Review

Exhibition of Paintings by Manoj Nalaka:

Conflict over humanity and gender

Nalaka's paintings are dominated by human figure against the backdrop of bright colours. At times, they are torsos, only legs and parts of human body.

But behind them, lies the philosophy of the artist; defining the theme conflict over humanity. The blank spaces which are often covered in black, graphically suggest the artist's incomplete experiences. In terms of colours, the artist's preferences seem to be bright colours with widespread brush strokes. He uses shaded black which has become an omni-present feature in his paintings. His grammar of portrayal is not complex but extremely lucid in graphically representing his experiences on canvas.

Significantly the artist, albeit young in his career, displays a remarkable agility in the manipulation of diverse shades, colours and of course, the space in a sparing manner.

by Indeewara THILAKARATHNE

The exhibition of paintings by Manoj Nalaka was held recently at the American Centre in Colombo. The artist touched on the theme of conflict over humanity plus gender in an innovative manner. Humanity is divided on lines of gender. Especially in the South Asian context, gender determines, in some extreme instances, almost the destiny of a person. Though taken for granted on many instances, gender plays an important role in the affairs of society.

Manoj Nalaka has captured some facets in the conflict over humanity plus gender. In a series of paintings, the artist expresses his views on the conflict. Making the human figures in a shadowy form, the artist has deliberately denied the figures of any specific identity, rendering them universal in the process. It is this universality which enables a work of art to be appreciated by wider audience, perhaps, transcending cultural, ethnic and country-specific confines.

For instance, one of his paintings is made up of rather withered out human figures. The frame is divided into two by the use of black and smudged red.

The centre is occupied by a box-like object. The bleakish part with shadowy figure, footprint and a part of the extended hand, represents incomplete experiences on the part of the artist. In another painting, the artist expresses, perhaps, love. Dark colours have been used for the painting. Once again, the frame is divided into two: a part is against black background and the other part is against much-toned down green. A male head looks at a shadowy figure of a woman and a flower is before the figure. It is perhaps, the representation of the artist's incomplete experiences of love. In a series of paintings, Nalaka deals with the theme in an innovative manner. Over the years, he has developed a unique diction which found its expression in terms of subtle combination of colours, manipulation of shades and particularly the space.