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JDA Perera Gallery :
Pageant of art and sculpture :
From colonial days to the twilight of independence
by Ranga CHANDRARATHNE
 The exhibition of art and sculpture to make the ceremonial opening of
the J. D. A. Perera Gallery at the Faculty of Visual Art of the
University of Visual and Performing Arts was recently held at J.D.A.
Gallery Faculty of Visual Arts, 46 Horton Place, Colombo 07.
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objective of opening the J.D.A
Perera Art Gallery, the exhibition has chronicled in its peculiar way
the evolution of art and sculpture from the days of avant-garde portrait
on canvas to the modern day computer based paintings and installations.
The portraits among the exhibits which include J. D. A. Perera’s own
creations, depict not only the individual signatures of the portraits
but also the application of diverse techniques.It is this unique
artistic touch and diverse techniques employed in the craft, which
differ creation including portraits from mere snapshots of a camera. The
artists irrespective of the nature of the creations whether paintings,
computer based graphics, book covers or installations, have left their
imprints on the creations, thus inventing individualistic dictions and
pictorial syntax amalgamating them with subtle nuances of culture. For
many reasons, the opening exhibition is unique in that art lovers are
offered with an insight into the very evolutionary process of art and
sculpture in Sri Lanka from the days of colonialism to the twilight of
independence, paralleling with the evolution of systematic education of
art in Sri Lanka, from Heywood to a fully-fledged university.
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The gallery located at the Faculty of Visual Arts is built in
conformity with international standards, fulfilling a long felt need for
a fully-fledged gallery in Sri Lanka for local and foreign art lovers.
The Gallery which is a realisation of a dream of generations of students
and well-wishers was named after J. D. A. Perera, a cultural,
intellectual and artist of international repute who had established
systematic study of Arts in Sri Lanka. The opening exhibition is made up
of a collection of creations of prominent artists from the past and
present. Among the exhibits, there are creations by generation of
teachers since the days of J.A.D Perera, the founder of the 'Heywood'
College which was the precursor to the University of Visual and
Performing Arts.
One of the significant aspects of the exhibits, apart from their
inestimable artistic value, is that in a peculiar way, they chronicle
the evolution of Art and Sculpture in Sri Lanka from the Heywood days to
the modern day computer-based paintings, printing and graphic arts.
Apart from its avowed objective of opening the J.D.A Perera Art Gallery,
exhibition provides an insight into the application of diverse
techniques and demonstration of talents in many areas of Art and
Sculpture. Most of the artists are lecturers, visiting lecturers or
students of the Visual Art.
Chronicling the history of art
The early portraits such as Seetha de Seram from The National Art
Gallery Collection-Sri Lanka, Chandraleka from W. Ariyasena Collection,
Portrait of Mrs. Kularatne, portrait of G.de Seram and some of David
Paynter's creations, among other things, depict the rich avant-garde
tradition that Sri Lanka inherits from the days of colonialism.
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The old buiding of Heywood where the
present University of the Visual and Performing Arts was
commenced
Pic: Kevindra Perera |
Among the portraits, Portrait of Chandraleka is unique in the
depiction of movements of hand. Light and shade have effectively been
used. This characteristic can be seen in G. de Seram's portrait. David
Paynter's work such as Male Body Study 1, Head Study are examples of his
unique style of painting. Stanley Abeysinghe's portraits are unique in
capturing subtle nuances of culture.
The exhibition contains some of the memorable sculptures by Tissa
Ranasinghe. Among them are 'Bhoomi Sprasha' and 'Self-Mortification'
bear his signature of style. In book illustrations, L. S. E. Amararathne
has captured the Sri Lankan cultural motifs with a unique colour
combination. Artists such as Veron Daldin, W. A. Ariyasena, demonstrate
different styles with individualistic combinations of colours.
Prajapathi Polpitiya's design on leather shows application of art on
everyday objects such as on bags. Prof. Albert Dharmasiri has
contributed to the exhibition with a couple of his creations such as
copying of painting from Sigiriya and 'Buffalo' (Lithograph).
One of the outstanding installations is 'Searching Soul' by H. A.
Karunaratne. For the creation the artist has used discarded metal
objects such as nails, pieces of galvanized sheets and iron rods. The
exhibition also displays creations of R. M. Dharmasena, Ranjith Liyanage,
G. E. Vangeyzel, Sarath Chandrajeewa, Susiripala Malimbada, Chandragupta
Thenuwara and young artists such as Sunethpriya Aravinda, Manoranjana
Herath, K. H. U. Thushara, J. C. Ratnayake, Dumith Kulasekara and
Chiranthi Nayani Gunasekara.
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