The Bronze Beat

Tissa Ranasinghe was born in 1925 in Yogiyana, but presently lives in Woodlands Road, Isleworth, Middlesex, UK. His Professional Training accounts for his three-year Diploma in Painting at the Government College of Fine Arts, amDiploma in Sculpture at Chelsea School of Art, London, School of Sculpture Certificate in Bronze Casting, Royal College of Art, London.

He has participated in many exhibitions both here and abroad and won many prizes and accolades for his immitable talent.

At the Ceylon Society of Arts - 52nd Competitive Exhibition he won 6 prizes and awards for painting in 1950 Ceylon Society of Arts - 53rd Competitive Exhibition he almost doubled his prizes (11 prizes and awards for painting) and at 54th Competitive Exhibition of Ceylon Society of Arts Tissa won 7 prizes and awards again for his work.

Amongst many exhibitions that he participated are Exhibition of Oriental Art at the Art Gallery, U.N. Celebration Exhibition -held at The Colombo Museum, International Exhibition of Arts. In 1954 he participated in the Artists of Chelsea exhibition in London.

Tissa consecutively showed his work at five more exhibitions that year in London, they were Artists from the Commonwealth at Imperial Institute, Summer Salon - Royal Institute Galleries, Chelsea School of Art - Annual Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists - Annual Exhibition.

Beside that Tissa showed his work in May1955 at the Artists from the Commonwealth exhibition at the Imperial Institute, London. In May the same year he participated in a few more, Artists of Chelsea at the Chenil Galleries, Royal Academy - 187th Annual Exhibition and was Invited to exhibit at the - Royal Glasgow Academy of Art, Scotland.

In the same year Tissa was awarded the 1st prize for sculpture at the annual exhibition of the Chelsea School of Art. In 1956 he became the only living artist to exhibit at the 2500 Years of Buddhist Art - Buddha Jayanthi Celebrations Exhibition held at the French Institute, London.

In 1958 Tissa was invited to exhibit by the John Lewis Partnership at the opening of a new Art Gallery in Southampton and the follopwing year held his first one-man exhibition of sculpture and drawings in Colombo at the Lionel Wendt Gallery.

In the years that followed the master widened his horizons by taking part at the Tokyo Biennale of Graphic Arts, Ceylon - Australia - New Zealand Exhibition of Arts held in Colombo, Young Commonwealth Artists Exhibition R.B.A. Gallery, London and in 1962 he attained a milestone by participating at the EDINBURGH FESTIVAL Commonwealth Exhibition of Art which followed by him being invited to exhibit at the inaugural exhibition of the New Commonwealth Institute in London.

At the 7TH SAO PAOLO BIENNALE in 1963 in Brazil he was awarded Honourable Mention Plaque and two years later in 1965 for the EXPO '67 held in Montreal Canada he was commissioned to create eight bronze Buddhist sculptures by The Sri Lankan Government to be exhibited at the Ceylon Pavilion.

In 1965 he created a bronze sculpture titled 'Self-Mortification' which was installed and sealed in the relic chamber of the restored Somawathiya Stupa in Sri Lanka. In 1978 he was instrumental in organising and participating in the casting in bronze of Giambolognia's Mars filmed by BBC Television and the Victoria and Albert Museum; now screened annually as part of the Open University programme on Italian Renaissance Art

In 1984 his Bronze sculpture 'Kannagi' commissioned by Professor Gananath Obeysekere, Head of the Department of Anthropology, Princeton University, U.S.A. Photograph was used as the cover for his book, 'The Cult of the Goddess Pattini', published by the University of Chicago Press, in 1985 and 1987 he showed his work with the 43rd Group Exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall.

The Bronze sculpture created by Tissa titled 'The Enlightenment' was presented to His Majesty The King of Thailand on his 60th birthday in 1987.

The grants and scholarships awarded to Tissa were many in 1958 he was awarded the first UNESCO fellowship allocated to Sri Lanka under the Creative Artists Scheme, the grant enabled him to complete studies at Chelsea School of Art and travel for three months in France, Germany and Italy visiting galleries and museums for the special study of South-East Asian Art.

In 1961 he was awarded the ASIA FOUNDATION GRANT for studying bronze casting at the Royal College of Art, London, he tudied bronze casting under Professor Bernard Meadows and the Angeloni brothers and later served on the staff of ther foundry for a period of six months prior to returning to Sri Lanka in 1963.

From 1959 - 1961 and 1963 - 1967 Tissa worked as the visiting lecturer in sculpture at the Government College of Fine Arts in Colombo and from 1964 to 1965 as the visiting lecturer in Drawing and Fine Arts for the architecture course at the Institute of Pracital Technology, Katubedde, through 1970 - 1971 he was Principalof the Government College of Art & Art Crafts.

Tissa Ranasinghe's work was purchased by many leading foundations and syndicates around the world, amongst them are The Government of Sri Lanka, London County Concil for its permanent Art Collection (1957), Museum of Modern Art, Malmo, Sweden and many private collections in Sri Lanka, Germany, U.K., Greece, USA, France and Australia, his sculpture "Mother and Child" used by Associated Television, London for its educational programme "Looking and Seeing No. 4" was purchased from him in 1955.

Amongst the major works done by the artist are the D. S. Senanayake bronze statue (8.5') in front of the House of Representatives, Colombo (First Prime Minister of Sri Lanka), D. S. Senanayake bronze bust (4') at Gal-oya, Cooper sculptures for the Industrial Exhibition in 1965, bronze sculptures for the Ceylon Pavilion at Expo' '67, Montreal, Canada: 8' bronze Buddha statue, Two 3' bronze statues of a monk and nun, five bronze reliefs of Life of the Buddha. Bronze statue (6') of the late Rt. Hon. Dudley Senanayake, former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, for the Sri Lankan Government, Bronze statue (6') of the late Rt. Hon. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, for the Sri Lankan Government, Bronze statue (6') of the late Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, first Sri Lankan Governor General for members of his family and the Bronze statue (6') of the late Rt. Hon. Sir John Kotelawala, former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, for the Government of Sri Lanka (All bronzes cast by the sculptor).

On his return to England in 1972 Tissa worked at the Morris Singer Foundry Limited, London and later joined the School of Sculpture, Royal College of Art, as Assistant Bronze Caster to the late Mr. Albert Angeloni. In 1973 he was Appointed to the post of Master Founder conducting the two-year diploma course in bronze casting.

This is the only full-time course in bronze casting by the 'cire perdue' method in the United kingdom. In 1987 The Sri Lankan President's 'Kala Suri' Award of Merit (for contribution to the Arts) was bestowed upon him on 4th February, Independence Day.

Amongst all these titles Tissa was elected Fellow of the Royal College of art at the Convocation in July 1989, in 1998 he was awarded Japan/Sri Lanka Friendship Cultural Fund's "Bunka Prize '98" celebrating fifty years of Sri Lankan Independence (awarded to thirteen Sri Lankans for their contributions to the Arts) the same year he was commissioned by the Sri Lankan Government to model and cast in bronze a 4'x2' relief sculpture to be gifted to the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Holland Above are some of the many achievements by this leading artist whose fine collection of bronzes will go on show from the 17th to the 23rd at The Harold Pieris Gallery (above The Lionel Wendt Theatre) from 10am to 7pm daily.