Arts

Picasso gets a new lease of life

From Jayasiri Semage

"In the world of an artist", says Dandin, a Sanskrit writer on Poetics, "the artist himself is the creator".

He has no restrictions; he can do absolutely everything. So using that freedom, Picasso, the classic artist of the modern world of paintings, created some astonishingly erotic line drawings towards the end of his life.

They depicted nude men and women in disgustingly awkward postures of intercourse. Jayasiri Semage, one of the best traditional artists of Sri Lanka is now using the same liberty to introduce some spirit of 'shame' to Picasso's art by redrawing the Picasso characters in a traditional oriental style.

It is known to everybody that Picasso transcended all conventions of real life when he drew those erotic pictures. Some spectators even went to the extreme of calling him insane. Giving prominence to nude female figures Picasso chose to paint scenes of night clubs, brothels, taverns and pubs etc. Sexual performances of all sorts, even homosexual acts were frequent in his pictures.

Semage, who is known all over the world as the maestro of Sri Lankan traditional painting also has decided to break from his usual line of painting by an attempt to interpret Picasso in a new way.

After meditating on what actually Picasso tried to communicate in his seemingly insane technique Semage is trying to put it in a mild and restrained manner. "But I am not trying to divert myself to an absurd or wild style," says Semage.

"I am trying to remain within my aesthetically pleasant rhythmically eastern confines. I will give a Sri Lankan touch to Picasso's concepts and will create some oil on canvas and some water colours too. I invite my fans to visit my gallery and compare these new paintings with my usual creations," he adds.

Some people find parking their vehicles a problem when they come to view an exhibition in the major art galleries in Colombo today owning to the security restrictions.

So instead of holding such an exhibition Semage is organizing an exhibition cum sale of his creations at his own Semage Gallery at No. 03, Lilian Avenue, Mount Lavinia from April 26th to 30th. The exhibition and sale will be open to the public everyday from 9.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.

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Lester by Lester

The definitive autobiography of the giant of the movie makers :

Lester by Lester, the monumental autobiography of Lester James Peries will be launched on Saturday 21st April 2007 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. The book is published by Vijitha Yapa Publications as a limited edition. Each book, which is a collector's item, is numbered and autographed by Lester James Peries.

Lester by Lester is a celebration of half a century of locally and internationally acclaimed creative excellence. It chronicles in his own words the creativity of a lifetime of the Doyen of Sri Lankan cinema, Dr. Lester James Peries.

Its twenty chapters are devoted to each of his twenty films, from Rekawa (The Line of Destiny. 1956) to Ammawarune (Elegy for a Mother. 2006), showcasing and chronicling half a century of film making.

He began with Rekawa (The Line of Destiny), his first feature film, a "commercial failure in Ceylon" as he says, which yet made it to the Mecca of world cinema - France's Cannes Film Festival - the following year. Since the launch of Rekawa 50 years ago, volumes have been written about Lester over the years by others, both locally and internationally.

This is the very first time Lester has chosen to write about himself and his half a century film making career, in a single volume. The book takes its readers through the trials and tribulations to a variety of anecdotes and memorable moments in the making of his twenty films.

It takes on an even greater significance and importance given the fact that Lester James Peries has now officially 'retired' from film making and will direct no more films. Lester James Peries is what Satyajit Ray is to India and Akira Kurosawa is to Japan.

Rightly called the 'Father of Modern Sinhala Cinema', he paved the way for a whole new generation of avant-garde film directors, who similarly broke away from the stereotyped formula films and experimented with new forms and genres to critical acclaim.

Now revered as one of the Asian greats, Lester James Peries has won continuous international acclaim in several parts of the world.

Kumar de Silva, who recorded the interviews with Lester over five years and edited this book, is a Colombo-based Public Relations and Media Consultant whose fascination with the films of Lester James Peries goes back to his teenage years in the mid 1970s.