G. Wathuwalagedera:

Art lies beyond words

At terminus of the railway leading from Colombo up to Kandy lies a town named Matale. It’s the district capital on the A 10, surrounded by mountains, developed from an English fort.

One has to pass through shady plantations and mountain forests with numerous spice gardens which offer instructive tours for visitors and tourists. Matale is a warm place in my recollections, not only on account of its village beauties, the sweet and simple emblem of nature covering up the wrinkle of age with blooming vegetation and above all its rich history for culture, arts and sports. Nature has made special provisions giving birth to some experts of Sri Lanka in handicrafts, music, art and drama.

It is Matale where G. Wathuwalagedera was born in 1930. Obtaining his education at Vijaya College, Matale he travelled to Colombo. From his early childhood, however he grew up with a profound belief in his own ability. As a youngster he filled his note books with sketches and drawings. His quick intelligence told him that he had an eye to observe things and record them.

Both his general and professional education were aimed at becoming a painter. In 1959 he joined the Government College of Fine Arts former Heywood School of Art today known as the University of Visual and Performing Arts and obtained the Diploma in Drawing and Painting. G. Wathuwalagedera’s survival as an artist was to make, however a modest, a personal beginning, and it is his admiration, affection and sense of dedication that made him a fully-fledged painter. It often happens that the most independent people are not the least susceptible to influence. Wathuwalagedera is a highly independent artist and he is devoted to the search for the means to give effect to his independence.

The intensive search and experiments resulted in a succession of still-lifes in which features characteristic of his mature work in the degree of abstraction with which they are treated. They show a delicate sureness of taste and colour which are decidedly Wathuwalagedera’s own. His integration of colour line and form is vibrant and powerful.

Wathuwalagedera’s art was neither dramatic nor romantic. He is just sincere to his work. He painted the world as he saw it. He refused to exaggerate colours of nature.

He obtained the National Diploma in Design from St. Martin’s School of Art, London in 1962. He was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship by the U.S. Government in 1964. From 1964-1966 he studied Graphic Design at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and at Pratt Institute in New York, U.S. He has also held many posts in Government Institutions here and abroad and was visiting lecturer in Graphic Design at Moratuwa University.

Wathuwalagedera has produced many drawings where the forms have been reduced to scarlet lines. His pencil drawing of the head of a girl, done at school in Chicago, reflects the heights of his skill in grasping the human anatomy. The monochrome drawings done by ‘Negro pencils’ speaks of his excellent talent with pencil, pen and ink.

His paintings characterised strong rich colours, and figures shaded by dark and bright colours in ochre and grey with greenish tints and white highlights. His on-coming art exhibition at the Lionel Wendt will showcase the most powerful expressions of his creative work. He has not given titles to his paintings. He says its not a word processing exercise. He gives the viewer food for thought and curiosity to his countless admirers.