The start of 2012 sees  Shalini Ganendra Fine Art showcasing some of  Sri Lanka’s finest contemporary artistic talent, in a series of shows that begins with SRI LANKA’S CONTEMPORARY.

The series will explore the contemporary art practices in  Sri Lanka, during the turbulent war years and thereafter,  in addition to reflecting on the development of visual arts since the Sri Lankan modernist period of the iconic ’43 Group. (This group, led by art luminaries such as George Keyt and Ivan Peries, was a progressive movement which aimed to revive the foundering state of the country’s art.  The success of the Group is evidenced by their popularity at auctions,  with private and public collectors,  and museums.)

SGFA  begins this exploration featuring the works of two contemporary painters, Druvinka and Nelun Harasgama. Each of their highly individual styles comments on Sri Lanka/South Asia – whether in terms of its history, traditional culture, or daily life. Both artists were featured in SGFA’s 2007 showing of Sri Lankan contemporary art, in New York.

SRI LANKA’S CONTEMPORARY promises  to provide an interesting and fresh look at the continuing momentum.

NELUN HARASGAMA:

Nelun Harasgama’s consistent focus on landscape and figures in isolation has created an instantly recognisable style, which has developed over the last 20 years. She avoids over-intellectualised formulas to explain her work by referring simply to the underlying mantra for her work,  “while we destroy we do not appreciate, and after the loss, we mourn and regret."

Feelings of loss, loneliness and nostalgia permeate Harasgama’s works. They are present in the bare, almost abstract landscapes dominated by a heavy, dark sky, and in her figurative works - in the elongated, faceless figures sitting or standing still in empty interiors.  The soft, earthy colours preferred by Harasgama underscore the sense of withdrawal and contemplation. Harasgama’s works, while not haunting,  present a quiet acceptance and resignation to the shifts which unavoidably influence our lives.

DRUVINKA :

Druvinka, painter and printmaker, was trained in Santiniketan where she received a First Class in the Bachelor of Fine Arts. Her work is regularly  exhibited internationally.

She has successfully and uniquely adapted the ancient tempera technique used in Indian miniature painting to a contemporary format. Working with acrylic washes, bamboo paper and canvas/cloth, she incorporates symbols of the psyche such as lingam, circles, buds and silhouettes.

Druvinka herself says of her work:

“One of the essential features in modern art has been the attempt by various and often contradictory means to deepen and clarify the creative act which had become obscured and stifled by tradition. My work displays freedom through colour, form, line and symbols. Whether I open or close my eyes to the outside work, I do not draw a single line or brush stroke without striking a deep chord with the reality of nature and its earliest beginnings.”