2017) | JDA Perera Gallery (2016) | SOJO Gallery Japan (2015) | Dhaka Art Summit (2014) | Brunei Gallery London (2014) XVA Gallery Dubai (2013), among others.
IN-BETWEEN XXXIII, 2018, Acrylic on Paper, 73cm x 101cm
IN-BETWEEN XXX, 2018, Acrylic on Paper, 73cm x 101cm
IN-BETWEEN XXIX, 2018, Acrylic on Paper, 73cm x 101cm
IN-BETWEEN VIII, 2018, Acrylic on Paper, 73cm x 101cm
IN-BETWEEN IX, 2018, Acrylic on Paper, 73cm x 101cm
IN-BETWEEN XI, 2018, Acrylic on Paper, 101cm x 73cm
IN-BETWEEN X, 2018, Acrylic on Paper, 101cm x 73cm
IN-BETWEEN XIX, 2018, Acrylic on Paper, 72cm x 51cm
UNTITLED X, 2018, Ink on Paper, 21cm x 14cm
UNTITLED VIII, 2018, Ink on Paper, 21cm x 14cm
UNTITLED II, 2018, Steel, 21cm x 19cm x 15cm
UNTITLED VI, 2018, Steel, 19cm x 12cm x 10cm
PRAGEETH MANOHANSA b. 1951
Prageeth Manohansa is our island’s most cutting-edge contemporary sculptor. He presents the age-old contrast of industrialised culture versus utopian nature in new form. Prageeth transforms banal scrap metal into stunning images of life and beauty. His sculptural pieces breathe with movement and emotion and he captures this same dynamic spirit on paper with his charcoal drawings. Despite the increasing number of local artists who are inspired by his work, Manohansa remains unparalleled as a pioneering artist with a unique portfolio of works made of welded metal and paper.. Recent solo and group exhibitions include: Saskia Fernando Gallery (2019) | Paradise Road Galleries (2016) | Saskia Fernando Gallery (2014) | Paradise Road Galleries (2013) | Gallery Steph, Singapore (2012) | National Centre for the Arts & National Art Gallery Maldives, Maldives (2010) | Amangalla Hotel, Galle (2009) | Galle Film Festival (2008) | Lionel Wendt Art Gallery (2003) | Art Dubai (2016) | Breese Little, London (2014) | XVA Gallery, Dubai (2013) | Amangalla Hotel (2012) | Asia House, London (2011) | Amangalla Hotel (2011) | Colombo Art Biennale (2009) | Kala Pola organised by the George Keyt Foundation, Colombo (2009) | Kooii Gallery, Colombo (2009) | Museum of Ethnology/Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna (2008) | others.
GANESH, 2018, Scrap Metal, 110cm x 80cm x 50cm
ANIMAL I, 2018, Mixed Media, 110cm x 129cm x 54cm
RUWAN PRASANNA b. 1980
Ruwan Prasanna holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Kelaniya in Colombo. Haptic texture patterns evolve on the surface of the canvas by the artist’s seemingly spontaneous hand of gestural brush strokes. By capturing the play of natural light with the essence of nature using colour combinations that resemble the works of abstract impressionists from the 19th century, he exaggerates his own style as a painter by continuously playing with different thickness of strokes and colours. The artists early work showed strong influences from his peers, namely Jagath Ravindra, from the Sri Lankan contemporary art scene however since his 2015 exhibition he has come into his own direction as one of the few young artists in the island to dedicate his practice to abstract painting. Recent solo and group exhibitions include: Paradise Road Galleries (2019) | Paradise Road Galleries (2019) | Saskia Fernando Gallery (2017) | Saskia Fernando Gallery (2015) | Saskia Fernando Gallery (2013) | Paradise Road Galleries (2011) | Paradise Road Galleries (2010) | Saskia Fernando Gallery (2013) | Kala Pola by George Keyt Foundation (2011) | Art Way Gallery (2011) | Art Way Gallery (2010) | Park Street Hotel (2010) | Art Way Gallery (2009) | National Art Gallery (2008) | Barefoot Gallery (2007) | National Art Gallery (2007) | Cinnamon Grand Hotel (2007) | Kala Pola by George Keyt Foundation (2006) | Harold Peiris Gallery (2006) | Kala Pola by George Keyt Foundation (2005) | Harold Peiris Gallery (2005) | Slave Island Railway Station (2004) | Harold Peiris Gallery (2004) | Kala Pola by George Keyt Foundation (2004)
KOMOREBI XVIII, 2018, Acrylic on Canvas, 182cm x 182cm
KOMOREBI XXII, 2018, Acrylic on Canvas, 69cm x 69cm
KOMOREBI XXIV, 2018, Acrylic on Canvas, 122cm x 61cm x (2)