Arts

RU 2008 Multiple - layered vision

by Ranga Chandrarathne

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RU 2008, the exhibition of paintings by Ruwan Upasena which commenced at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery on May 9 will go on till May 11. Over the years, Ruwan has evolved his own style of paintings with colour composition dominated by bright hues and shades.

It seems that he has a penchant for creating images against the backdrop of layers of colours often with black and reddish objects. Although Upasena has not yet ventured into the areas of portraits, he has been heavily drawn towards abstract paintings. Upasena’s exposure to the classical tradition of world famous painters and their work is amply manifested by their influence on his application of techniques.

Upasena states that he draws inspiration for his work from the pleasant experiences of the past, present and the experience that he would like to undergo in the future. For instance, one of his creations is the painting of a reading man on an elephant’s back.

Here, though it is not clear whether the painter derived the image of sage on a elephant’s back from Sri Lanka of the by gone era or from his own jaunt, perhaps, at Pinnawala Elephant’s Orphanage, it is a ingenuous combination of images of the past with the present.

The seemingly comfortable Dolawa (Coach) on elephant’s back is an article from the past and it is combined with the mahout who is in Sarong and Shirt. However, Upasena has chosen rather gloomy backdrop for the painting. The elephant walks along a path against the background of gloomy heaven and mountains look like those in desert areas.

The tree in white would have included making a contrast against an otherwise gloomy background. For this creation, Upasena has primarily used red, black, green and yellow discriminately. Gloomy background is a common feature that has been a signature feature in his paintings. Definitely this gloomy back drop has a contrasting effect on other images and figures in the paintings.

The torso is one of the best creations included in the present collection of exhibits. However in this creation, Upasena has somewhat deviated from his practice of using gloomy background. Instead here is a quite white backdrop, once again, with red, black and white hues. This painting takes a bit of an abstract nature.

The line-drawn figure in left corner of the frame is being obliterated, to a certain extent, by smudging it with black, white, red and blue hues. The frame is dominated by black which is contrasted with large patches of white towards the middle of the painting.

Though it is not clear, at a glance, whether the figure is in a happy or a pensive mood, it definitely looks forward and the pattern of thoughts that goes in his mind is depicted by tiny flowers sprung from a tree on top of the head.

However, it is somewhat intriguing to speculate whether the multi-directionally branched out tree has been inserted into the painting to depict the state of mind of the figure or to reflect on the mood of the environment. The somewhat bright tiny flowers on branch edges of the tree are a clever way of depicting trend of thoughts of the figure.

This painting shows that the artist is capable of demonstrating his innate talents on different platforms and is quite conversant with diverse styles of paintings.

The artist’s futuristic outlook is manifested in an abstract where a vehicle in the shape of an elephant is depicted.The vehicle runs on chain and is apparently driven by two rocket engines and the human figure on the elephant’s back held a lit-up torch which serves as a head light of the vehicle.

The background is red and black. The road along the vehicle is driven, is made up of green and black stripes.

The human figure on top of the elephant is shaded by a leaf-less three which is also mechanical. Here Upasena articulates his fears regarding the emerging order which is dominated by machines and a lot of artificial objects which perhaps, would replace the nature.Owing to the ever shrinking space for human habitat, the buildings are depicted as rising columns with capped roofs.

Even in this painting, Upasena has used a gloomy backdrop, perhaps, to drive home the idea that the futuristic highly industrialized world would not be a place where nature takes pride of place.

White has been sparingly used to bring about a contrasting effect to the painting.Ruwan Upasena, a fourth year student in the Faculty of Visual Art in the University of Visual and Performing Arts has been engaged in the craft from his childhood. He is an old boy of St. Mary’s College and Lumbini Maha Vidyalaya Colombo.

‘The Rhythm of life’

by Asha Senevirathne

“The Rhythm of life” an annual exhibition of photography presented by the National Photographic Art Society (NPAS) and the Ceylon Society of Arts of Sri Lanka will go on board at the National Art Gallery from May 16-18.

It will be held from 9.00 a.m. to 6.00. The inaugural session on the 16th will be held at 10 a.m.

The National Photographic Art Society will showcase some of the best pictures of human interest.

Many of Sri Lanka’s well renowned photographers are members of this distinguished fellowship whereupon five eminent life photographers, both foreign and local will grace the occasion.There will be also a competition, organised by the Natural Photographic Art Society of Sri Lanka which aims to reward the best ‘photographers’ of the society.

Tele-drama producers against mega tele-drama series

By Ranga Chandrarathne

The Tele-Nataya Sansadaya, an organisation of tele-drama producers has recently protested against the telecast of so-called Mega Teledrama series that run continuously.

The Sansadaya pointed out that Mega Tele-drama series has been causing irreparable damage to the local tele-drama industry, contributing steady decline in public taste. The Sansadaya states that this trend which had been adapted by private channels, has, unfortunately, been followed by state channels confining prime belt to few chosen tele-dramas.

This has created never ending backlog of tele-dramas and producers are unable to even recover the initial investment and paying the fees to the cast. Sansadaya is of the view that this mega tele-series which is being telecast without being subjected to any assessment will contribute to the total collapse of local tele-drama industry.

However, it should be mentioned here that low- quality cheap local productions have also paved the way for the intrusion of mega- tele-drama series into the local scene.

Cherrio Sergeant - 20th anniversary

Sando Harris will present a special show of Cherrio Sergeant in collaboration with the Welfare Society of ITN to coincide with his 20th anniversary in the arts industry and his birthday on May 17 at the K. C. P. Auditorium, Kadawatha. Organised by the Welfare Society of ITN the shows will be at 3.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.

The cast will include Sando Harris, Melani Ashoka, Deshan Amerasinghe, Damitha Saluwadana, Milinda Perera, Udaya Thalpawila, Somachandra, Erik Pitawala, Ekanayake, Awantha Sudesh and Erik Francis. Music is by A. C. Fernando and Hashan Harris, make up is by Sarath Ranaweera. On the morning of May 17 at 10 a.m. - 11.00 a.m., Sando Harris will present a one hour show of an episode from Cherrio Sergeant at the Cemetery Borella.

Suhada Prathana

Veteran director of Tele-dramas Somaweera Bopitiya has produced a new tele-drama titled “Suhada Prathana”. The cast include Tissa Wijesurendra, Wickrama Bogoda, Nirosha Maithree, Swarna Bopitiya and Jagath Mutukumarana.

The script is written by Tissa Wijesurendra, edited by Chamara S Widanapathirana and music for the tele-play is by Wasantha Priyankara Liyanage.